Republican leader lashes out at Karoline Leavitt

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 12, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

Republican Senate Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) wasn't happy with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt after her Thursday press conference.

According to Leavitt, President Donald Trump's "patience is running out."

She explained that the president wants his Safeguard American Voter Eligibility America Act (SAVE America Act) passed before the lawmakers leave for the August recess.

"The House did its job," said Leavitt. "The Senate needs to do its job, too."

Thune lashed out at Leavitt while speaking to reporters, "Well, maybe she or somebody else ought to get on the phone and get the votes. Right?"

The only way to pass the voter restrictions is to break a filibuster with a 60-vote majority or eliminate the filibuster entirely.

Right-leaning White House correspondent for the Daily Wire, Mary Margaret Olohan, cited Thune in an X post, saying that votes for the bill currently stand at about 50 out of the 53 Republican Senators. The bill would require the president to work across the aisle with Democrats to pass it, but it's not something Trump has needed to do, as Republicans hold the majority in both houses.

Thune wants the White House to target Democrats, not to make the bill bipartisan but to attack them for the filibuster threats.

"Instead of pointing the finger at Republicans, they might think about going after the people who are stopping it on the floor, which is the Democrats," Thune raged. "And if there are Republicans that they think are gettable, get on the phone. Let’s get them to ‘yes.’"

The House attached the legislation to a budget bill. The Senate parliamentarian had said that the SAVE America Act can't be attached to a funding bill, but Republicans in the House found a way around it. The House bill includes $10 billion in funding that would essentially pay states through financial incentives to comply with pieces of the SAVE America Act. It would not, however, turn it into law.

A budget bill can pass the Senate without needing the 60-vote filibuster threshold.

Republicans in the House also attached a portion of the SAVE America Act to a ban on members of Congress trading stocks.

According to the voting rights site Democracy Docket, "Despite Republican control of the Senate, it is unlikely that Trump will see any version of SAVE enacted ahead of the midterms. Legislation passed through reconciliation must be budgetary in nature. The Senate parliamentarian, the chamber’s procedural umpire, ruled last month that the SAVE America provisions did not fit the bill, leading Trump to call for her ouster."

Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio asked Thune why the White House would come after him like that and if he thinks the White House is setting him up as the fall guy for 2026 election failures.

“I wish I had a good answer for that," Thune said.

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