Reporter’s Notebook: Senate Republicans brace for tough lunch with Trump amid legislative clashes

Jay Clayton, U.S.attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks next to Jessica S.Tisch, New York Police Department commissioner, during a press conference at NYPD headquarters in New York City on March 9, 2026.(Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

Then there was a carefully crafted bipartisan agreement to renew FISA Section 702, the nation’s most effective program to track terrorists.Its authorization ran out after the president sidetracked the nomination of Jay Clayton, his own pick to become director of national intelligence (DNI).

Republicans couldn’t pass the FISA authorization on their own, so they engineered a bipartisan compromise with Democrats.But Democrats withdrew their support for the bill once the president announced that housing czar Bill Pulte would take over as acting DNI for Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned.Democrats viewed Pulte as a partisan who had no experience in intelligence.Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., quickly scheduled aconfirmation hearingfor Jay Clayton once Trump tapped him as the nominee.

It was believed that the Senate may be able to confirm Clayton within a matter of days after his confirmation hearing.That would limit time on the job by Pulte.So, once Clayton was in place, the Senate could prospectively return to the bipartisan FISA deal and pass it.

But Trump detonated all of that last week.He insisted that Senate Republicans cancel Clayton’s confirmation hearing and not advance his nomination until it has confirmed Jamie McDonald as U.S.attorney for the Southern District of New York.That’s the position Clayton held.The president made those demands at 3:59 a.m.ET Wednesday — all without consulting Thune.

He then made his signature on the FISA renewal conditional on passage of the SAVE America Act. 

“That tells me he’s not very serious about FISA or intelligence,” said one senior congressional Republican about Trump.“And Pulte is a big middle finger to the intelligence community.”

So Senate Republicans aren’t enamored with all of these demands.Some began to lose faith in the president once he ditched support for Cassidy and Cornyn.Now they believe he’s being unreasonable, jerking around Thune, moving the goalposts for criticalnational securitylegislation and expecting the impossible on the SAVE America Act and the filibuster.

For his part, Scott believes he and the president can change minds.

Trump has criticized Senate Republican leaders generally of late.But he’s tiptoed around potentially calling out Thune by name.Thune is well-liked by his GOP colleagues and, like most congressional leaders, has an impossible job.That is why former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., likened the job to that of “herding cats.”

THUNE ‘ADAMANT’ ABOUT TRUMP SUPPORT, DRIVING MAGA AGENDA DESPITE TENSE PAST RELATIONSHIP 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Republican senators speak at a news conference at the U.S.Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2026.(Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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It’s clear that the president has better relations right now with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., compared to Thune.But turning on Thune by name would truly infuriate many of the president’s best allies in the Senate.

Trump routinely excoriated former Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell, R-Ky., for not ditching the filibuster.But it was McConnell who delivered Trump three of the most lasting legacies: Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

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McConnell established a new Senate precedent for the method he used to confirm Gorsuch.Gorsuch would have faced an unprecedented filibuster for an associate justice on the high court and never scored confirmation.

McConnell stuck by Kavanaugh during his raucous confirmation process in the fall of 2018.And he rammed through Coney Barrett’s confirmation days before the 2020 election.Yet McConnell refused to hold a confirmation hearing for President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, future Attorney General Merrick Garland, for nearly 11 months — because it was an election year.Blocking confirmation of Garland held the seat open for Gorsuch.Yet Trump railed against McConnell at every turn.

Thune passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year.But through no fault of his own, Thune hasn’t delivered any wins as enduring as the Supreme Court for Trump yet.However, the president has extended some grace to the South Dakota Republican — despite his criticism of the Republican Senate.

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We’ll see if that continues after Wednesday’s luncheon.

The legislative contretemps between the president and Senate Republicans over the past few weeks has just been an appetizer.Anguish and frustration are on the bill of fare Wednesday.And if the meeting doesn’t go well, some Republicans may yell “Check, please!” to get out of there as fast as they can.

He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.