Republican senators reportedly ganged up on Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) at a closed-door Republican lunch Wednesday over his push to keep the Senate in session until a voter ID bill passes.
Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and John Kennedy (R-LA) led what one source described to Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio as a "pile-on" against the Utah Republican during the closed-door lunch meeting.
Cornyn and Kennedy challenged Lee on his strategy for passing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. They complained that President Donald Trump was being led to believe the Senate could pass it — fueling what Desiderio described as Republicans attacking each other and Trump undermining his own agenda.
It was not the first time the fight spilled into public view. Five days earlier, Cornyn — a co-sponsor of the bill — publicly called out Lee by name on X.
"Mike, I am a co-sponsor and have repeatedly voted for this but you don't have the votes," Cornyn wrote, tagging Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD). "Try focusing on Democrats instead of Republicans. Republican on Republican attacks are hurting our chances to win the majority in November."
"'On what planet is this an attack on Republicans?'" Lee fired back on X. "That's not an attack on Republicans. That's a plan of attack against voter fraud."
Lee's push is to cancel recesses and keep the Senate in session until the bill passes. The legislation cleared the House in February and would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to cast a ballot in federal elections.
The bill has 50 votes in the Senate but needs 60 to overcome a Democratic filibuster.