Senate Republicans primed to 'punch back' at Trump in face-to-face meeting: report

An invitation to Donald Trump to sit down with Republican members of the Senate for a luncheon on Wednesday came with warnings from a handful of attendees that they have no intention of being bullied into proceeding with his GOP election bill known as the SAVE America Act.

According to Politico reporting by Jordain Carney, several outgoing GOP senators who have clashed with Trump are planning to attend the closed-door lunch—convened by Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL)—to deliver "a reality check" to the president about the futility of his elections bill crusade.

Senate Republicans have grown increasingly frustrated with Trump's fixation on the elections bill and are openly questioning aspects of his Iran deal and, according to the report, are well aware of his habit of blindsiding them with sudden policy reversals which are undermining their ability to preserve their Senate majority in November.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who recently lost his bid for a fifth term to a Trump-endorsed challenger, is signaling he'll be there to make clear that things are not going well for the bill and the party, telling reporters this week "I'm going to be there front and center. It will be important if it actually is a constructive exchange of different opinions, and hopefully we can all get on the same page. Right now, we're not in a great place."

"I've been around here long enough and been through enough battles and counted enough votes to know that it doesn't just magically occur, no matter how much you wish it would happen," he warned.

He won't be alone. Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA)—both departing the Senate in part due to Trump-backed primary opponents—said Monday they will also attend and urge Trump to "move on."

"I'm a co-sponsor, but it doesn't have the votes, and so it's time to talk about something else," Cassidy bluntly suggested.

Tillis agreed and added, "We need to be honest with the president. So why don't we spend more time being productive about how we communicate, when we communicate, and get some of these very pressing issues done?"

According to Politico's Carney, the vote math is brutal and unforgiving. Test votes on the SAVE America Act have failed to attract more than 48 supporters, though a narrower voter ID bill managed 50 votes—still far short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a certain Democratic filibuster. Several GOP senators, including Mitch McConnell (R-KY ) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), have objected to "the precedent the bill would set by nationalizing election procedures."

When asked about eliminating the filibuster to pass the bill, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) acknowledged it's a non-starter. "It does always come back to the math. And there just aren't the votes to do it," he said.