Sen. Rick Scott told his colleagues: “I want everyone to speak up about what they think is the best path forward.”
Republican senators seem less willing to draw a line with President Trump’s policies.
President Trump and Republican senators are working to develop a common agenda with four months left until the midterm elections.
WASHINGTON – A conflict has been simmering between President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans in recent weeks.
The Justice Department’s ill-fated Anti-Weaponization Fund, the Iran war, President Trump’s campaign retaliation, and the controversial interim spy director have all caused problems with the Republican-controlled White House and the Republicans who control the Senate.
Those frustrations may be on the verge of boiling over.
President Trump will make an unusual trip to the Capitol on Wednesday, June 24, for a luncheon with Republican senators. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida), who invited the president, said in a message to his colleagues that he looked forward to a “robust conversation” about “how we should spend the time between now and the November election.”
“I hope everyone will have their say on the best path forward,” he said in a memo obtained by USA TODAY.
This high-stakes sit-in could be a chance for Republicans to finally collectively convince the president what they’ve been telling him individually for months. Some of the president’s biggest legislative requests likely won’t have the support to pass. Many of these senators want President Trump to refocus on advancing other priorities, including the farm bill, highway bill, defense policy and avoiding another government shutdown.
But if things go wrong, it could deepen the rifts that are already threatening the Republican Party’s messaging strategy ahead of the midterm elections.
SAVE method
As Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) puts it, some Republicans are simply tired of the recent “bickering.”
“I want to focus on all the good things that we’re missing, because too many people focus on our differences,” said retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina).
The day before the Senate session, President Trump told reporters he wanted to talk to senators about the SAVE America Act, a voting restriction bill that is one of his top priorities.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) has consistently said there aren’t enough votes to pass legislation that would require documentation of citizenship to vote, among other election-related changes. In order to pass the bill anyway, President Trump is pushing to abolish the filibuster, the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.
Such a change could have a dramatic impact, allowing the majority party to pass more partisan legislation.
“John is a leader, and I hope he gets the votes,” President Trump said on the tarmac during a visit to Pennsylvania.
But that same morning, Thune reiterated what he called “facts on the ground” about the current Senate vote calculations. He said there aren’t enough Republicans who want to “override the filibuster” and that “all of a sudden you’re not going to get 10 Democratic votes supporting the SAVE America Act.”
“Those are just the harsh realities,” he said.
Scott said he believed the meeting would be “very positive” and that he believed the president was realistic about the legislative challenges at hand.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) said he was looking forward to meeting President Trump. But he couldn’t predict what lawmakers would say to him.
President Kennedy said, “I have no idea what’s going to happen.” “I can’t predict the future. Like everyone else, I can only wait and see.”
Contributor: Francesca Chambers, america today
Zachary Schermele is USA TODAY’s Congressional Correspondent. You can email us at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him at @ZachSchermele on X and @zachschermele.bsky.social on Bluesky..
