Story thread · 60 reports / 33 sources

Thune-Trump tensions escalate as clock ticks on megabill 3.0

axios.com · 12dShare

Senate Majority Leader John Thune repeated to White House officials in private what he's been saying in public for weeks: We don't have the votes . Why it matters: President Trump isn't buying it — and he's questioning whether Thune is the man for the job. "Well, we're gonna find out," Trump said Wednesday. "I'll let you know." Asked Wednesday evening about Trump saying the votes were gettable, Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters, "That must be a different form of math." Driving the news: Hours earlier, two of Trump's top aides met with Senate Republicans at their weekly lunch to press them to pass a three-part budget reconciliation bill before leaving town, Axios scooped earlier Wednesday . The goal is to move a House budget resolution to "pay our troops, help our farms and secure our elections," a White House official told Axios. The White House is also floating a separate reconciliation package (a fourth) to raise the debt ceiling during the lame-duck session. What we're hearing: Many of

First report: The Morning Briefing: John Thune Is the Most Effective Democrat in Congress Right Now — pjmedia.com, 15d