John Thune has yet to be branded with a derisive nickname from Donald Trump, but the president and his team have turned up the heat on the Senate majority leader. Yet, GOP sources are banking that the South Dakotan has the support of his caucus.
The latest Republican-on-Republican drama has yet to reach full-blown Washington feud level. But tensions are definitely picking up as the legislative days tick away and what’s left of Trump’s second-term agenda hangs in the balance. With the Senate slated to leave in the coming days for a monthlong recess, Thune has shown no signs of bringing Trump’s prized elections overhaul bill, dubbed the SAVE America Act, to the floor, angering the president.
One former senior GOP Senate aide, G. William Hoagland, now of the Bipartisan Policy Center, said Friday “the president should not and cannot be successful with his attacks on Thune,” adding: “Thune will survive because the Senate itself must and will survive.”
“I had the opportunity to meet with a couple of Republican senators recently, and they told me Thune had the complete support of his caucus — with a couple of outliers,” Hoagland said. “Ending the careers of Bill Cassidy and John Cornyn by the president was viewed by many as a direct attack on the body and members who had been supportive of the administration. It was an attack that Thune and many others will not long forget.”
