By David Morgan
WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s derailment of a U.S. Senate plan to pass a key national security bill this week is only the latest example of a growing rift with Senate Republicans, who are more willing to defy the commander-in-chief in the run-up to the November midterm elections.
Aiming to protect his controversial choice of loyalist Bill Pulte as acting U.S. spy chief, Trump forced the Senate Intelligence Committee to postpone a confirmation hearing for U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, his permanent nominee for director of national security, who Republicans had hoped to fast-track into the job.
“He made a colossal mistake,” Republican Senator Thom Tillis said of the president’s move. “It’s undermining our ability to produce the very results he wants.”
It was the latest in a series of actions by Trump that have upended Senate Republican plans to move major legislation intended to forward his agenda. Last month, his announcement of a $1.8 billion “antiweaponization” fund to compensate political allies who claim to have been victimized by federal authorities stalled a $70 billion bill to fund his immigration crackdown.
Trump has also ruffled Senate Republicans by unseating sitting incumbents, demanding $1 billion tied to his White House ballroom and the passage of his voter ID bill, the SAVE America Act, and by calling on the party to end the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster and fire the parliamentarian.
SAYING ‘NO’ TO TRUMP
As a result, Senate Republicans have begun to say “no” to Trump’s more extreme demands including passage of the SAVE America Act, which would require lawmakers to do away with the filibuster because of vigorous opposition from Democrats.
“I think the president wants to add SAVE America to pretty much everything,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters after Trump first called for the package of voting restrictions to be added to the surveillance bill. “But that, obviously, is not realistic to get the FISA bill done. And we want to get the FISA bill done.”
The result has been a deeper division between Trump and Senate Republicans less than five months ahead of the November midterm elections.
“I think we’re in for a bumpy seven months or so,” predicted Senator John Cornyn, who lost his primary reelection bid to Trump-backed challenger Ken Paxton last month.
But not all Republicans agree that Trump’s actions have been disruptive.
“He’s doing things that people want,” said Senator Rick Scott, a Florida hardliner who hopes to see warrant requirements added to FISA legislation. “Americans – Republicans, Democrats, independents – want election security. They want voter ID and stuff like that. And they don’t want to be surveilled.”
OUTRAGE OVER PULTE
Trump’s selection of Pulte as acting intelligence chief sparked outrage among Democrats and some Republicans over the housing regulator’s lack of national security experience, and prompted Democrats to boycott legislation to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, for fear that Pulte would use his position to attack Trump’s perceived political enemies.
The president also doubled down on his demand that Senate Republicans attach the FISA legislation to his voter ID bill, the SAVE America Act, a package of sweeping voter restrictions that Democrats vigorously oppose.
Lawmakers and independent analysts say Trump’s longstanding disregard for Congress and the demands of legislating is coming into sharper focus now that Senate Republicans are confronting half a dozen competitive midterm races at a time when Trump’s foreign policy and trade initiatives have raised costs for voters.
“I think he really doesn’t see Congress as an entity for making deals with. He sees it as something subservient,” said Molly Nixon, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute.
LACK OF TRUST
Others said Trump has caused distrust by unseating Republican incumbents including Texas Senator John Cornyn, who has been seen as a reliable supporter of the president’s agenda.
“That destroyed what remained of any kind of trust,” Cornyn said. “That changed the playing field in a way where you’ll see a lot more of what I would call transactional relationships, as opposed to ones based on trust.”
Less than a year and a half into his second term as president, Trump has seen his approval ratings fall from 47% around the time of his inauguration to only 36% this month, slightly above his all-time low of 33% during his first term, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling data. Among Republicans, his approval has dropped significantly over the same period.
Thune’s willingness to stand up to Trump and defend the integrity of the Senate has earned him the respect of his conference and even Democrats, despite the hyperpartisanship of Congress.
“I happen to have a lot of respect for Senator Thune,” said Democratic Senator Peter Welch. “Trump wants him to fire the parliamentarian. He wants him to get rid of the filibuster. And I see Thune as doing his best to maintain the independent integrity of the Senate.”
But that has also raised questions for Thune, who was asked by reporters about his relationship with Trump on Wednesday.
“It’s fine. The president has his own mind and makes his own decisions,” the South Dakota Republican said as he turned and walked away.
(Reporting by David Morgan; additional reporting by Nolan D. McCaskill; Editing by Michael Learmonth and Alistair Bell)
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