This is an adapted excerpt from the May 21 episode of “All In with Chris Hayes.”
President Donald Trump is the weakest he has ever been in his second term. He is currently in the middle of his “revenge tour” against members of his own party who he has deemed insufficiently loyal to him.
He successfully mounted primary challenges against Republicans in both chambers: Thomas Massie of Kentucky in the House and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana in the Senate. What’s more, he basically pushed Thom Tillis of North Carolina out of the Senate. He also endorsed Sen. John Cornyn’s primary opponent in Texas, so his days are likely numbered as well.
It could not be clearer that Trump has completely alienated Senate Republicans, and now, it seems many may want revenge of their own.
But now, since all of these guys have nothing to lose, politically, do you think they are particularly eager to help pass his agenda now? Not a chance. They have learned that loyalty means absolutely nothing to this president.
It could not be clearer that Trump has completely alienated Senate Republicans, and now, it seems many may want revenge of their own.
After a catastrophic caucus lunch on Thursday, one anonymous member texted a Punchbowl reporter to say the majority is “melting down.”
Trump already lost a war powers vote in the Senate. And now it seems entirely plausible that the Democrats could have enough Republicans sign on to pass a bipartisan bill to block his “slush fund” for Jan. 6 rioters.
When Tillis was asked about whether the president’s $1.776 billion fund was legal, he told a reporter, “I’m not gonna be an attorney and judge its legality, but I think it’s stupid on stilts.”
“It will invariably put us in a position where your taxpayer dollars and my taxpayer dollars could potentially compensate someone who assaulted a police officer, admitted their guilt, got convicted, got pardoned, and now we’re gonna pay ‘em for that? That’s absurd. The American people are gonna reject this out of hand,” he added.
Cassidy also put out a statement against the fund and said it should be put before Congress. And I’m sure Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is locked in a tough re-election battle, is champing at the bit to prove her supposed independence to voters.
So this puts Senate Majority Leader John Thune between a rock and a hard place. Not only does he not have the votes to affirm the “slush fund,” he likely does not have the votes to stop a bill blocking it. He also does not want to have to stick around Washington, D.C., and keep answering questions about it.
What’s more, senators are starting to make some noise about the thing Trump really cares about: his ballroom.
Cassidy ripped into the proposal on Wednesday, telling reporters, “There’s no architectural plans, there is no environmentals, there’s no engineering,” and questioned the project’s billion-dollar price tag.
So what’s Thune’s big plan? Well, it seems the majority leader’s plan to dig his way out of this jam is simple: send everyone home.
Recommended
On Thursday, Thune told members they could start their Memorial Day recess early, because you can’t have a vote against the “slush fund” if the Senate isn’t in session.
But this problem is not going away, and, in fact, it is likely going to get worse as we get closer to the midterms.
Especially because Trump seems to get less popular by the day. His approval rating is already in the low 30s, and gas isn’t getting any cheaper.
This problem is not going away, and, in fact, it is likely going to get worse as we get closer to the midterms.
However, according to the president, everything is totally fine. When he was asked if he was “losing control of the Senate,” Trump immediately went on a rant about how he didn’t “need money for the ballroom,” and he had all the funds he needed.
Except, Semafor is now reporting that Trump is threatening to veto a Republican spending bill, according to four people familiar with the matter, if his own party does not give him funding for the ballroom.
The White House says that is not true. You can decide who you believe.
But it certainly does not sound like Trump is in control of Senate Republicans, and, frankly, the House, with a very narrow majority, isn’t looking any better for him. On Thursday, House Republicans pulled their own war powers vote because they were going to lose it.
It seems that in his attempt to purge the party of anyone even remotely critical of him, all Trump has done is empower them.
Allison Detzel contributed.
Chris Hayes hosts “All In with Chris Hayes” at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday through Friday on MS NOW. He is the editor-at-large at The Nation. A former fellow at Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics, Hayes was a Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation. His latest book is “The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource” (Penguin Press).