Trump says he ‘can’t stand’ some Republicans for refusing one key move for his agenda

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President Donald Trump isn’t happy with Senate Republicans for not pulling the trigger on the one procedural move that could unlock his agenda.

Trump, since taking office again last year, has time and again called on Republicans to terminate the filibuster — the 60-vote threshold in the Senate that can either make or break legislation.

It’s what’s holding up the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, voter ID and citizenship-verification legislation that Trump and conservatives view as key to winning big in the midterm election cycle.

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President Donald Trump listening in the Oval Office of the White House

When asked on Tuesday if he was disappointed that Republicans hadn’t terminated the filibuster, Trump said he was, but he didn’t blame Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

“I’m disappointed,” Trump said. “I like John a lot, but he, you know, he has a couple of Republicans that are foolish people. A couple of them are, like, a couple of them I can’t stand, actually.”

Which Republicans Trump was referring to is unclear, given his revolving door of frustration with some in the GOP who break with his agenda, but his message has remained the same: nuke the filibuster or Democrats will win in November.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaking at a press conference in Washington, D.C.

Trump argued that without the filibuster, the SAVE America Act would have passed, there would be proof of citizenship to register to vote, and mail-in voting would be limited. “Because anytime you have mail-in voting, they’re going to cheat. And they cheat like dogs, and they have to cheat.”

“When you have policies like that, you have to cheat,” Trump said. “It’s the only way they can win. And we shouldn’t allow them to cheat. And we should terminate the filibuster, because if they get the chance, they’ll do it in the first hour back.”

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Sen. Chuck Schumer is seen during a news conference

Several Senate Republicans have echoed the latter part of Trump’s concern: if Senate Democrats and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., regain control of the upper chamber, they’ll try once more to do away with the filibuster.

But there isn’t an appetite among Republicans to get rid of the safeguard, which has historically been used by the minority party as a tool to prevent partisan bills from being rammed through the Senate.

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And while the Senate is still debating the SAVE America Act, the legislation already suffered a setback on a test vote to attach it to the GOP’s budget blueprint to fund immigration enforcement last month.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., offered a version of the legislation as an amendment, and it failed to crack a simple majority vote — the same threshold any legislation would have to meet if the filibuster were gutted.

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