Trump: Senate Republicans ‘ look like fools’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump slammed Senate Republicans on Saturday, saying they “look like fools” and urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to change the chamber’s rules so the party can pass legislation with 51 votes.
But a McConnell aide said it’s not going to happen.
The president began the day after firing Reince Priebus, the former Republican National Committee chairman with relationships on Capitol Hill, by attacking his party’s Senate GOP caucus after its members failed to pass a health overhaul bill.
He also posted on Twitter that Senate Democrats, if they had the chance, would change the chamber’s rules to pass bills with 51 votes.
In one of several Twitter posts Saturday morning, Trump wrote that McConnell “must get rid of 60 vote NOW!” because the threshold to end debate and move to a final vote is “killing the R Party, allows 8 Dems to control country.”
He alleged that “200 Bills sit in Senate” and cannot be voted on, calling the situation “A JOKE!”
In a confusing post, Trump criticized Republicans’ use of budget reconciliation rules — which allow legislation to be passed with the same 51-vote threshold he is advocating.
He wrote that “reconciliation is killing R’s in Senate,” then taking his plea directly to McConnell: “Mitch M, go to 51 Votes NOW and WIN. IT’S TIME!”
McConnell made his stance clear in April — the first time Trump made this call. A McConnell spokesman on Saturday said his views have not changed.
“There’s no sentiment to change the legislative filibuster,” the Kentucky Republican said then. Asked if he was committing to not changing the rules to end debate on legislation while he is the GOP leader, McConnell replied: “Correct.”
Trump disagrees. “They look like fools and are just wasting time,” Trump wrote of his party’s senators in a series of posts that suggest the president does not fully grasp Senate rules or its dynamics.
Trump contended Saturday morning that terminating the 60-vote rule to pass legislation with 51 votes would help the GOP “complete Healthcare.”
But no health care bill McConnell put on the floor got 50 Republican votes late this week.
The president also went after Senate Democrats, saying that if they regain the majority, “they would switch to a 51 majority vote in first minute. They are laughing at R’s. MAKE CHANGE!”
An aide to Sen. Charles E. Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said Saturday that Schumer opposes changing the rules to get rid of the 60-vote threshold.