The New RepublicLeft
Trump Secretly Fumes at Senate Leader Over the SAVE Act
President Donald Trump sees Senate Majority Leader John Thune as one of his “biggest headaches,” despite insisting that their relationship is “fine” publicly, according to reporting from The Atlantic. The president’s displeasure with Thune has been brewing for some time, as the senator stands squarely in the way of Trump’s voting rights–suppressing SAVE America Act. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters last week that Trump’s patience with Thune was “running out,” and Trump himself told a Georgia rally crowd to call Thune directly regarding the SAVE America Act that same day. And on Monday, Trump strangely demanded that Thune pass a “full and deep throated” SAVE America Act.“John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER, where Republicans can then quickly pass everything they ever dreamed of, including a full and deep throated SAVE AMERICA ACT, the Budget, and the ever looming Debt Ceiling disaster, 1929!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The Dumocrats will do it on day one, and can’t believe how lucky they got with this Senate leadership. Remember, stupidity always brings LOSING & DEATH!”Thune has yet to flinch, making Trump’s private comments even more believable. “If somebody can show me how we get an outcome, how we get a result, how we get an answer to this, I’m all for it.… But if we are going to be sitting here in endless quorum calls, I don’t know if that’s in anybody’s best interest,” Thune said to reporters on Monday. “We could stay here until Christmas, Democrats aren’t voting for this. I’m just telling you.… And Republicans are not getting rid of the legislative filibuster.”It’s unclear how long Thune’s resistance can last. Trump is absolutely desperate to get the SAVE America Act through, and he’ll be even more so as he approaches the end of his second (and hopefully final) term. Thune’s moderate Senate allies, such as Thom Tillis and John Cornyn, are outgoing, while the majority of the party willingly capitulates to whatever Trump demands, and will likely continue doing so.
Read at The New Republic →Alternet.orgLeft
Republican in-fighting explodes as Trump demands they cancel vacation
Republicans in Washington are once again fighting each other, according to The Hill, as disagreements rage over President Donald Trump's new demand that they cancel their summer recess.For months, Trump has insisted that the Senate must pass the SAVE America Act, a bill that would impose strict new rules on voting and voter registration to address his long-debunked claims about widespread voter fraud. Senate GOP leaders, in response, have repeatedly stressed that the bill lacks the support in the chamber to overcome the filibuster threshold, leaving the party and the president in a stalemate.Traditionally, the Senate breaks for a summer recess at the beginning of August and does not return to Washington, D.C., for several weeks, with the departure being considered especially important during midterm election years, as it allows candidates seeking reelection to hit the campaign trail. Now, however, Trump has demanded that the Senate cancel its summer recess this year to both "debate the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act and advance a budget reconciliation package to fund the Iran war," according to a Wednesday morning report from The Hill."GOP senators are divided over whether to cut short the five-week break, which would take vulnerable Republican incumbent Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Jon Husted (Ohio) and Dan Sullivan (Alaska) away from the campaign trail," The Hill detailed. "They’re also at odds over whether to dive into what Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) warned would be a 'risky' attempt to pass a budget package that contains billions of dollars for an unpopular foreign conflict, as well as funding for farmers and election-related reforms."The report continued: "Looming over it all are the fast-approaching midterms and festering frustration among some Republicans about the curveballs being thrown by the president. Trump and his allies are pushing hard for the Senate to vote as soon as next week on a budget resolution to unlock the process to advance a $95 billion proposal drafted by the House to help cover the costs of the Iran war — even though Thune warned last week that such a proposal doesn’t have 50 Republican votes to advance in the Senate."According to sources within the party conference, Trump's demand that some or all of the August recess be cancelled to pursue these dicey and unpopular legislative proposals has "sparked a firestorm" among Republicans that could get ugly."It has the potential to blow up [the conference]," one anonymous Republican Senator told The Hill. “It’s a very divisive concept.”Other Republican senators are warning that the SAVE Act remains unlikely to pass and that cancelling the summer recess would not change that fact. In fact, the attempt "will only wind up disappointing GOP base voters when they fail to deliver" on Trump's demands.
Read at Alternet.org →Raw StoryFar Left
'Get it done!' Trump fumes at Senate Republicans blocking 'first step' for election plot
President Donald Trump fumed at Senate Republicans on Tuesday over their continued blockage of his legislative agenda. Trump has repeatedly called for Senate Republicans to pass his SAVE Act, which would overhaul the way U.S. elections are conducted, before their August recess. However, Republicans have shot down those calls, arguing that there are not 60 votes to pass the bill and that they are unwilling to eliminate the filibuster to do so. Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social that Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has a scheme up his sleeve to pass part of the bill before the recess, which he called a "critical first step." He then fumed at Republicans to "get it done!""Senator Ron Johnson is working hard with Senate Republican Leadership to adopt a Budget Resolution before the August recess," Trump wrote. "This is the first step towards getting as much of THE SAVE AMERICA ACT as possible in a Budget Bill, funding our Troops, and helping our Farmers." "I am calling on the Senate to get this critical first step done before the August recess," he added. "This Resolution can be adopted at a simple Majority threshold. GET IT DONE!"
Read at Raw Story →Salon.comLeft
Trump is going all in on the SAVE America Act. It could make voting harder for millions
Republicans are pushing to get historically restrictive voter ID bill to the president’s desk
Read at Salon.com →