Analysis by WorldTribune Staff, June 26, 2026 Non-AI Real World News
During the Senate GOP’s luncheon on Tuesday, President Donald Trump reportedly excoriated Republicans who are holding back the SAVE America Act while at the same time voting to limit Trump’s ability to rein in Iran.
In press photos with the president after the luncheon, the unsmiling senators looked like they had been taken to the woodshed. How did they respond?
They skipped town … early.
Senators have left D.C. for their nearly three-week ‘recess.’ / Video Image
The Senate adjourned for the July 4 holiday on Wednesday, one day ahead of schedule. Its distinguished members will not return for votes until July 13.
Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama had suggested cancelling the recess to pass the SAVE America Act.
But when it came time to vote, not one senator objected to the early exit.
“The Senate sucks,” Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds said. “I’m just gonna come out and say it, they suck.”
Donalds (see below) pointed out on Thursday, after senators had slunk out of town, that 80% of Americans support the SAVE America Act, which requires proof of citizenship and voter ID to cast a ballot in federal elections.
During the lunch on Tuesday, Trump reportedly urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota to fulfill his role as a “leader” on the SAVE America Act, blasted Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana over the Iran war powers vote, and confronted Sen. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania over his absence during the passage of the war powers resolution.
The Daily Caller noted in a social media post:
Trump waltzed into the Senate GOP’s luncheon Wednesday thanks to an invitation from Florida Sen. Rick Scott, one of the Republicans most openly aligned with the base’s demand to pass the SAVE America Act.
It’s notable that the invite didn’t come from Senate Majority Leader John Thune. This wasn’t about extending an olive branch to the president or trying to mend fences among the caucus; Scott clearly was hoping the president would go full bully pulpit on the establishment wing of the party.
And Trump gave Scott exactly what he wanted.
The lunch quickly abandoned upper-chamber decorum in favor of a modern, verbal version of the caning of Charles Sumner.
“Trump told Thune he needed to “be a leader” and get the votes for SAVE, according to Daily Caller reporting. When the usual Senate math objections surfaced, Trump reportedly told him to “do the talking filibuster if you have to.”
The conversation reportedly veered into Iran, where Bill Cassidy “went nuts,” got into a shouting match with Trump, and ended up being told to sit down. Trump reportedly called him a “lunatic.”
One source described the scene as “a total cluster f*ck.”
But the meltdown was not merely about policy. It was about a Republican Senate that has spent months treating the priorities of the undisputed leader of the party like an inconvenience.
That is especially true on the SAVE America Act.
Cassidy and Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul ended up reversing their votes on the War Powers Resolution introduced by Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine during a Wednesday vote, with Cassidy voting “no” and Paul voting “present.”
