John Thune is not giving Donald Trump the legislative pause he wants, and the split is now spilling into the fight over the filibuster and a possible nominee showdown. The Senate majority leader said he is trying to finish the session so members of his caucus can leave to campaign, even as Trump presses him to put everything else on hold.
That is why the John Thune Donald Trump communication is being watched now: it is not just a personality clash, but a test of how much leverage Trump still has over Senate Republicans when the calendar is working against them. Thune said Trump gets frustrated because he sees him as the roadblock to what he wants, then added, “Math is math … He thinks I can wave the magic wand. I wish it were that easy.”
Trump on Thursday said he was prepared to withdraw Todd Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general rather than give in to demands from two Republican senators. He also said on social media that he could wait until John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina were out of office in the next Congress and then reappoint Blanche. Cornyn answered with the kind of warning Trump cannot simply brush aside: there is no guarantee the next Senate will have a majority willing to confirm Blanche.
Thune’s resistance goes beyond one nomination. He refused to do Trump’s bidding when Trump tried to freeze all legislative business until Congress passed the SAVE America Act, and he and his caucus also turned down Trump’s demand to eliminate the filibuster. Thune said he was trying to avoid a drawn-out intraparty fight in the final stretch before voters go to the polls, warning that spending “60 or 90 days” with Republicans fighting Republicans would be counterproductive in a high-stakes election season.
The pressure is building in budget talks as well. One obstacle to a reconciliation bill is Democratic demands, backed by some Republicans such as Susan Collins of Maine, that Congress kill a proposed OMB rule that would give Trump’s White House political control over all federal grants. One option under discussion is a continuing resolution that would keep the government funded through December 4 and would sideline the rule, but only if Congress can move quickly enough to clear the way.
There is a broader pattern behind all of this. Trump is treating Senate leverage as something he can wait out, but Thune is signaling that time works against him too, not just against holdouts. In South Carolina, where a dozen Republican candidates have filed for the August 11 primary election and a top-two runoff is set for August 25, Trump’s endorsed candidate, Darline Graham, is said to be largely unknown in local political circles. Most South Carolina pols would be surprised if she even made the runoff. That makes the message from the Senate harder for Trump to ignore: his influence still matters, but it no longer guarantees control.
