Senate GOP headed for showdown with Trump over SAVE America Act, Iran deal

President Trump and Republican senators are headed for a collision Wednesday, when they will be meeting on Capitol Hill to discuss two major sources of strain: the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act and the Iran peace deal.

Republican senators are bracing themselves for an unpredictable, and potentially heated, discussion as tensions have been building with the president for weeks.

The meeting will give Trump’s critics within the GOP conference a chance to air their grievances like they did during an explosive meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche last month.

Yet, most Republicans are reluctant to challenge Trump to his face after watching him end the political careers of Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.) and John Cornyn (Texas) this spring by endorsing their political opponents in GOP primaries.

The biggest disagreement between Trump and many Senate Republicans centers on whether Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) should abolish the filibuster — or drastically change how the filibuster rule is interpreted — or fire the Senate parliamentarian to push the SAVE America Act past Democratic opposition.

“It’s probably Thune’s worst nightmare for many reasons. Donald Trump is so unpredictable, and Thune’s loyalty is to his conference and the Senate conference’s loyalty is to each other, it’s not to Donald Trump,” said a Republican strategist, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive dynamics of the meeting.

“Donald Trump is a complete wild card, and so anything can come out of this, and I don’t know that Thune has any choice but to have to agree,” the source added. “Pop the popcorn, it’s going to be great.”

Thune has repeatedly rebuffed Trump’s demand to abolish the filibuster, arguing he lacks the 50 votes in the Senate GOP conference that would be necessary to do so.

And Thune has resisted demands to force Democrats to actively hold the Senate floor with continuous debate — the so-called talking filibuster — as a way to break their filibuster of the SAVE America Act.

Thune has also pushed back on Trump’s call to fire Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, arguing she has made rulings that helped Republicans and warning that firing her could sow chaos in the chamber.

Yet Senate conservatives seem intent on........

© The Hill