Trump heads to Capitol Hill for pivotal meeting as Senate GOP divisions deepen
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Video Sen. Rick Scott pushes Senate to pass popular voter ID bill as midterms loom
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., champions the 'Save America Act' and pushes Senate colleagues for its passage, inviting President Donald Trump for strategy.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!President Donald Trump on Wednesday will face a Senate GOP hungry for wins ahead of pivotal midterm elections and desperate for a path forward as squabbles and the president’s own abrupt decisions derail their march to November.
Trump hasn’t come to the Capitol to meet with the Senate GOP in over a year, and much has changed in the dynamic between him and Republicans in the upper chamber.
He’s successfully ousted two incumbents, Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, temporarily derailed Republicans’ $70 billion immigration enforcement package, and for the time being, has thwarted a bipartisan attempt at reauthorizing the nation’s controversial spying powers.
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President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks at the Mack Trucks Lehigh Valley Operations facility in Macungie, Pa., on June 23, 2026. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
"The question is, do we want to win the midterms?" Cornyn said. "And my question is, how do we get all on the same page and get unified rather than squabbling amongst ourselves?"
There are several items that could be on the docket Wednesday, including the memorandum of understanding with Iran and the next moves on reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
But Trump’s main focus is expected to be the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, stalled voter ID and proof of citizenship legislation that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has time and again told the president Republicans don’t have the votes to pass.
"We're just going to talk about SAVE America," Trump told reporters on Tuesday. "We have to get — we have to pass the SAVE America Act, which is voter ID, which is proof of citizenship, etc. We have to pass it. So we're going to have to talk about that and many other things."
When asked about Thune repeatedly saying Republicans have a math problem, Trump said, "You know, he's a leader. John is a leader. That's what being a leader is about."
Video"Look, we have to be able to get proof of citizenship when you vote," he said. "Otherwise, we don't have elections. We have to be able to get voter ID. So John is a leader, and hopefully he can get the votes."
Trump’s appearance in the Senate is spurred by an invitation from Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who, ahead of the meeting, laid out a roadmap of legislative goals for the next six months, including passage of the SAVE America Act.
"We need to make a clear distinction as to who the good guys are and who the bad guys are," Scott wrote in a letter to colleagues. "We have to demonstrate what Republicans stand for and what Democrats stand for through action, not rhetoric."
Thune acknowledged Scott’s legislative roadmap, and said that when the GOP met "as a family, as a team, that we can look at some of the things that we all want to work together on to try and get done before, before this election."
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a Senate Republicans press conference at the U.S. Capitol on June 2, 2026, flanked by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W. Va. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc.)
"And there are things that I believe will create a record of accomplishment that our candidates can run on," Thune said. "And that will enable us to take an argument to the American people that will persuade them that they want to keep majorities here in Congress, in the United States Senate, and in the House that are Republican to work with this president to get good things done for this country."
Republicans’ struggles to pass the package are two-pronged. Democrats won’t support it, and Republicans aren’t united to pass it — points that have been proven a handful of times on the Senate floor over the last several months.
The SAVE America Act has become a sore subject among Republicans, particularly as a handful of proponents, spurred by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, continue to claim a viable path forward when many in the GOP don’t see one.
It’s led to infighting on social media and eruptions during the Senate GOP’s closed-door lunches. Whether those frustrations in particular play out in front of Trump remains to be seen.
"My guess is, a lot of people will want to talk," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said. "We have a lot of people who like to talk. That's why we have a lot of meetings that really should be emails. But I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow."
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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said that it was likely a "low-stakes" lunch with the president that wouldn’t erupt into fury between the branches of government.
"I've never been in a meeting with any president with a group of senators that got to be combative and nasty, but maybe that's not the right meeting," Hawley said.
Some of Trump’s and the administration’s biggest critics in the Senate GOP hope that there can be a respectful dialogue that focuses on their wins over the last year and a half, and what future wins can look like with the few months remaining between June and November.
"I want us to focus on all the positives that we're missing, because too many are focusing on our differences and not what we've accomplished," Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said.
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
