(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s criticism of Senate Majority Leader John Thune over the stalled SAVE America Act escalated Thursday, with the White House warning that the president’s “patience is running out” as Republican leaders struggle to advance the controversial voting legislation before lawmakers leave in August for recess.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump wants to see “as much of the SAVE America (Act) passed as possible” before senators leave Washington, pointing to remarks the president made at a rally in Georgia on Wednesday.
“Look, the president spoke about this directly yesterday, his patience is running out,” Leavitt said during a White House briefing Thursday.
The SAVE America Act would require proof of US citizenship, like a birth certificate or passport, to register to vote in federal elections. It also includes provisions for removing noncitizens from federal voter registration rolls.
Critics of the bill say it could restrict voting access by creating unnecessary hurdles that will make it harder to register to vote and wrongfully disenfranchise legitimate voters.
At the Georgia rally Wednesday, Trump blasted the Senate as “a place that you send things when you want them to die” and urged supporters to pressure Thune.
“Everybody call John Thune. He’s the leader of the Republican party, and tell him to get this stuff approved,” Trump said.
Thune pushed back on the White House’s criticism, arguing the bill lacks the votes needed to overcome hurdles in the Senate and suggesting the administration should focus its efforts on persuading lawmakers.
“Instead of, you know, pointing the finger at Republicans, they might think about going after the people who are stopping it on the floor, which is the Democrats,” Thune told reporters at the Capitol Thursday. “And if there are Republicans that they think are gettable, get on the phone. Let’s get them to yes.”
Thune has repeatedly said the SAVE America Act does not have sufficient support to clear the Senate. The measure would require Democratic support to reach the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
An alternative would see lawmakers voting to eliminate the legislative filibuster for this bill, something that could be done with 50 GOP votes, but more than half of the conference opposes doing that.
Thune told CNN’s Manu Raju he has “fairly regular” conversations with Trump, despite the grievances aired by the president, adding, “With me, it’s more on an as-needed basis.”
The exchange highlighted growing tensions between the White House and Senate Republicans over the legislation, even as GOP senators defended Thune’s leadership.
Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said there was no discussion within the conference about replacing the majority leader, insisting Thune continues to enjoy broad support among Senate Republicans.
“That’s not something we’re talking about. I’ve heard nobody talk about that,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy said he understood both Trump’s and Leavitt’s frustration with the bill’s lack of progress, but argued Thune was not responsible for its stalled status.
“I’ve seen no indication that Senator Thune does not support the SAVE Act — and let me put it more categorical, John Thune supports the SAVE Act, but we have some members who do not,” Kennedy said.
“And that’s why God made votes, and we voted four or five times, and it’s come up short. I’m ready to vote again and take another crack at it through reconciliation, but again, you can’t, we can’t do that unless we take it up,” he added.
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