EXCLUSIVE — Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is taking a long view of his relationship with President Donald Trump, telling the Washington Examiner that he won’t let a disagreement over the filibuster spoil what has so far been a constructive partnership.
“I think the president understands, he’s got a job, I have a job. They’re different, but we sort of need each other,” Thune said in a sit-down interview. “Even in this circumstance, if we don’t get what he wants, there’ll be another battle down the road, and we’re going to have to work together.”
Thune is referring to a weekslong flashpoint over the SAVE America Act, a voter ID bill that has strained GOP unity and created one of the first true ruptures between Trump and Senate Republicans since he returned to the White House.
Thune insists his relationship with the president is still “strong” and that the two leaders have the same goals for the Republican Party, including on the SAVE America Act. (Thune and most Senate Republicans are co-sponsors.)
But Trump has relentlessly pressured Thune to pass the bill, something the majority leader says is not mathematically possible due to GOP reluctance to weaken the filibuster.
Currently, it takes 60 votes to pass most legislation in the Senate, and Thune only has a 53-seat majority. The SAVE America Act, which passed the House narrowly in February, has drawn near-universal opposition from Democrats.
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“In many cases, the incentives are aligned. We’re headed toward the same objective, same goal,” Thune said of his relationship with Trump. “But we have a different process for how to get there – in the Senate, at least.”
“I can do my best, but you got 52 other Republican senators who have their own vote and their own views on a lot of these issues, and so try as I may, I’m not gonna be able to persuade and convince all of them,” he added.
The rift is compounded by a difference in strategy on the midterm elections that came to a head earlier this year. The president has helped Thune clear the primary field in multiple states with the heft of his endorsement, but he is opposing Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), one of Thune’s incumbents, in Louisiana and has resisted his pleas to endorse Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in Texas.
In the interview, Thune said he was still holding out hope that Trump will get off the sidelines ahead of a May 26 runoff against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“I would hope, at least, that if the president finds his way to endorse in the race, that he would endorse John Cornyn,” Thune said.
Trump has qualified that an endorsement depends on “who’s going to get the SAVE America Act approved,” a factor that prompted Cornyn to announce earlier this month that he would support eliminating the filibuster.
A SAVE Act rough patch
For the last year, Thune has found a way to accommodate Trump, both legislatively and in terms of staffing his administration. He worked closely with the president to pass his signature tax law, despite a pressure cooker deadline Trump imposed and centrist opposition to its Medicaid reforms.
On nominees, Thune and Senate Republicans even went “nuclear” to allow the confirmation of dozens of Trump officials at once, a move that came after months of Democrats forcing time-consuming roll call votes.
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That cooperation has helped the two men move past a falling out over the 2020 election and Trump’s attempts to overturn it. At the time, Trump threatened to run a primary challenger against Thune over his criticism.
But Trump, who spent the last year singing Thune’s praises, has more recently needled him publicly over Senate inaction on the SAVE America Act.
The president has called on Thune to be a “leader” and find a way around Republican opposition on the filibuster. He’s also joined House rebels trying, so far unsuccessfully, to blockade Senate legislation.
Trump announced earlier this month that he would not sign anything into law until the SAVE America Act arrives on his desk, although he’s making an exception for Department of Homeland Security funding.
Thune briefly considered an old-school version of the filibuster that forces Democrats to hold the floor and speak if they want to prevent a bill from passing by a simple majority. But he judged that there weren’t the GOP votes for that approach, either.
Thune has told the president that Democrats would be able to “target” him in that scenario with an unlimited number of amendment votes, some of which he said would “inevitably” pass and become part of the legislation.
“I’ve been very straightforward, candid, in how I see this playing out, just based on my experience and my knowledge of where the votes are,” Thune said. “I think he gets that. But again, he is very passionate about this subject and desperately wants to see us succeed and get an outcome.”
Instead, Thune has set in motion days of debate on the SAVE America Act to ease GOP divisions and put Democrats on the record. Yet the exercise will end with a motion to cut off debate and advance the bill that will require the usual 60 votes.
“We’ll get everybody on the record. But I’ve made it very clear, I can’t guarantee an outcome,” Thune said of his conversations with Trump.
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In a statement, the White House echoed Thune’s assessment that their relationship is “strong” and praised him for working with Trump to “deliver major wins for the American people, including the Working Families Tax Cut Act.”
“The president will continue collaborating closely with Leader Thune to get the Save America Act across the finish line,” said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, who called it “hugely popular” and the “single most important piece of legislation that Congress could pass.”
Trouble ahead
Thune will face a new round of upset when the Senate finally moves to end debate on the SAVE America Act, with Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), the bill’s lead co-sponsor, warning it would be “suicidal” for Republicans if they don’t do everything possible to get the bill through Congress.
But Thune has worked to soften the blow, at least within his own conference, by involving Lee in lengthy conversations on how debate proceeds. He’s also worked with the White House legislative affairs team to tweak the SAVE America Act in a way that builds Republican support.
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Trump has asked Congress to add a ban on voting by mail to the legislation, a request that risks dividing Republicans as the bill comes up for a vote. As a compromise, Thune’s staff worked out a “hardship” exemption that allows states to determine when absentee ballots should be allowed in a bid to keep GOP senators largely united.
Republicans are, for the most part, supportive of transgender policies Trump has asked them to tack on as well, one that would restrict surgeries for minors and another preventing biological males from competing in women’s sports.
‘First responsibility of a leader’
Thune has more than Trump to consider in dealing with the SAVE America Act. He’s also attempting to keep his conference together amid an onslaught of grassroots pressure to pass the legislation.
Senate Republicans are fielding phone calls, emails, and letter-writing campaigns launched by outside activists who have managed to turn the MAGA base against Thune and any senator who won’t end the 60-vote filibuster.
Trump has fanned those calls, warning of an electoral wipeout if Republicans do not change course. A chorus of social media personalities and conservative pundits have stoked the backlash as well, with some going so far as to call for Thune’s removal as majority leader.
“Thune’s in an impossible position here, because people are going to beat him till he bleeds, and then they’re going to beat him for bleeding,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), one of the few Senate Republicans who plan to oppose the SAVE America Act on a final vote.
Thune said his job as majority leader, a role he assumed a little more than a year ago, is to ignore those voices and relay to the president what can be accomplished in the Senate. He’s also resisted efforts by House rebels to influence his behavior, agreeing to have a conversation with his conference about the talking filibuster, but nothing more.
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“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. And I think you’ve got to make clear what the prospects are,” Thune said.
“You’ve got people out there who overpromise and create false expectations about what’s achievable. And so, I have to be the person that bears the news that this is where the votes are, this is what the math is.”