Trump and the GOP

The Hill -   Tensions are rising between President Trump and Senate Republicans, and their disagreements spilled into public view this week when GOP senators repeatedly used amendment votes on a $70 billion budget reconciliation bill to create distance from the president.

Three Republican senators facing tough races in November — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), John Husted (Ohio) and Dan Sullivan (Alaska) — scrambled to distance themselves from some of Trump’s most controversial recent proposals, such as construction of a 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom or his proposed “anti-weaponization” fund, during a marathon vote series on the reconciliation bill.  

Republican senators who lost their re-election primaries last month due to Trump’s support for their opponents, such as Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), are becoming more assertive in voicing their independence.

And Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), who is trying to keep Trump’s agenda moving on schedule, is having to put out fires in the Senate Republican conference left and right because the White House and the administration has announced some of its most controversial moves right before critical Senate votes, roiling GOP whip counts on Capitol Hill.