What's Trump's beef with Senate Republicans?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover politics.
I'm Sam Greenglass. I cover Congress. And I'm Frank Ordonez. I cover the White House.
Today on the pod, tensions between President Trump and Senate Republicans are reaching a breaking point. And Sam, it seems that in short, the president wants something that the Senate can't give him. And it's creating all kinds of drama.
Yeah, drama might be even a bit of an understatement here. President Trump really wants Congress to pass this legislation called the Save America Act. It's this strict voter ID law. It also includes a whole bunch of other controversial voting provisions. But the thing you need to know about it is that it does not have 60 votes to pass the Senate to get around the Senate filibuster. So Trump has been trying to push the Senate to get rid of the filibuster and to also fire the Senate parliamentarian who has ruled that this could not be included as part of a party line vote that would only need 50 senators. Trump also keeps trying to attach it to other pieces of legislation, including agenda items that he really wants.
Just the other week, a last minute threat from Trump ended up holding up a vote on this party line bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol that is crucial to Trump's own agenda. So this continued push keeps getting in the way of other stuff.
For someone who likes to look powerful, as President Trump does, why is he pushing for something that Senate leaders say doesn't have the votes?
This is how President Trump works. I mean, he is always pushing and pushing. I mean, whether it's a loyalty test. These are the things that he wants. These are the things that he's doing. And he's, you know, has always kind of bullied and bullied to get his way.
What is President Trump’s demand for the Save America Act and why is it causing drama?
And Congress, like so often, has been unable to accomplish many of the things that he wants. And he either doesn't realize what Congress needs to do or what can do, or he just doesn't care because... He simply continues to push and make these expectations even when they can't, whether the votes are not there. And that's why you always see him calling for like the filibuster to be pushed out.
Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana last week said Trump has two modes. He says he's a friend of the president and he basically is either unengaged on a particular policy issue or he wants to move at the speed of light. And clearly on this issue, the Save America Act, Trump wants the Senate to move at the speed of light. And they have not done that.
This all brings us to last week and the nomination of Jay Clayton for the director of national intelligence. And there was this Trump post gleefully throwing a wrench in the works to, quote, add a slight bit of intrigue, as he put it. Franco, can we just back up a bit and explain why this was such a big deal to Republican senators? Like, how did we get to this Jay Clinton thing?
Yeah, I mean, it goes back to who Trump initially picked to replace Tulsi Gabbard in this role. Trump picked Bill Pulte, who is right now still the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Very controversial character, very big Trump supporter, but he had no intelligence experience, none. And so many of the Republicans, obviously Democrats as well, but really did not feel like he was the right person for this job. It raised all sorts of concern considering how much important work this role is. And like you said, I mean, Trump, I think this is just kind of another example. of how this president just puts people who are loyal to him, put his own people into roles that don't have the requisite experience that is needed for these roles.
Certainly not the requisite experience that these members of Congress, including the senators, felt was necessary.
So Trump, to appease Republican senators, announces that he is nominating Jay Clayton to be the long term director of national intelligence.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:08
2
What is President Trump’s demand for the Save America Act and why is it causing drama?
2:08–5:40
3
Why can’t the Save America Act clear the Senate filibuster threshold?
5:40–6:28
4
How has Trump tried to force the Senate’s hand on voter ID and the parliamentarian?
6:28–15:52
5
How did Trump’s midnight post derail the Jay Clayton confirmation and FISA vote?
15:52–21:34