President Donald Trump went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday hoping to rally Senate Republicans behind his agenda, but instead spent much of the meeting pressing Republicans who had broken with him on Iran — a confrontation that was followed hours later by two key senators reversing their positions on a separate war powers vote.
Trump had intended to focus on his legislative priorities, including the SAVE America Act, his proposal requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote. Instead, Tuesday’s Senate vote on Iran dominated the closed-door lunch after four Republicans joined Democrats in approving a war powers resolution calling for congressional approval before further U.S. military action against Iran.
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Cassidy pushes back
According to senators who attended, Trump demanded to know why Republicans had supported the resolution. Sen. Bill Cassidy answered that lawmakers still had not received a full briefing on the conflict.
“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on,'” Cassidy told reporters after the meeting.
Cassidy said Trump repeatedly interrupted him before both men raised their voices.
“He did not particularly care for my comments, raised his voice,” Cassidy said. “I lost my temper. It’s the Irish in me. But again, I matched his tone and his volume.”
Cassidy later said he had no regrets.
“I make no apologies for standing up to the president,” he said. “I’m sticking up for the American people, even if I’m speaking to the president.”
CNN reported Trump called Cassidy a “lunatic” during the exchange. Asked later whether that happened, Cassidy didn’t dispute it, saying only that he could imagine the president using language “that would be said on a school playground.”
Republicans reverse course
The political fallout came quickly.
By late Wednesday, Senate Republicans blocked a separate Democratic-led war powers resolution that would have required Trump to remove the U.S. military from Iran unless authorized by Congress.
Cassidy, who had voted with Democrats on a similar measure the day before, changed his vote after what he described as a “thorough” meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Sen. Rand Paul also switched his vote, saying his decision followed Wednesday’s lunch with Trump.
The late-night vote did not affect the House-led war powers resolution the Senate approved Tuesday, which remains in place.
More than Iran
Iran wasn’t the only issue dividing Republicans.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump postponed plans to sign a bipartisan housing affordability bill, saying he wanted Congress to first pass the SAVE America Act. Several Republican senators have publicly questioned that strategy, noting the elections bill does not currently have enough support to clear the Senate.
Leaving the Capitol, Trump brushed aside suggestions that the meeting reflected deeper divisions inside the party.
“I think we had a really great meeting,” he told reporters. “We like everybody really in the room. I don’t like a few people, but that’s okay.”
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