Trump's 'patience is running out' with John Thune, White House says
Trump's 'patience is running out' with John Thune, White House says
Joey Garrison, USA TODAYThu, July 23, 2026 at 7:04 PM UTC
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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's patience is wearing thin with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, according to the White House, as the top Senate Republican struggles to unite his party to pass legislation Trump has demanded to overhaul voting in federal elections.
"His patience is running out," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a July 23 briefing. "He wants to see as much as much of the SAVE America (Act) passed as possible by the August recess. He's knows that's what the American people want to see passed."
Leavitt's remarks came after Trump singled out Thune, R-South Dakota, during a July 22 speech in Marietta, Georgia, as the president urged Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act ‒ a stalled bill Trump wants passed before the midterm elections that would require proof of citizenship and voter ID to vote and prohibit universal mail-in voting.
"I'm trying to be nice, trying to be really nice," Trump said. "But we're not going to take it much longer when they can't get passed voter ID, proof of citizenship, no mail-in ballots, because they're crooked as hell."
"They should terminate the filibuster," the president added. "Everybody call John Thune at the Senate ‒ he's the leader of the Republican Party ‒ and tell him to get this stuff approved."
More: Republicans are forging ahead with a plan for Trump's SAVE Act. Is it doomed?
Thune pushes back: 'Get on the phone and get the votes'
The president has long called for Senate Republicans abolish the filibuster, the Senate's 60-vote threshold, to allow Republicans to pass the legislation with a simple majority in a chamber they control by a 53-47 margin. Yet it's unclear whether the proposal has enough support to pass even if there were no filibuster, with four Senate Republicans signaling opposition to the bill.
Thune fired back in response to Leavitt's remarks. "She or somebody else ought to get on the phone and get the votes, right?” he told reporters. "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."
More: Donald Trump is hard to please. Has Mike Johnson cracked the code?
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More: What's in the SAVE Act and how would voters be impacted?
The Republican-led House of Representatives has passed the SAVE America Act three times, but it has failed to move in the Senate.
In a push to bypass a Senate filibuster, House Republicans on July 22 approved a $95 billion budget framework backed by House Speaker Mike Johnson that includes elements of the SAVE America Act. Johnson's goal is to pass the bill through a budget process called reconciliation, which would require a simple majority in the Senate. Yet the Senate parliamentarian could strike down an attempt to pass a voting overhaul as a budget bill.
"I have to say, Mike Johnson and Congress have done a great job, but we're having a hard time in the Senate. The Senate, what they're doing, it's just not right," Trump said. "It's like the Senate is a place that you send things when you want them to die."
Votes for SAVE America Act to clear Senate still not there
Trump warned of vulnerabilities in U.S. elections and accused China of election meddling in a primetime speech to the nation last week that sought to rally support for the SAVE Act less than four months before the midterms, when Republicans are at risk of losing their majorities in Congress. The president, however, exaggerated the scale of the election vulnerabilities, according to experts, and relied on some intelligence that was already public.
More: Trump downplays China's election meddling. 'We do things to them, too'
Despite Johnson's legislative efforts in the House, it is unclear whether a reconciliation bill with elements of the SAVE Act would have the support of 50 senators to pass the Senate.
All Senate Democrats have expressed opposition to the SAVE America Act. In addition, four Republicans ‒ Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina ‒ each voted against a motion in June to add the legislation to a Republican budget package.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's 'patience is running out' with John Thune, White House says
Source: “AOL Breaking”
