Trump to meet with Republican senators at luncheon
by Lisa Hornung · UPIJune 24 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump will meet with Republican senators Wednesday at a luncheon designed to heal differences among party members.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., invited the president to the lunch, which he hosts weekly on Capitol Hill. He said he was talking to the president on the phone Friday about several issues when he invited Trump to come to the meeting.
"I just bring people to lunch and create a conversation, and I think there's a greater chance something good will happen," Scott told The New York Times.
In a memo to his colleagues, Scott said he hopes the meeting will include "robust conversations" about "how we should spend our time between now and the November elections," USA Today reported.
Scott told the Times that he hopes the group will discuss plans to avoid another government shutdown in September, but he said Trump "continues to want to pass the SAVE America Act, and there's other issues -- cost of living, stuff like that."
Trump has been pushing the SAVE America Act for months, but lawmakers have said there aren't enough votes in Congress to get it passed.
The law would require voters to prove their citizenship before they register to vote, and critics say it could disenfranchise millions.
On Tuesday in Pennsylvania, Trump told reporters that the election bill would be his main focus at the meeting.
"Well, we're just going to talk about SAVE America," he told reporters in Reading, Pa. "We have to pass it. So we're going to have to talk about that, and many other things."
When a reporter asked Trump about Senate Republican leader Sen. John Thune's belief that the legislation wouldn't pass, Trump implied that Thune, R-S.D., could get it passed.
"That's what being a leader is about," he said. "John is a leader, and hopefully he can get the votes."
SAVE Act co-sponsor Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said on Monday, "It doesn't have the votes, and so it's time to talk about something else."
But Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, continues to push for the bill on X.
"At tomorrow's meeting between President Trump and Senate Republicans, do you want your senators to advocate (1) FOR, or (2) AGAINST trying to pass the SAVE America Act?" he wrote.
But Thune told reporters, "I appreciate that it's his prerogative to communicate how he wants to communicate, but at the end of the day, I have to deal with reality. And sometimes the alternative universe that is X doesn't reflect the facts on the ground."
Thune also said he hopes other Senators will back him up.
"Our conference is pretty well aware and conscious of where the votes are on these issues and so, yes, it is always helpful if others would speak up and it's not just me," Thune told reporters. "I've made that point many times, but it is always good to have it reinforced by others."
This week in Washington
President Donald Trump presents a Medal of Honor to Tom Ripley on behalf of his father, John W. Ripley, during a Medal of Honor award ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Thursday. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo