Trump’s Surprise Moves Complicate Senate Republican Priorities

President Donald Trump’s recent policy and staffing announcements have roiled Senate Republicans’ plans, creating ruptures between the White House and Congress and affecting the GOP agenda in the months before the midterm elections.

Trump’s early-morning social media blast Wednesday derailing the scheduled hearing for Jay Clayton, his nominee to be director of national intelligence, blocked a path for quick confirmation and possible renewal of a lapsed spy power tool. It’s just the latest missive that’s complicated Senate Republicans’ ability to advance major priorities, and some Republican senators are calling for the party to get back on the same page.

“It’s undermining our ability to produce the very results he wants,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said.

The Trump administration interjections have followed a pattern: first, they announced a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund as Republicans were working to move their immigration enforcement funding bill, temporarily halting that effort. Senators moved forward only after the administration promised they would abandon plans for the fund. Then, as senators were working on a bipartisan effort to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Trump tapped housing official Bill Pulte as the next acting director of national intelligence, and Democrats revolted.

Clayton’s nomination isn’t the only sticking point. Trump also criticized the long-held practice of deference to home-state senators on US attorney and judge picks—known as “blue slips"—and reiterated his demands to pass election legislation Senate Republicans have repeatedly insisted doesn’t have the votes to advance. GOP senators said the path forward is to keep pushing on Clayton—even though Trump is saying the opposite.

“You just stay the course,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said. “We’ll get this nomination through. It may take a little bit longer. It may delay some things.”

“It puts the country at risk because the FISA 702 is really important,” Rounds added, though he said that’s something with which Democrats also have to wrestle.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) described Trump as “a salesman” who has “two speeds, uninterested and the speed of light.”

The White House, Thune, and Senate Republicans have worked closely to deliver on “many important promises” to Americans, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

“We look forward to continuing these close relationships and fulfilling President Trump’s priorities that Americans elected him to enact,” Jackson said.

Next Steps Unclear

Senate Republicans initially defied Trump, as Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said the Clayton hearing would go forward, a plan Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) supported. But Cotton canceled it hours later.

“It’s regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today,” Cotton said, adding that he looked “forward to proceeding with his confirmation in the near future.”

Democrats are expressing frustration with the series of events and using the moment to push blame on Republicans for the FISA lapse. They’ve argued it’s up to Trump and Senate Republicans to sort it out.

“It just highlights the chaotic nature of the decision-making at the White House,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said. “It’s like the random number generator of bad decisions.”

Trump called for the Senate to continue delaying Clayton’s approval until Sullivan & Cromwell partner James McDonald is confirmed to replace him as US attorney for the Southern District of New York.

But McDonald’s nomination had not yet been transmitted to the Senate, and requires sign off from New York’s Democratic senators. Trump has repeatedly railed against the blue-slip process that gives home-state senators sign off on certain judicial nominees.

Spokespeople for Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, both Democrats of New York, didn’t immediately provide comment on blue slips.

Tillis called the blue-slip process “a dead issue.”

“We are not the manufacturing department of the Article Two branch,” Tillis said. “We are the board of directors for the Article Two branch. You start treating us like that, coordinating with us like that, we won’t have these embarrassing setbacks.”

Republican pollster Robert Blizzard told Bloomberg Government disagreements between the branches of government are normal, but their “political futures are going to be closely tied together.”

“The President and Senate Republicans need to have each other’s backs,” Blizzard said.

‘Dangerous’ FISA Lapse

The path to extend the lapsed spy power authority hangs in the balance.

“We need to get FISA reauthorized as soon as possible and so the president needs to do whatever he can to avoid putting obstacles in the way of getting that done,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said.


Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said “we’ve got to figure some way to untangle all of this so we can get Section 702 reauthorized.” Both Cassidy and Cornyn lost their primaries after Trump endorsed their opponents.

“Every day that goes by when the president doesn’t have access to this intelligence is dangerous,” Cornyn added.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) said he met with Clayton and was looking forward to his testimony. Moran said the “desired outcome” is for the Senate is to have a hearing on Clayton, determine his qualifications, and take a vote.

Senators worked on a three-year bill to reauthorize FISA before Trump tapped Pulte as acting director and Democrats said they wouldn’t move forward on it unless Pulte was gone. Now, Democrats are questioning whether they can trust that he’ll stick to Clayton if he’s confirmed.

“Donald Trump is reminding everybody that he’ll swap his people around any time he feels like it,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said.

Thune said he’s taking it “a day at a time” and called the situation with Pulte “a complicating factor” for the FISA issue. But he also said it’s not a reasonable justification from Democrats for opposing renewal.

Members of Thune’s caucus praised him for how he’s handled the constant shifts.

He’s “maintaining as much control as anyone could in these circumstances,” Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) said.