Thune Pulls Stunt Before Trump Arrives At Capitol
Trump then returns to the White House to meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at 3:30 p.m. ET. This is also closed to the press.
However, things took a turn on Wednesday morning when Trump announced a last-minute cancellation of the signing of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.
Trump said he will not sign the landmark housing affordability bill until the Senate passes the SAVE America Act.
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While Trump was on the way to the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Thune made some interesting comments to CNN about the president’s ultimatum.
He also refused to commit to passing the Save America Act.
Thune told CNN that Trump’s decision to cancel signing the housing bill today was his “call,” but he hopes he will eventually sign since it deals with affordability.
“That was his call to make. What I would say is that the bill has been worked on for a long time. It is a great piece of legislation. It increases the supply of housing and the availability for people to afford homes. So, it’s an affordability issue, and eventually I hope he finds a way to sign it,” Thune said.
The word “affordable” was used quite a few times by Thune, which many online took as a subtle jab at the president, given it’s a major political issue in the country.
However, a recent report revealed that Senate Republicans apparently will not vote to pass the Save Act as a way to “get back” at Trump.
According to multiple sources cited exclusively by the Daily Caller, Thune acknowledged during a Republican lunch meeting last Wednesday that some GOP senators oppose Trump so strongly that they would never support the legislation regardless of its merits.
The alleged remark came during a discussion about the SAVE America Act, an election integrity bill championed by Trump allies and sponsored in the Senate by Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee.
Several sources familiar with the meeting confirmed to The Daily Caller that tensions escalated as lawmakers debated the bill’s prospects.
One source told the outlet that the reported exchange “totally happened.”
Thune’s office strongly disputed the account.
“This is a baseless claim, and it is unequivocally untrue,” a spokesperson for the majority leader told the Daily Caller.
The disagreement reportedly unfolded during a contentious conversation involving Lee, Thune and Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn.
According to sources familiar with the meeting, Cornyn – who lost his primary earlier this month to Trump-backed Texas AG Ken Paxton – and Thune questioned Lee’s strategy for advancing the legislation.
The confrontation was first reported publicly by Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio.
Desiderio wrote on X that Republican senators confronted Lee during the closed-door lunch over his push for the SAVE America Act.
According to Desiderio’s reporting, some senators argued that Trump had been led to believe the legislation could pass the Senate, creating frustration when that outcome appeared unlikely.
Lee argued that the legislation already enjoys majority support in the Senate.
He acknowledged that the bill currently lacks the 60 votes generally required to overcome a filibuster.
However, he insisted Republicans still have procedural options available.
Thune argued that Republicans do not have sufficient support to eliminate the legislative filibuster, which would be required to guarantee passage under current Senate rules.
The SAVE America Act has become a flashpoint within the Republican Party because it combines election-related reforms that enjoy strong support among many conservative voters with procedural hurdles that make passage in the Senate difficult.
