A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Republicans in Congress are racing to approve billions of dollars for immigration enforcement.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
President Trump is fuming about what may not be in that package - money for the White House ballroom. Several Republicans say they'll oppose it. That includes Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who just lost his primary after Trump supported someone else. In a moment, we'll speak with political analyst Chuck Todd about what that tells us about Trump's current relationship with congressional Republicans.
MARTÍNEZ: First, though, NPR's Sam Gringlas is here to tell us more. Sam, Leila just mentioned what may not be in that package, so what actually is in the funding package?
SAM GRINGLAS, BYLINE: Yeah. Republicans want to fund ICE and Border Patrol for the rest of Trump's term. We're talking about approving $72 billion using a tool known as budget reconciliation. That maneuver allows Republicans to circumvent Democrats who oppose more money for these agencies without reforms to limit the tactics of their officers. That is in part because Republicans already gave ICE $75 billion last year with very few strings attached.
MARTÍNEZ: So what you just said, what does that have to do with the ballroom?
GRINGLAS: So after the White House Correspondents' Dinner, some Republicans began pushing to tack on a billion dollars for the Secret Service and include in that roughly $220 million for the ballroom. But lawmakers can't just pass anything through reconciliation. And over the weekend, the nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian nixed that funding, though even before that, it was not clear there would've been enough Republican votes to pass it.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So how is the president reacting?
GRINGLAS: Well, he pressed Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire the parliamentarian and kill the filibuster, a demand Trump has made in the past and Thune has resisted. Trump also wrote on social media - get smart and tough, Republicans, or you'll all be looking for a job much sooner than you thought.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. Clearly frustrated with his own party.
GRINGLAS: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. This week, he managed to stop Cassidy from getting reelected. He also endorsed a primary challenger for Senator John Cornyn in Texas. What could that mean for the dynamics in Congress?
GRINGLAS: Well, so far, Cassidy has come out against the ballroom money and provided the critical vote to advance an Iran war powers resolution after previously opposing it. He joined three other Republicans, including Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, one of the few Republican senators who has regularly broken with Trump.
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LISA MURKOWSKI: This president is going to have to continue to deal and work with and partner with or battle with this group of lawmakers. Even though Bill Cassidy lost his primary, he is still a voting member of the Senate until January.
GRINGLAS: Murkowski said Trump may have forgotten that he needs Congress and said targeting incumbent Republicans like Cornyn could jeopardize seats in November. House Speaker Mike Johnson, though, said Trump knows what's at stake but added this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MIKE JOHNSON: We need people here who are not trying to carve out their own lane and do something that's destructive or counterproductive, I think, to the agenda. That's the message.
MARTÍNEZ: So, Sam, I mean, that's not so subtle of a message there from the speaker.
GRINGLAS: Yeah. I mean, this spring, Trump has vanquished a lot of foes, not just Cassidy - also state senators in Indiana, a longtime House Republican, Thomas Massie. So while lawmakers like Cassidy could shake things up on their way out the door, others who want to survive may be less likely to step out of line, even amid warning signs for the party ahead of the midterms.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR congressional reporter Sam Gringlas. Sam, thank you very much.
GRINGLAS: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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