Washington — President Trump’s abrupt decision to cancel his signing of a bipartisan housing bill on Wednesday cast a shadow over his meeting with GOP senators at the Capitol, where Republicans have grown increasingly frustrated by a series of moves that have upended their plans.
Mr. Trump huddled with members of the GOP conference over lunch for more than an hour. One GOP senator, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, said he confronted the president over the war with Iran and described the heated exchange for reporters.
Cassidy, who lost his Senate primary to a Trump-backed challenger in May, said he told the president that “our original objectives have not been achieved, and I want to know what’s going on.” He said he would be voting to rein in the president’s ability to strike Iran “until I get a briefing.”
“At which point, as I recall, he did not particularly care for my comments. Raised his voice,” Cassidy said. “I lost my temper. That’s not appropriate. It’s the Irish in me. But I, again, matched his tone and his volume.”
Heading into the meeting, Mr. Trump planned to push for an elections bill known as the SAVE America Actwhich GOP leaders have repeatedly stressed has no chance of passing.
He had also been slated to sign a bill aimed at lowering housing costs into law while at the Capitol. But hours before the signing ceremony, he announced he was canceling the signing “until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT.”
The president said earlier in the day that the housing bill, which marked a major bipartisan breakthrough on a key issue ahead of the midterm elections, “pales in comparison” to passing the SAVE America Act.
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The SAVE America Act would impose strict new rules for registering to vote and casting ballots, among other things. The president’s demand to pass it has been a headache for Senate GOP leaders for months. Democrats staunchly oppose it, arguing it would disenfranchise millions of eligible voters. A handful of Republicans have indicated that they also wouldn’t back it, meaning it would fall short of the 60-vote threshold typically needed to advance legislation in the Senate.
The math hasn’t stopped Mr. Trump and his allies from pushing for the Senate to take it up anyway. The president, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and some conservatives in the House have pressured Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other Republicans to eliminate the filibuster to get the bill through. But the GOP leader has made clear that the votes aren’t there to change the Senate’s rules or execute a “talking filibuster,” which would grind the chamber’s work to a halt.
Thune told reporters after the lunch that Republicans had a “robust conversation” with the president, who he said made his views on the SAVE America Act “very clear.”
“We know how he feels on it. I’m not sure what the takeaway was for him regarding that, but I think it’s fair to say that, you know, we’ve made the point a number of times, as you know, that we don’t have the votes. But that’s not a conclusion, obviously, he would like to see us draw.”
When asked by CBS News whether there was pushback on the SAVE America Act’s path forward during the meeting, Thune said, “It was mostly the president talking about the priority he places on it, and the pathway he thinks there is to getting an outcome or a results.”
“So it really wasn’t, on that particular issue, much of a back-and-forth,” Thune said.
The administration has appeared out of step with the GOP majority in recent weeks, with a number of poorly timed announcements that have forced Senate Republicans to adjust. Last month, the Justice Department’s announcement of an “anti-weaponization” fund upended long-sought funding for immigration enforcement agencies. And just last week, the president threw a wrench in the upper chamber’s plans to confirm his newest pick for director of national intelligence, which would have resolved an impasse over a lapsed warrantless surveillance program.
The president has withheld his support for legislation to increase pressure on lawmakers before. Earlier this year, Mr. Trump threatened not to sign most other bills until Congress passes the SAVE America Act. Last week, Mr. Trump said he wouldn’t reauthorize the surveillance authority unless the elections bill was included.