Senate Republicans backtrack on Trump’s reprimands over Iran war powers – NBC4 Washington

Senate Republicans who have been chastised by President Donald Trump for their opposition to his war in Iran held a vote Wednesday night to try to appease him, rejecting a war powers resolution a day after passing a similar measure.

Trump harangued Republican senators face-to-face earlier in the day for allowing a vote Tuesday to block his war in Iran, further escalating a feud that has distracted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability issues and brought much of the chamber’s business to a halt. He exchanged particularly harsh words with Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of four Republicans who voted with Democrats on the measure.

Hours later, however, Cassidy was invited to receive a personal briefing on the war at the White House by Vice President J.D. Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff. Cassidy then returned to the Capitol to vote against a separate but nearly identical war powers resolution.

“I want to thank Vice President Vance and Special Envoy Witkoff for this afternoon’s in-depth briefing on Iran. I appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns,” Cassidy, who lost his re-election bid last month after Trump endorsed his opponent, said in an article on X.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican who repeatedly voted with Democrats to end the war, voted present this time “to give the president more space and leverage to negotiate a lasting peace,” he said on X. The measure failed 47-50-1 just before midnight Wednesday, and the Senate then left town for a two-week recess.

It’s unclear whether the move will be enough to appease Trump, who called Republicans “losers” for voting against his war and called Cassidy “crazy” at lunch after their tense exchange. But the vote was a clear signal to the president from Republican senators who still want to appease him, despite growing tensions in recent weeks and his decision Wednesday morning to reverse course and delay signing a housing bill that has received overwhelming bipartisan support.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and a small group of his Senate Republican colleagues called Trump after the vote. Thune told reporters the president was “pleased with the outcome.”

Trump later thanked Thune in a social media post and noted that Cassidy and Paul had reversed their votes. “This vote puts Iran on notice!” » he wrote.

The war powers measure blocked by the Senate on Wednesday followed a separate path from the nearly identical resolution passed Tuesday, which also passed the House. Both votes were largely symbolic and the measures do not have full force of law.

Cassidy had harsh words for Trump

Invited by Florida Sen. Rick Scott to speak at a GOP luncheon at the Capitol, Trump had signaled in advance that he would use the closed-door meeting to push senators to pass his citizenship voting bill. But the conversation focused more on Tuesday’s vote on war powers.

Most Republicans remained silent. But Cassidy stood up and defended his vote.

“I stood up and said, ‘You haven’t told the American people what’s going on,'” Cassidy told reporters after the meeting. “It was supposed to last four weeks, it lasted four months. Our initial objectives were not achieved.”

The two men “went back and forth,” Cassidy said, and he “matched his tone and volume.” Cassidy said he eventually eased the situation, but didn’t want to be bullied.

“I’m voting for war powers until I get a briefing,” he said afterward.

Trump repeatedly asked 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 “crazy.”

Publicly, Trump said afterward that they had “a very good meeting.” But he hinted at discord.

“We love everyone in the room,” Trump told reporters as he left. “I don’t like a few people, but it doesn’t matter.”

The lunch ended weeks of friction between Trump and Senate Republicans and added a new layer of frustration as Tuesday’s vote was the first time the Senate has adopted a war powers resolution on the Iran war. Trump made it clear he was in no mood to compromise before it even began, canceling a planned signing ceremony on a housing bill that overwhelmingly passed both chambers this week and that Republican lawmakers were touting as an election-year success story.

Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, pleaded with Donald Trump in the Senate to sign a housing affordability bill that passed Congress with broad bipartisan support. He said he would not sign the legislation until lawmakers pass a ballot measure known as the SAVE America Act.

Trump backtracks on housing bill

Republican senators were looking forward to a conciliatory meeting with the president after tensions escalated in recent weeks. But Trump upended their plans when he said just before on social media that he wouldn’t sign the legislation until they sent him the SAVE America Act, his bill requiring proof of citizenship for all voters.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he didn’t know why Trump was holding the housing bill “hostage” to a voted bill that “will never pass this Congress.”

“That doesn’t make any sense to me,” Tillis said as he walked into lunch.

Thune said the housing legislation, which aims to reduce costs, is “about affordability” and that “I hope eventually he finds a way to sign it.”

It’s unclear whether Trump could veto the legislation or whether Wednesday night’s vote will change his prospects. But by rejecting signing a public bill, Republicans fear Trump is showing a level of indifference to voters’ concerns about affordability as the November midterm elections approach.

Trump and Senate Republicans at odds

Trump’s decision on the housing bill is his latest turnaround after weeks of disagreement with Senate Republicans.

Trump blocked the Senate from confirming any of his own nominees, asked them to fund part of his White House ballroom project despite opposition, and forced them to defend the war in Iran even as they question the strategy and endgame.

Trump also helped reduce his own support in the Senate after backing primary challengers to two Republican incumbents who were previously reliable voices for his agenda — Cassidy and Texas Sen. John Cornyn. Both men have become more critical of Trump since losing re-election.

“If we want to win the midterm elections, we have to be on the same page,” Cornyn said before the meeting. “We’re not on the same page now, and I think that’s dangerous.”

The proposal would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require specific documents proving U.S. citizenship for a person to register as a federal voter.

Trump pushes Thune on SAVE America Act

Trump has pressed Republicans for months to end the Senate filibuster and focus on the citizenship proof voting bill, even though Thune repeatedly told him that neither got any votes.

Although Thune remains popular at his conference and cordial with the president, he has spent much of his time lately telling Trump what he doesn’t want to hear. Thune said Tuesday that while Trump and some in their conference want to see the bill passed, “it’s just not realistic.”

Thune spent weeks of time voting on the bill earlier this year and said he supported it. But he repeatedly said there weren’t enough votes to end the filibuster that triggers a 60-vote threshold for passing most bills by a vote of 53-47 in the Senate. And Democrats are unanimously opposed to the bill.

“I think at some point people have to understand that,” Thune said.

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Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

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