Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) responded to the Trump White House on Thursday after press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president is getting impatient about passing the Save America Act.
Thune has always said he doesn’t think there are enough Senate votes to pass Trump’s voter ID bill.
The president has asked Republicans to end the filibuster so the bill can move forward.
During a press briefing, The Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese asked Leavitt if Trump was frustrated the Save America Act hasn’t passed the Senate yet.
Leavitt said, “His patience is running out.” She added that the president wants as much of the SAVE America Act passed as possible before the August recess.
She said the president spoke about it recently and got a big applause from people at his event.She explained that voter ID is common sense and that people want to make sure voters are who they say they are.She also said the president feels strongly about this.
Leavitt concluded by saying, “The American people elected overwhelmingly Republicans to not just this White House, but also the House and the Senate.” She added, “The House did its job, the Senate needs to do its job too.”
Later, Thune told reporters, “Well maybe [Leavitt] or somebody else ought to get on the phone and get the votes, right?”
He added, “It’s 50 around here, and so instead of pointing the finger at Republicans, they might think about going after the people who are stopping it on the floor, which is the Democrats, and if there are Republicans that they think are gettable, get on the phone.”
Thune had previously dismissed Trump’s idea that a “talking filibuster” could be used to wear down Senate Democrats and force a vote.
He said, “What people don’t realize is it’s all unlimited debate, but it’s also unlimited amendments.
You have to have unified support, not only in support of the ultimate goal, which is the SAVE America Act, on the process to be able to defeat amendments that would undo the legislation in the first place.We can’t find a piece of legislation in history that’s been passed that way.”
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