From today’s MS Now:
For months, President Donald Trump has relentlessly pressed Congress to pass the SAVE America Act. An increasing number of Republicans say it’s time for him to change course.
“He wants to go it alone, his way to the highway, and it don’t work,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who’s retiring at the end of the year, told MS NOW. “He’s trying to pound the square peg through the circle, and it doesn’t work.”
After two failed votes in the Senate, unheeded calls to nuke the filibuster and countless attacks from Trump, Republican holdouts haven’t budged. Instead of forcing Democrats into politically difficult votes ahead of the midterms, Republicans have spent months highlighting their own divisions — with little to show for it.Another House Republican, who requested anonymity to discuss the internal dynamics of the debate, said Trump just can’t change the reality of the Senate.
“The Senate does not have the votes to pass it, and no matter how much everybody wants to push on it, it’s not gonna move through the Senate unless through reconciliation,” the member said. “And that’s just a reality.”
Yet another House GOP lawmaker was more succinct: “Republicans — those of us who can do math — would like the president and other members to recognize that there isn’t a path forward.”
As Trump continues his pressure campaign — he managed to mention the SAVE America Act during his July Fourth speech on the National Mall on Saturday night — several Republicans say it’s time for him to pivot. Instead of trying to force GOP skeptics in line, some lawmakers said Trump should consider a compromise with those holdouts, or even with Democrats.
“There’s things that we should be able to do,” the House GOP lawmaker said, “but we’re so focused on legislation that will never get a Democratic vote and won’t make it through the reconciliation that it’s stopping all progress.”
Read the complete story here.