Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s back is up against a wall.
Thune’s tumultuous split with Speaker Mike Johnson over DHS funding has the South Dakota Republican under increasing pressure from all sides, including from President Donald Trump and some rank-and-file GOP senators.
The White House believes it’s unsustainable for the Senate to stay out of session for two weeks while DHS isn’t funded. House Republican leadership is privately sniping at Thune for what they consider a dumb political move. Hardline GOP senators are calling on him to bring the chamber back into session immediately.
This jam is one that Thune has sought to avoid since becoming Senate GOP leader 15 months ago, coordinating very carefully with Republican senators, Johnson and especially Trump. This clash is particularly tough for Thune: Johnson’s rejection of the unanimous Senate deal to end the DHS shutdown has re-ignited Trump’s push to get rid of the filibuster and jam GOP priorities through Congress while they still can.
Filibuster fight. Senate Republicans’ anger at Democrats for blocking DHS funding — even though House Republicans rejected the Senate bill — is leading more of them to embrace Trump’s calls to get rid of the filibuster.
Trump is taking full advantage. He’s using the GOP infighting to press his case once again, including directly to Thune during a Sunday phone call. The pair spoke again on Monday, we’re told.
Several GOP senators told us there’s a sense that Trump is using the DHS funding crisis as a pretext to get rid of the filibuster so that he can achieve his ultimate goal — passage of the SAVE America Act.
“John has done a good job at holding the line. But I am very troubled by what I see right now,” said a GOP senator who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “It feels like that line is starting to evaporate a bit.”
Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) was noncommittal on the filibuster when asked on Monday, but said Thune was “absolutely” handling the situation well.
“It does protect important conservative policies that we have to be very mindful of,” Hoeven said of the filibuster. “So you have to look at the immediate battle and the longer-term war.”
Trump praised Thune on Sunday but he also told reporters that being a leader means Thune has to work to “get the votes” to nuke the filibuster.
Thune has proven skilled as the firewall against Trump’s prodding over the filibuster and other institutional norms in the Senate. Thune has been able to avoid direct conflict with the president while consistently rejecting Trump’s missives.
But Thune now finds himself at an inflection point with Trump and many of his colleagues who want him to cut short the chamber’s two-week recess and go nuclear.
“What do DHS funding and the SAVE America Act have in common? A lot,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said. “And they’re both casualties of the Senate being too eager to recess — even when pending, urgent business remains unresolved.”
Inside Thune’s thinking. To put it bluntly, Thune feels like he’s been thrown under the bus. His allies have taken issue not only with Johnson’s approach to the DHS funding fight but also with the insinuation that Thune somehow tried to pull a fast one on House Republicans by cutting a deal with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last week.
Some of Thune’s biggest critics right now — Lee and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) among them — could have objected to the Senate deal but chose not to, his allies note. Plus, not a single GOP senator showed up to try to pass the House’s 60-day DHS CR during the Senate’s pro forma session on Monday, despite them clamouring for a return to D.C.
Johnson’s move also sapped momentum from a second budget reconciliation effort, which Republicans intend to use to fund ICE and CBP, as well as other priorities. Thune had been skeptical of another reconciliation bill, but now he’s on board, something House Republicans should be happy about. Johnson’s rejection of the Senate bill only delays that process.
That doesn’t mean Thune is absolved of responsibility here to try to end the crisis. The House made its move, and now it’s up to the Senate to respond. And it’s a terrible look for Republicans to stay on recess for the full two-week break. TMZ is posting photos of lawmakers on vacation while DHS remains shuttered.
Yet as far as the Senate is concerned, cutting short the recess is looking unlikely.
Hoeven said Monday that GOP leaders were still exploring a path forward with Democrats that could get unanimous consent, potentially before the next pro forma session on Thursday. But that’s probably wishful thinking. Most Republican senators still believe the best path is for the House to take up the Senate bill.
“We sent the bill over there so that if some Republicans wanted to vote no, they could have voted no. Ultimately, we think it would have passed,” Hoeven said.
In the meantime, Thune opposes trying to reconvene for a normal session if there’s nothing to do other than hold “show votes,” as he told GOP senators on Sunday. Plus, it requires unanimous consent to break the pro forma schedule.
