Senate Republicans grow increasingly frustrated with Trump blindsiding them

WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump scrambles to wrap up his war with Iran, he’s escalating another one much closer to home, against members of his own party in Congress. From the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in France, Trump ordered the Senate on Wednesday to cancel an afternoon hearing for Jay Clayton, his nominee to be director of national intelligence, and threatened not to sign a reauthorization of a critical surveillance law unless the Senate passed a sweeping election bill that has already failed — repeatedly. The hearing delay not only blindsided and frustrated Senate Republicans, but it also completely derailed Majority Leader John Thune’s carefully laid plans to fast-track the nomination in a bid to unlock Democratic votes for the now-expired spying program. Asked why Trump would pull the rug out from under them, Thune, R-S.D., said, “Good question.” The Clayton incident isn’t the first time in recent weeks Trump has made Thune’s life more difficult. Asked whether Trump and Senate Republicans are on different pages, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, replied, “It may not be so much a different page, but he’s turning it ahead without telling us about it.” The already fragile relationship is nearing a breaking point as Trump uses his clout to knock out senators in primaries, issue unachievable demands and repeatedly force the caucus into politically fraught positions. A number of Republican senators have expressed confusion, since his actions make it harder for them to push the White House’s own agenda forward. “It’s undermining our ability to produce the very results he wants,” said retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. He called the Clayton postponement “a colossal mistake.” GOP leaders pleaded with Trump to nominate a permanent national intelligence director after his acting pick, Bill Pulte, created a bipartisan firestorm on Capitol Hill over his lack of national security experience. Pulte is a close Trump ally and housing official who has pushed for mortgage fraud investigations into the president’s perceived enemies. Once it became clear GOP leaders were looking to move Clayton’s nomination quickly — meaning Pulte would never step foot in the full-time role — Trump decided to throw a wrench into the process. On Wednesday, after Trump instructed the Senate to stall his own nominee, some of his Republican allies said they’ve never seen anything like it before. “No. I’ve only been in the Senate for 11 years, so no, I haven’t,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., who is running for re-election with Trump’s endorsement. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement: “The White House and President Trump have enjoyed working closely with Leader Thune and Senate Republicans to deliver on many important promises to the American people, including the largest tax cut for working Americans in history, and the Secure America Act that fully funds the President’s border security agenda. We look forward to continuing these close relationships and fulfilling President Trump’s priorities that Americans elected him to enact.” Some rank-and-file Trump allies are trying to steer clear of the clashes. “You could probably talk to other people around here. I don’t get caught up in, like, the palace intrigue,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said when he was asked about Trump’s pushing to stall Clayton. “They tend to generally work themselves out.” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., repeatedly declined to answer questions from reporters Wednesday but, in announcing he would postpone the Clayton hearing, called the delay “regrettable.” Cotton’s Democratic counterpart on the committee, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said that “this is not a problem between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate,” placing the blame squarely on Trump. “He threw a live hand grenade into this whole process,” Warner said. It was just the latest instance in recent weeks of Trump’s timing disrupting his own agenda on Capitol Hill. His requests for $1 billion in ballroom security money delayed the ICE and Border Patrol funding bill. His administration’s announcement of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate allies stalled it even further. And his choice of Pulte came days before the FISA Section 702 program expired, ending any hopes of a deal by last Friday’s deadline. Adding to Republican frustration was Trump’s move to oust Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, with his endorsement of state Attorney General Ken Paxton in the primary. Not only is Cornyn well-liked among his colleagues, but GOP strategists also fear Paxton’s nomination will make it tougher to hold the seat this fall, boosting Democrats’ chances of winning control of the Senate. “It’s not about sympathy; it’s about basically being able to function,” Cornyn said when he was asked whether he’s sympathetic to Thune’s situation. “I think part of the problem is not President Trump, it’s us making unrealistic promises, and then when they’re not attained, then criticizing one another.” For Trump’s allies, the small slights are adding up. On Monday, when senators arrived at the Capitol for afternoon votes, they were flying blind in the face of questions about the emerging Iran deal. They weren’t given details, even as many of them have been asking to see the text of the memorandum of understanding. The White House sent them talking points later that evening, after they spent hours walking around the Capitol and addressing reporters. Asked Wednesday early afternoon about the memorandum of understanding with Iran, Schmitt replied, “The MOU that no one’s seen?” Even Thune appears to have been left in the dark. “We haven’t seen anything yet, so there’s nothing really at this point to react to,” he told reporters of the memorandum of understanding Tuesday morning, though Trump had announced the 60-day ceasefire Sunday. A senior U.S. official provided NBC News with a copy of the memorandum of understanding Wednesday, saying the U.S. originally held back on releasing the text at the request of Iran. Much of the tension stems from Trump’s inability to secure his top legislative priority of passing the SAVE America Act, a sweeping election law to impose voting limits in every state. Democrats vehemently oppose it, ensuring it can’t get the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate. And most GOP senators are resolute in their opposition to abolishing the filibuster — another persistent Trump demand — seeing it as a long-term protector of conservative priorities. Trump has also tried — and failed — to get Republicans to fire the parliamentarian, essentially the Senate’s referee, who has determined that the bill is ineligible for a simple-majority vote under Senate rules. And in a clear rebuke to Trump, his allies’ attempts to add it to the ICE and Border Patrol funding bill this month couldn’t even get 50 votes, losing four Republicans and failing 48-50. “The only way you could get there is to undo or get rid of the legislative filibuster, and there aren’t even close to the votes here in the United States Senate in order to achieve that,” Thune told reporters this month of the SAVE America Act. “It’s not something that we’re going to be able to get done absent having an election, electing some more Republicans.” Asked Wednesday about the Trump-Thune tensions, Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., said that Thune speaks for the Republican conference and that nobody is vying to replace him. She said Thune is right to candidly tell Trump the votes aren’t there to pass the election bill. “He should be as frank as he’s being,” Lummis said. “My favorite saying: Tell the truth; it’s easier to remember.”