President Donald Trump walked into a Senate Republican lunch and found the old Washington machine still humming.
.@POTUS arrives for lunch with the @SenateGOP on Capitol Hill.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 24, 2026
PASS THE SAVE AMERICA ACT! pic.twitter.com/5vUn2vmUbJ
The names change, the furniture gets polished, and yet the excuses survive every election. From Just the News:
President Donald Trump and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., reportedly traded fierce barbs over the Iran war during a closed-door lunch with Senate Republicans.
Cassidy and Trump have been at loggerheads after the president endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La., in the Senate primary, ultimately contributing to Cassidy's elimination from the contest. But Cassidy has been in Trump's crosshairs since his 2021 vote to convict him in his second impeachment trial.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Cassidy told lawmakers that Trump had berated lawmakers over a Senate vote on a war powers resolution demanding an end to the Iran war. When Trump asked for an explanation, Cassidy said that he offered his own.
“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on. It was supposed to last four weeks, it’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved and I want to know what’s going on,’” he said, according to The Hill.
Trump's clash with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) over Iran became the flashpoint, but the deeper fight is larger than a single lunch. Cassidy joined Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in backing a war powers resolution that rebuked Trump's handling of Iran.
The Senate passed it 50-48, with Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) opposing it and two Republicans absent. Cassidy, already on his way out after losing his reelection bid, didn't look like a man trying to help a president govern; he seemed like a man enjoying one last swing.
The Daily Caller shares examples of the breakdown between some Republicans.
Two sources familiar with the lunch told the Caller that Republican Pennsylvania Sen. David McCormick took some heat from the president for missing the Senate war powers vote on Tuesday, which passed the Senate 50-48. The nonbinding resolution directs the president to remove forces from Iran or seek congressional approval to continue the war.
McCormick was absent for the vote because he accompanied Trump at his Pennsylvania rally Tuesday.
Trump similarly railed against Republicans like Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Kentucky Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul over the war powers vote. Murkowski and Paul voted with Democrats in favor of the resolution while McConnell did not vote.
“Lots of unity, lots of Republican love on Republican love,” Paul sarcastically said following the lunch.
“Number one, the president was mad as a murder hornet about the war powers vote, and I don’t blame him,” Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said. “Put yourself in his shoes, he’s right in the middle of delicate negotiations.”
Trump also took the opportunity to lobby senators about the SAVE America Act, an election integrity bill requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration and voter ID.
Trump argued that Republican voters would be inspired to turn out in November if the Senate successfully passes the SAVE America Act, according to one source familiar with the conversation. Another source told the Caller that Trump “outright told Thune he needs to be a leader and get the votes for SAVE.” (RELATED: Democrats Are Turning Out In Droves — Even In MAGA Country)
“Do the talking filibuster if you have to,” Trump said, according to the source.
The lunch reportedly turned hot when Trump confronted Cassidy. Trump had reason to be angry; a president working through war, negotiations, and a divided Congress doesn't need Republican senators handing Democrats a symbolic victory for cable-news applause. He needs the party that promised voters a new direction to act like it believes its own promises.
Yet Iran was only part of the story. Trump also pushed Senate Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act, formally called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. The bill amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.
The House passed it; the White House has been pressing for it, yet Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has allowed it to drift into the Senate fog.
Americans aren't confused about the basic principle; voters may argue over the fine print, but large majorities support proof of citizenship to register to vote. The idea isn't exotic; a country has borders, elections belong to its people, and a ballot isn't a hotel key, a library card, or a coupon. It's a piece of national power handed to one voter at a time.
The Senate's problem isn't a lack of time; it's a lack of will. Republicans know the filibuster math; they know Democrats will fight the SAVE America Act because Democrats benefit from making election rules looser, murkier, and harder to audit. They also know the public is far closer to Trump than to the Senate's professional foot-draggers.
Still, too many senators prefer process to pressure.
Thune's job isn't easy, but neither is the job Trump was elected to do. Voters didn't return Trump to Washington so Senate Republicans could admire the difficulty, schedule another vote, lose predictably, and call the matter handled. They returned him to break the pattern; if Senate Republicans can't pass an election-security bill with broad public support, what exactly are they saving their courage for?
🚨WATCH: President Trump says he had a "really great" meeting with Senate Republicans and the party is "really well unified."
— Off The Press (@OffThePress1) June 24, 2026
"We like everybody really in the room. I don't like a few people, but that's okay, I think you know who they are." pic.twitter.com/VZ3WFsNgPi
Cassidy's posture makes the picture even uglier. Losing a primary is painful, so is watching a party move on without you. But senators aren't sent to Washington to settle personal scores. When short-timers and wounded Republicans spend their remaining power needling Trump, blocking his agenda, or helping Democrats embarrass him, they aren't pushing Trump alone; they're punishing the voters who asked for action.
Trump's temper gets headlines because temper is easy to describe. The Senate's lethargy does more damage because lethargy wears a suit and calls itself procedure. A country tired of porous elections, open-ended wars, and Republican excuses can see the difference between a president pushing and a Senate waiting.
Trump is demanding action, while Senate Republicans keep counting excuses.
But something they're overlooking is that the voters are counting, too.
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