'I'm trying to be nice': Trump piles pressure on Thune over SAVE America Act

Trouble likely awaits a budget resolution tied to the SAVE America Act as it heads to the stubborn upper chamber of Congress.

On Wednesday, the House passed a $95 billion budget resolution, 216-214, carrying with it important incentives for states to pass the SAVE America Act, alongside funding for Iran-related operations and farm aid.

'It's like the Senate is a place that you send things when you want them to die.'

The $95 billion package includes $73 billion for defense and intelligence funding, $12 billion for agricultural aid, and $10 billion in election-related funding for states, a key aspect of the SAVE America Act.

The bill itself is five primary issues: voter ID, proof of citizenship to register, an end to universal mail-in ballots, and bans on transgender athletes in women's sports and transgender surgery for minors.

The SAVE America Act is now sitting with a Republican-controlled Senate that is in apparently no rush to deal with it.

Trump ramped up his pressure campaign against Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) at a Georgia rally Wednesday, urging supporters to flood Thune's office with calls demanding action on passing the budget bill and, eventually, the SAVE America Act.

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He credited Johnson and the House for doing their part, but blamed the Senate for the holdup: "It's like the Senate is a place that you send things when you want them to die."

“We’re not going to take this any longer. … I’m trying to be nice; I’m trying to be really nice,” Trump added.

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) also suggested on X that Thune should "step aside" if he won't act.

Politico's reporting from inside the GOP conference shows the resistance runs well past the three sitting holdouts — Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).

A source familiar with the matter told Blaze News that Thune is prioritizing the continuing resolution to avoid another shutdown and that the budget resolution is in reserve.

Asked Wednesday how close he was to 50 votes, Thune said only, "Good question."

By Thursday, he was blunter: "I can't count to 50 right now on a budget resolution."

Per Politico, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters Wednesday he doesn't expect Thune to take it up at all; Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) isn't sure the votes exist in the first place; and newly named Budget Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said there has been no formal conversation yet.

Thune himself has asked colleagues, "Is the juice worth the squeeze?"

Reconciliation needs only a simple majority, as opposed to the 60-vote threshold for passing bills into law. Even so, the bill has failed twice — once in April and again in June — with Collins, Murkowski, Tillis, and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voting no alongside every Democrat both times.

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Earlier this month, Speaker Johnson called the package "our best shot" at 50 votes plus Vice President JD Vance as the tiebreaker. For now, McConnell's indefinite absence drops the vote count to 99, meaning Republicans need a plain majority. One holdout flipping to yes still passes it outright, while an abstention reopens a possible 49-49 tie, putting Vance's tiebreaker back in play.

Only if all three hold firm does the package fail.

Asked directly at Tuesday's weekly Senate GOP leadership press conference whether the House's reconciliation push is more than an academic exercise, Thune demurred: "We'll see ... what they get done this week and what it all consists of."

He confirmed the Senate would "hold" any budget resolution the House sends over — but specifically as a fallback to fund the government, not to advance the SAVE America Act.

"I hope that's not necessary," he said, noting he's already having "productive conversations" with Democrats on a separate funding deal to carry the government past the November election.

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