WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans who were berated by President Donald Trump on Wednesday over opposition to his war in Iran held a late-night vote to try to appease him, voting down a war powers resolution a day after a similar measure passed.
Trump harangued GOP senators face to face earlier in the day for allowing a vote to block his war in Iran on Tuesday, further escalating a feud that has diverted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability
issues and brought much of the chamber’s business to a halt. He exchanged particularly harsh words with Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of four Republicans who had voted with Democrats on the measure.
Hours later, though, Cassidy received a personal briefing on the war at the White House from Vice President JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff and returned to the Capitol to vote against a second war powers resolution. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican who has repeatedly voted with Democrats to halt the war, voted present instead of yes after a separate conversation with the White House, allowing the measure to fail.
“I want to thank Vice President Vance and Special Envoy Witkoff for the thorough briefing this afternoon on Iran. I appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns,” said Cassidy, who lost reelection last month after Trump endorsed his opponent, in a post on X.
It's unclear whether the move will be enough to appease Trump, who had called the Republicans “losers" for voting against his war and had called Cassidy a “lunatic” at the lunch after their tense exchange. But the vote was a clear signal to the president from Republican senators who still want to placate him, despite increasing tensions in recent weeks and his decision Wednesday morning to reverse himself and delay signing a housing bill that received overwhelming bipartisan support.
Invited by Florida Sen. Rick Scott to speak at a GOP luncheon in the Capitol, Trump had signaled ahead of time that he would use the closed-door meeting to push senators to pass his proof-of-citizenship voting bill. But the conversation was more focused on Tuesday's vote on war powers, a mostly symbolic measure that allows Congress to rebuke the administration's military actions. The House had passed its own version of the resolution earlier this month.
Most Republicans stayed quiet. But Cassidy, who lost reelection in his primary last month after Trump endorsed an opponent, stood up and defended his vote.
“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on,’” Cassidy told reporters after the meeting. “This was supposed to last four weeks, it’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved.”
The two men “went back and forth,” Cassidy said, and he “matched his tone and volume." Cassidy said that he eventually de-escalated, but he did not want to be bullied.
“I am voting for war powers until I get a briefing,” he said afterward.
Trump repeatedly told Cassidy to sit down, according to a person familiar with the private meeting who was not authorized to discuss it. At one point, the president called the senator a “lunatic."
Publicly, Trump said afterward that they had “a really great meeting." But he hinted at the discord.
“We like everyone in the room," Trump told reporters on his way out. "I don’t like a few people, but that’s OK.”
The luncheon capped weeks of friction between Trump and Senate Republicans and added a new layer of frustration as Tuesday's vote was the first time the Senate had adopted a war powers resolution on the Iran war. Trump made clear he was in no mood to compromise before it even started, calling off a scheduled signing ceremony on a housing bill that passed both chambers overwhelmingly this week and that GOP lawmakers were touting as an election-year achievement.
Republican senators were eager for a conciliatory meeting with the president after escalating tensions in recent weeks. But Trump upended their plans when he declared on social media just beforehand that he wouldn't sign the legislation until they send him the SAVE America Act, his bill to require proof of citizenship for all voters.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he doesn't know why Trump is holding the housing bill “hostage” for the voting bill that “will never pass in this Congress.”
“It makes no sense to me,” Tillis said as he walked into the luncheon.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the housing legislation, which aims to lower costs, is "an affordability issue,” Thune said, "and eventually I hope he finds a way to sign it.”
It's unclear if Trump might veto the legislation. But by rejecting a public bill signing, Republicans worry that Trump is indicating a level of indifference to voters’ affordability concerns heading into November’s midterm elections.
Trump's move on the housing bill is his latest reversal after weeks of being at odds with Senate Republicans.
Trump has blocked the Senate from confirming one of his own nominees, asked them to fund parts of his White House ballroom project despite opposition and forced them to defend the Iran war even as they question the strategy and endgame.
Trump has also helped whittle down his own support in the Senate after endorsing primary challengers to two GOP incumbents who were previously reliable votes for his agenda — Cassidy and Texas Sen. John Cornyn. Both men have become more critical of Trump since losing reelection.
“If we’re going to win the midterm elections, we need to get on the same page,” Cornyn said ahead of the meeting. “We’re not on the same page now, and that I think is dangerous.”
Trump has pressed Republicans for months to kill the Senate filibuster and focus on the proof-of-citizenship voting bill, even though Thune has repeatedly told him that neither has the votes.
While Thune remains popular in his conference and cordial with the president, he has spent much of his time lately telling Trump what he doesn’t want to hear. Thune said Tuesday that while Trump and some in their conference want to see the voting bill pass, “it’s just not realistic.”
Trump has also demanded that they add a ban on mail-in ballots to the bill as well as unrelated provisions to block sex reassignment surgeries on some minors and prevent transgender women from playing in women’s sports.
Thune devoted weeks of floor time to the voting bill earlier this year and has said he supports it. But he has repeatedly said there aren’t enough votes to scrap the filibuster that triggers a 60-vote threshold to pass most bills in the 53-47 Senate. And Democrats are uniformly opposed to the bill.
“Those are just hard realities,” Thune said. “And I think people at some point have to come to grips with that.“
Scott did not give Thune a heads up before inviting Trump to the Wednesday luncheon, which he runs. Scott, who ran against Thune for leader two years ago, said Trump responded on the spot to his invitation while the two were talking last week and said he would come.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday that he had talked through a different approach on his call with Trump — putting the voting bill on a budget reconciliation measure that would only need a simple majority to pass. He has proposed a federal grant program that would provide funding to states if they implement various SAVE Act provisions.
But the process is long and complicated, and Republicans are divided over how to proceed.
A handful of senators are also still pushing the bill. Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah has amassed a large following on X with daily posts about how they should kill the filibuster and pass the bill, echoing Trump's claims that Republicans need it to win in this year's midterms, even after sweeping victories in 2024.
Scott said Trump spelled out during the meeting the various options the Senate could pursue is passing the SAVE Act.
“He really believes it's the key to this fall," Scott said of Trump.
___
Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
