John Thune is facing pressure from Donald Trump over the SAVE Act, and Norm Ornstein said the Senate GOP leader is now taking abuse even after being loyal to Trump. Ornstein made the comments on the July 8 episode of The Daily Blast, where the fight was tied to Republican anxiety about the Senate this fall.
Ornstein said, “John Thune has been as loyal a leader to a president, and certainly to Donald Trump, as anyone could have wished.” He added, “And now he’s taking all of this abuse.” The contrast is the core of the dispute: Thune is being pulled by Trump’s demand for action while also absorbing criticism from inside the same party.
July 8 episode
The discussion on Greg Sargent and Norm Ornstein centered on Trump’s demand that Republicans pass the SAVE Act by attaching it to a must-pass defense spending bill. Trump also wants Republicans to end the filibuster to pass the SAVE Act in the Senate, a move that would erase the 60-vote hurdle and force a straight majority path. John Thune leads Senate Walks Back Rebuke on Iran, 50-48 also shows how Senate Republicans are already handling pressure around Thune’s leadership.
Ornstein said some Republicans fear Trump is setting them up. That concern sits behind the current argument: if Republicans take up the SAVE Act and the issue becomes a problem in the Senate race, blame would land on the people managing the floor fight as well as on Trump, who is pushing the demand from outside the chamber.
SAVE Act in the Senate
The SAVE Act would require proof of citizenship from everybody. Even people already registered would have to go back to the office and re-register with one passport, one passport card, or one embossed birth certificate. Ornstein said a woman who got married and changed her name would face additional hoops under the bill.
Mike Johnson is looking for a way to pass something he can call the SAVE Act to placate hardliners allied with Trump, but he wants to set aside the piece that would end mail voting. Rick Scott circulates shutdown plan as John Thune doubts FISA link reflects a separate Senate fight in which Thune has already been weighing pressure points from his own side.
John Thune and Senate Republicans
Republicans are getting more nervous about losing the Senate this fall, and Ornstein said that makes the SAVE Act fight more than a simple procedural dispute. If Trump keeps pressing for the bill and for an end to the filibuster, Thune and Senate Republicans will have to decide whether to carry that demand onto the floor or leave it at the door.
For now, the immediate pressure falls on Thune. He is described as loyal to Trump, but the same loyalty has not spared him from the abuse Ornstein said is now coming his way, and the next move in the Senate will show whether Republicans are willing to turn that pressure into a vote.
