Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) pushed back Thursday against White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt after she said President Trump's patience is running out over the Senate's failure to advance the SAVE America Act, election security legislation that has cleared the House three times but remains stalled in the upper chamber.
The public disagreement marks a new level of friction between the Trump administration and Senate Republican leadership, with both sides trading blame over why the bill has not reached the Senate floor for a vote. Leavitt told reporters at Wednesday's White House briefing that Republicans were elected to lead both Congress and the executive branch, and that the Senate needs to act.
What the Right Is Saying
Leavitt said at Wednesday's briefing that Trump wants as much of the SAVE America Act passed as possible before the August recess. 'The American people elected overwhelmingly Republicans to lead, not just this White House, but also the House and the Senate,' she said. 'The House did its job. The Senate needs to do its job, too.'
Thune responded Thursday by saying administration officials should be making calls to secure votes rather than criticizing Republicans publicly. 'Maybe she or somebody else ought to get on the phone and get the votes,' Thune told reporters. '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.' He added that if there are persuadable Republican senators, White House officials should be working to bring them aboard.
President Trump amplified his frustration Wednesday at a rally in Georgia, telling supporters to call Thune's office. 'The Senate is a place where you send things when you want them to die,' Trump said. 'We're not going to take this any longer.' He also renewed calls to eliminate the filibuster, arguing Democrats would do so themselves if they regain power.
What the Left Is Saying
Senate Democrats have broadly opposed the SAVE America Act, arguing it amounts to unnecessary restrictions on voting rather than election security. The legislation has faced criticism from progressive groups who say measures bundled with it could suppress voter turnout among minority and low-income communities.
Democratic senators have also noted that the current 60-vote filibuster threshold makes it difficult for any major legislation to advance in the evenly divided Senate, a point that has become central to Republican arguments about changing Senate rules.
What the Numbers Show
The House passed the SAVE America Act for the third time Wednesday by attaching it to the GOP-backed Stop Insider Trading Act, which would ban members of Congress from buying and selling stocks. The combined bill passed 232-198, with 13 Democrats joining Republicans in support.
That vote marked the first congressional stock-trading ban to receive a House floor vote. The legislation now faces an uncertain path in the Senate, where Republicans hold exactly 50 seats alongside Vice President JD Vance's tie-breaking vote.
The Bottom Line
The dispute reflects deeper tensions within the Republican Party over legislative strategy and Senate procedures. Thune has maintained that with only 50 Republican votes, passing legislation requires Democratic support or rule changes, while Trump and House allies argue the Senate should find a way to advance priorities voters supported in November.
Trump's push to eliminate the filibuster could come to a head if negotiations continue to stall. Any change to Senate rules would require majority support from Republican senators, several of whom have previously expressed reluctance to eliminate the 60-vote threshold. What happens next may depend on whether the White House and Senate leadership can coordinate their efforts before the August recess.