WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Senate Republicans who were berated by President Donald Trump on Wednesday over opposition to his war in Iran held a late-night vote to try to appease him, voting down a war powers resolution a day after a similar measure passed.<\/p>\n
Trump harangued GOP senators face to face earlier in the day for allowing a\u00a0vote to block his war in Iran\u00a0on Tuesday, further escalating a feud that has diverted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability issues and brought much of the chamber\u2019s business to a halt. He exchanged particularly harsh words with\u00a0Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of four Republicans who had voted with Democrats on the measure.<\/p>\n
Hours later, though, Cassidy received a personal briefing on the war at the White House from Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff and returned to the Capitol to vote against a second war powers resolution. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican who has repeatedly voted with Democrats to halt the war, voted present instead of yes after a separate conversation with the White House, allowing the measure to fail.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to thank Vice President Vance and Special Envoy Witkoff for the thorough briefing this afternoon on Iran. I appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns,\u201d said Cassidy, who lost reelection last month after Trump endorsed his opponent, in a post on X.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear whether the move will be enough to appease Trump, who had called the Republicans \u201closers\u201d for voting against his war and had called Cassidy a \u201clunatic\u201d at the lunch after their tense exchange. But the vote was a clear signal to the president from Republican senators who still want to placate him, despite increasing tensions in recent weeks and his decision Wednesday morning to reverse himself and delay signing a housing bill that received overwhelming bipartisan support.<\/p>\n
Invited by Florida Sen. Rick Scott to speak at a GOP luncheon in the Capitol, Trump had signaled ahead of time that he would use the closed-door meeting to push senators to pass his\u00a0proof-of-citizenship voting bill. But the conversation was more focused on Tuesday\u2019s vote on war powers, a mostly symbolic measure that allows Congress to rebuke the administration\u2019s military actions. The House had passed its own version of the resolution earlier this month.<\/p>\n
Most Republicans stayed quiet. But Cassidy, who\u00a0lost reelection in his primary\u00a0last month after Trump endorsed an opponent, stood up and defended his vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stood and said, \u2018You have not told the American people what\u2019s going on,\u2019\u201d Cassidy told reporters after the meeting. \u201cThis was supposed to last four weeks, it\u2019s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two men \u201cwent back and forth,\u201d Cassidy said, and he \u201cmatched his tone and volume.\u201d Cassidy said that he eventually de-escalated, but he did not want to be bullied.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am voting for war powers until I get a briefing,\u201d he said afterward.<\/p>\n
Trump repeatedly told Cassidy to sit down, according to a person familiar with the private meeting who was not authorized to discuss it. At one point, the president called the senator a \u201clunatic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Publicly, Trump said afterward that they had \u201ca really great meeting.\u201d But he hinted at the discord.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe like everyone in the room,\u201d Trump told reporters on his way out. \u201dI don\u2019t like a few people, but that\u2019s OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
The luncheon capped weeks of friction between Trump and Senate Republicans and added a new layer of frustration as Tuesday\u2019s vote was the first time the Senate had adopted a war powers resolution on the Iran war. Trump made clear he was in no mood to compromise before it even started, calling off a scheduled signing ceremony on a\u00a0housing bill that passed both chambers overwhelmingly this week\u00a0and that GOP lawmakers were touting as an election-year achievement.<\/p>\n
Republican senators were eager for a conciliatory meeting with the president after escalating tensions in recent weeks. But Trump upended their plans when he declared on social media just beforehand that he wouldn\u2019t sign the legislation until they send him the SAVE America Act, his bill to require proof of citizenship for all voters.<\/p>\n
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he doesn\u2019t know why Trump is holding the housing bill \u201chostage\u201d for the voting bill that \u201cwill never pass in this Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes no sense to me,\u201d Tillis said as he walked into the luncheon.<\/p>\n
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the housing legislation, which aims to lower costs, is \u201can affordability issue,\u201d Thune said, \u201cand eventually I hope he finds a way to sign it.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear if Trump might veto the legislation. But by rejecting a public bill signing, Republicans worry that Trump is indicating a level of indifference to voters\u2019 affordability concerns heading into November\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s move on the housing bill is his latest reversal after weeks of being at odds with Senate Republicans.<\/p>\n
Trump has blocked the Senate from confirming\u00a0one of his own nominees, asked them to\u00a0fund parts of his White House ballroom project\u00a0despite opposition and forced them to defend the\u00a0Iran war\u00a0even as they\u00a0question the strategy and endgame.<\/p>\n
Trump has also helped whittle down his own support in the Senate after endorsing primary challengers to two GOP incumbents who were previously reliable votes for his agenda \u2014 Cassidy and Texas Sen.\u00a0John Cornyn. Both men have become more critical of Trump since losing reelection.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re going to win the midterm elections, we need to get on the same page,\u201d Cornyn said ahead of the meeting. \u201cWe\u2019re not on the same page now, and that I think is dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump has pressed Republicans for months to kill the Senate filibuster and focus on the\u00a0proof-of-citizenship voting bill,\u00a0even though Thune has repeatedly told him that\u00a0neither has the votes.<\/p>\n
While Thune remains popular in his conference and cordial with the president, he has spent much of his time lately telling Trump what he doesn\u2019t want to hear. Thune said Tuesday that while Trump and some in their conference want to see the voting bill pass, \u201cit\u2019s just not realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump has also demanded that they add a ban on mail-in ballots to the bill as well as unrelated provisions to block sex reassignment surgeries on some minors and prevent transgender women from playing in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n
Thune devoted weeks of floor time to the voting bill earlier this year and has said he supports it. But he has repeatedly said there aren\u2019t enough votes to scrap the filibuster that triggers a 60-vote threshold to pass most bills in the 53-47 Senate. And Democrats are uniformly opposed to the bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are just hard realities,\u201d Thune said. \u201cAnd I think people at some point have to come to grips with that.\u201c<\/p>\n
Scott did not give Thune a heads up before inviting Trump to the Wednesday luncheon, which he runs. Scott, who ran against Thune for leader two years ago, said Trump responded on the spot to his invitation while the two were talking last week and said he would come.<\/p>\n
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday that he had talked through a different approach on his call with Trump \u2014 putting the voting bill on a budget reconciliation measure that would only need a simple majority to pass. He has proposed a federal grant program that would provide funding to states if they implement various SAVE Act provisions.<\/p>\n
But the process is long and complicated, and Republicans are divided over how to proceed.<\/p>\n
A handful of senators are also still pushing the bill. Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah has amassed a large following on X with daily posts about how they should kill the filibuster and pass the bill, echoing Trump\u2019s claims that Republicans need it to win in this year\u2019s midterms, even after sweeping victories in 2024.<\/p>\n
Scott said Trump spelled out during the meeting the various options the Senate could pursue is passing the SAVE Act.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe really believes it\u2019s the key to this fall,\u201d Scott said of Trump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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