{"id":3322,"date":"2026-06-19T14:02:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T21:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/friction-between-trump-and-republican-senators-is-growing-before-the-pivotal-midterm-elections\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T14:02:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T21:02:22","slug":"friction-between-trump-and-republican-senators-is-growing-before-the-pivotal-midterm-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/friction-between-trump-and-republican-senators-is-growing-before-the-pivotal-midterm-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Friction between Trump and Republican senators is growing before the pivotal midterm elections"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The relationship between\u00a0President Donald Trump\u00a0and Senate Republicans neared a breaking point this week as he\u00a0upended their efforts\u00a0to speedily confirm one of his own nominees and said he would not sign the renewal of a\u00a0key surveillance law\u00a0unless they agree to new terms.<\/p>

Read more President Donald Trump unveils the new Air Force One, a converted Qatari jet<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s overnight social media post Wednesday that he was delaying\u00a0Jay Clayton\u2019s\u00a0nomination to become national intelligence director, just hours before the U.S. attorney\u2019s confirmation hearing, further strained relations between the Senate and White House that have been worsening for weeks. Later that day, some Republican senators who have been hesitant to challenge the president directly on the\u00a0Iran war\u00a0were blunt in their criticism of\u00a0his deal to end it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the worst foreign policy blunder in decades,\u201d Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said in a post on X.<\/p>\n

The open tensions are an almost complete reversal from a year ago when Senate Republicans worked closely with Trump on a complicated effort to push through his\u00a0massive package of spending and tax cuts.<\/p>\n

At the time, criticism of the president was almost nonexistent among Republicans on Capitol Hill, and they planned to highlight passage of that bill in the midterms. But as the November election draws closer and Republicans are trying to defend their majorities, Trump is instead needling Congress with his demands and reversals, driving several Republican senators to disparage his actions publicly for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think somebody\u2019s not dialing the president into the complexities of what he\u2019s done here,\u201d Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said Wednesday after Clayton\u2019s confirmation was postponed. \u201cI mean, my God.\u201d<\/p>\n

The slow unraveling of what once seemed like an airtight alliance between the executive and legislative branches in a Republican-led Washington extends to their policy priorities.<\/p>

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Trump appears to have lost interest in most of the GOP agenda and has become almost singularly focused on his voting legislation to\u00a0require proof of citizenship, which has almost no chance of passing. At the same time, he has asked members of Congress to\u00a0fund parts of his White House ballroom project, allow a temporary intelligence director that\u00a0none of them like\u00a0and\u00a0cede their powers\u00a0on the Iran war.<\/p>\n

The growing rift has brought much of the Senate\u2019s business to a halt and put Republicans who are up for reelection this year on the defensive. It has also put pressure on Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has been up-front with Trump about what he can and cannot do in the Senate.<\/p>\n