President Donald Trump insisted he had the answer for Republicans anxious about losing their congressional majority this year: build on an already strict national voter identification law to ban mail ballots and restrict transgender rights.
“It’ll guarantee the midterms,” he told Republicans gathered in the ballroom of his golf course just outside Miami on Monday. “If you don’t get it, big trouble.”
Less than 24 hours later, House Republican leaders highlighted their priorities. And the voting bill, which Trump has rebranded from the SAVE Act to the SAVE America Act, wasn’t high on the list.
Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan, the House GOP conference chair, spoke of tax cuts for families, energy independence and the so-called Trump accounts for newborns as she described “real results for real people.” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana said his colleagues were working with Trump to “make life more affordable for working families.” Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the House majority whip, recounted “win after win” as he proclaimed “working families are keeping more of their hard-earned money in their pockets.”
As House Republicans close out their annual ideas conference on Wednesday, an election year disconnect is emerging.
Just a few seats shy of losing their majority, senior Republicans are eager to emphasize the party’s work to lower costs, none of which is easy to accomplish with only a few votes to spare. Trump, meanwhile, is often focused elsewhere.
The war he initiated in Iran has disrupted the party’s message on affordability, with GOP leaders here facing frequent questions about the rising cost of gas, which House Speaker Mike Johnson described as a “temporary blip.” The voting bill Trump is pushing is rooted in his insistence that he won the 2020 presidential election, claims rejected by dozens of courts and his own attorney general at the time.
At times, the president was even dismissive of the traditional pocketbook issues other Republicans preferred to highlight.
“Every time I go out, save America, sir. Save America Act,” Trump said at the GOP event. “That’s all they talk about. They don’t talk about housing. They don’t talk about anything. That’s what they want to talk about.”
Johnson, who is close to Trump and appeared onstage with him this week, is hardly distancing from Trump’s push for the voting bill. On Tuesday, he denied there was any daylight between his colleagues and the White House.
“We’re all on the same page,” Johnson said. “The president and I are exactly in lockstep.”
A challenging path ahead for Republicans
But the path ahead is rocky.
In an effort to gain leverage over lawmakers, including some Republicans, Trump said he won’t sign other legislation into law until the voting bill is passed. That raises the prospect of Congress grinding to a halt just as lawmakers are asking voters to send them back to Washington.
Passing legislation that comports with Trump’s demands will also be challenging. The House has already passed a version of the bill so the changes Trump is seeking would require fresh action by the chamber.
The dynamic isn’t any easier in the Senate, where Republicans are struggling to pass the measure without Democratic support. And that was before Trump asked for additions, saying Republicans should “go for the gold.”
In the meantime, other high-profile work lies ahead for Congress, including reopening the Department of Homeland Security and confirming its new leader.
Johnson suggested on Tuesday that there were ways for lawmakers to continue their work amid Trump’s threat to not sign legislation. The speaker noted that the Constitution allows legislation to become law if it’s sent to the president but isn’t signed within 10 days.
Johnson aims to shift focus to Democrats
Faced with a tough political calculus, Johnson is trying to shift focus to Democrats, in particular over the DHS shutdown, which has prompted security lines to swell at some airports over the past few days.
“If you missed a wedding or funeral or are worried about missing your flight for spring break this weekend, you have Democrats to blame,” he said.
Republicans spent much of this week trying to remind voters of what they didn’t like about life before Trump returned to office. There were frequent mentions of inflation and border crossings under former President Joe Biden.
The question that may animate this year’s election, however, is whether voters are more interested in the shift from Biden to Trump or are more focused on what’s ahead.
If voters are more future-oriented, that could represent an additional hurdle for the GOP.
About one-third of Americans mentioned inflation or personal finances as topics they wanted the government to address this year, according to an AP-NORC poll from December. Hardly any mentioned concerns about voting laws or election security.
Under a blazing Florida sun on Tuesday afternoon, a handful of House Republicans gathered to make the case that they were listening and deserve another term in power.
“We’re not sitting back on our laurels,” said Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas. “We recognize there is still plenty for us to do and we’re working on that.”
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Associated Press journalist Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.
