Trump pressures Senate Republicans to move forward with budget draft

· UPI

July 24 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Friday pressured Senate Republicans to plow ahead with a $95 billion budget framework despite a clear lack of votes for the resolution.

Before leaving for summer recess, House Republicans this week passed a budget resolution that would include $73 billion for the military and intelligence agencies, $12 billion for farmers and $10 billion for election reform.

Were the Senate to pass a similar resolution, the move would trigger the budget reconciliation process, through which lawmakers can pass bills with a simple majority and avoid a filibuster.

"I am asking that the Senate adopt a Budget Resolution, which can pass with a simple Majority, before leaving for the August recess," Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social. "We are ready to work side-by-side with the Senate to get this done for the American People!"

But Senate Republican leader John Thune, R-S.D., isn't confident his party has the votes.

"As I've said before, you got to get to 50, and I can't count to 50 right now on a budget resolution," Thune told reporters on Thursday.

"We'll see," he added. "We'll have those conversations with the conference. The priority is funding the government -- to me that's the thing we got to keep our eyes on."

The Trump administration has spent the week increasing pressure on the Republican leader, as the president continues to push for the passage of the election-reform SAVE America Act.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday said Trump's patience with Thune is "running out."

A day earlier, Trump himself urged a crowd in Georgia to "call John Thune" to pass the act, which has thus far failed to gain enough support in Congress despite the president's attempts.

"This idea that he can just command members of the Republican conference to get in line is just a fantasy," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Politico. "So I think it's unfair.

"I don't know who it was that sold the president on this idea, that this was obtainable, but it's creating a circular firing squad for Republicans."

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Thursday. Photo by Samuel Corum/UPI | License Photo

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