Ominous Trump Easter invite spooks Republicans: 'Some took that as a threat'
Some Republicans are worried President Donald Trump is holding Easter as leverage over Republican lawmakers to maintain funding for Stephen Miller's immigration crackdown.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) approached Trump on Sunday with an offer to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown at the urging of other GOP senators and even some White House aides, but Punchbowl News reported that pitch didn't go over well.
"Thune told Trump that Senate Republicans would support funding all of DHS except ICE, the agency at the center of the bitter partisan dispute over Trump’s immigration crackdown," Punchbowl reported, according to senators and aides.
ICE funding would be tackled in a party-line reconciliation bill down the line, and Thune told Trump that Democrats would accept that offer — ending security-line chaos at airports and restarting paychecks for TSA agents.
"But Trump said no, according to multiple sources," Punchbowl reported. "The president wants Republicans to stay in D.C. and keep fighting with Democrats over DHS funding and the SAVE America Act, the GOP’s voter ID and proof-of-citizenship bill."
Trump then dangled the upcoming Easter holiday over their heads, according to the report.
"Not only that, Trump warned that he’d publicly slam Senate Republicans if they left town for the upcoming recess," Punchbowl reported. "Trump also said he’d invite all the GOP senators and their families for Easter dinner at the White House. Some Republicans took that as a threat, not a reward."
The president underlined that threat in a Truth Social post on Sunday night, this time about passage of his SAVE America voting act.
“I don’t think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats unless, and until, they Vote with Republicans to pass ‘THE SAVE AMERICA ACT," he posted.
"Kill the Filibuster, and stay in D.C. for Easter, if necessary," he added.