President Donald Trump’s problems with Congress have gotten so bad that he sent his chief of staff to Capitol Hill to clean up the mess.
Senate Republicans have handed Trump, 80, a headache even his sleepless nights can’t match. They have stalled his latest obsession, the SAVE America Act; refused to eliminate the filibuster; failed to advance a budget package; and two of them are stalling on his attorney general nominee.
Trump appears to have realized his usual playbook—public attacks, pressure campaigns, and political arm-twisting—isn’t breaking through. So he dispatched his chief fixer, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, 69, to the Hill on Wednesday for meetings with GOP leadership, according to Politico.
According to people familiar with the discussions who spoke with Politico, Wiles’ message was that the White House recognizes the Senate is stuck and wants to find a way forward.
One source told the outlet that the meeting was supposed to signal to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, 65, and GOP Whip John Barrasso, 74, that the administration was looking for solutions amid stalled priorities: “A lot is stalled in the Senate… what can we do?”
“Thune basically said: ‘I want to move the president’s agenda whenever it has the votes,’” the source told the outlet. Another person familiar with the meeting described the conversation as “candid,” but said it did not produce any major breakthrough.
A White House official told Politico that the meeting was part of a “regular” effort to advance the president’s agenda.
Thune’s reported reaction is hardly surprising given the tensions that have been building between the Senate majority leader and the president in the past months.
Thune has repeatedly warned that there are not enough votes to pass the SAVE America Act, which would introduce mandatory ID and proof of citizenship for voters, while Trump has pushed to cancel a planned five-week August recess until the bill and the elimination of the filibuster are passed.
Trump doubled down on that demand in a Truth Social post Monday, writing: “John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER.”
He added: “Republicans can then quickly pass everything they ever dreamed of, including a full and deep throated SAVE AMERICA ACT, the Budget, and the ever looming Debt Ceiling disaster, 1929!”
Speaking in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump criticized Thune’s handling of the restrictive voting bill, saying it was “too bad for him and too bad for the Republican Party. He’s got the votes. He should get it done.”
But Thune has continued to push back, arguing that he supports advancing Trump’s agenda when there is a realistic path to success. “If I thought there was a path to getting a result, I’m all for it,” he said, while voicing frustration over the president’s demands: “Show me how this ends. What’s the picture of victory at the end?”
Last Thursday, 28-year-old White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt joined Trump’s pressure campaign against Thune, warning at her press briefing that the president’s “patience is running out” with Senate Republicans over their repeated failure to move the SAVE America Act.
“The House did its job, the Senate needs to do its job too,” she said.
Thune fired back, suggesting the White House’s frustration was misplaced. “Maybe she or somebody else ought to get on the phone and get the votes. Right? It’s 50 around here,” the Senate majority leader said, according to The Hill.
The MAGA world has also erupted into a blame game, targeting “establishment” Republicans for blocking Trump’s agenda, particularly the passage of the flagship election bill that would impose new proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration and other election rules that could make it harder for some eligible Americans to vote.
Conservative lawyer Mike Davis attacked Thune, calling him “a pussy” and accusing him of hiding behind the need for 60 votes to pass the bill. Davis claimed the measure could move with a simple 51-vote majority, a reading of Senate procedure that doesn’t match reality.
Under current Senate rules, the SAVE America Act would need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster unless Republicans first change the rules to eliminate the legislative filibuster—a move neither party has been willing to make.
“You can’t show how high the importance of this issue is to the president other than bringing in Susie,” a former Trump adviser told Politico. Wiles has often been tasked with cleaning up the president’s messes and has reportedly tried to steer Trump’s focus toward affordability issues ahead of the November midterm elections.
“If there is an ability to land it, the president is certainly putting pressure on Susie to land it. It’s still an uphill battle,” the adviser added.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
