Trump Slinks Away From His Promise of a Texas Senate Endorsement

Trump Unable to Save Republicans from Self-Imposed Damage in Texas Senate Runoff

President Donald Trump crows over the power of his endorsement — dangles it, sword of Damocles-like, over Republican candidates who perform adulation for his approval.

But its weakness is apparent in his hesitant deployment. His favorite endorsees are those certain to win. In a Trumpian perversion of the purpose of an endorsement, it’s less useful to him as a way to influence close races and more a reassurance of his own power.  

In Texas, he postured like he was actually going to put his political capital on the line. Facing three more months of bloody, bare-knuckle brawling between two candidates who detest each other, Republicans prodded the president to get behind Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and push Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton out of the runoff. Cornyn has been considered the stronger candidate for a general election matchup with Democratic nominee James Talarico, though polling has not clearly borne that out.

Paxton, though, having survived impeachment, indictment and recorded pen thievery, refused to go quietly into this good night. Making clear that he would stay in the race regardless, he redirected focus to Republicans’ voter suppression bill and Cornyn’s longtime support for the filibuster. The conversation got muddied because Trump let it be — better to talk about the un-passable SAVE America Act than to contemplate possible insubordination from an ambitious Republican underling. And he’d become less certain that Cornyn — always too mannerly for Trump’s liking — was a sure bet. 

“I’ve heard that,” Trump told NBC when asked about the theory that Cornyn would perform better than Paxton against Talarico. “I don’t know. I don’t know that to be a fact.”

Paxton might have ignored Trump’s order to drop out; Texas’ Republican voters might have ignored Trump’s preference. Weak, weak, weak. The king has no clothes. 

Better to retreat, to tell himself that he could have changed the race if he felt like it. Meanwhile, the March dropout deadline has passed; both Cornyn and Paxton’s names will appear on the May ballot. And Talarico has three months to consolidate the base and gain momentum while the Republicans spend millions to weaken his ultimate opponent. 

— Kate Riga

By the Way, DHS Is Still Shut Down 

We’re more than a month into the Department of Homeland Security-specific government shutdown. The public outrage over the killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE officers has left the headlines, but congressional Democrats have been holding the line. Dems’ are continuing their unwavering push to enact meaningful reforms for ICE and CBP officers, refusing to fund all of DHS without changes to officers’ practices and conduct.

Though they’ve held the line on funding ICE and CBP, congressional Democrats have been trying to get Republicans on board with a bill that would fund all other agencies under the DHS umbrella — including TSA, the Secret Service, FEMA and the Coast Guard — while negotiations continue. Democrats in both chambers tried to pass that bill several times over the past couple of weeks. Each time it was blocked by Republicans.

Hoping, once again, to put Senate Republicans on record, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is reportedly planning to force a cloture vote Saturday (as the upper chamber continues to debate the SAVE Act) on a bill to pay TSA agents through the end of the fiscal year. The bill would be subjected to the filibuster and would likely fail.

Senate Democrats and the Trump White House have been exchanging proposals on ICE reforms for weeks without much progress. Taking the negotiations one step further, White House border czar Tom Homan was on Capitol Hill for an in-person meeting with a bipartisan group of senators on Thursday.

Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), who has been representing Senate Republicans in the ongoing negotiations, described the meeting as “helpful.”

“First step is dialogue, and this is the very first time that we have had that,” Britt said. “I hope that we will see more of that in the days to come.”

Meanwhile Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who also attended the meeting, indicated a deal is far from around the corner.

“I’m glad that the White House was here, but we are a long ways apart,” Murray told reporters following the meeting.

And Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) recently warned that the planned two week Easter recess — a time senators often use to connect with their families and constituents, and in an election year, to campaign — could be cancelled if there is no progress in ending the ongoing shutdown.

“It needs to get resolved by the end of next week. I can’t see us taking a break if the government is still shut down,” Thune told reporters on Thursday.

— Emine Yücel

Secretaries of State Rail Against SAVE America Act

Secretaries of State are speaking out against the Trump administration’s restrictive election bill known as the SAVE America Act. The sweeping bill, among other things, mandates documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. 

It’s expected to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters who do not have proof of citizenship readily available. According to data from the Brennan Center, that amounts to some 21.3 million eligible U.S. voters.

“This would be changing the rules very close to an election in a very substantial way,” Democratic Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon told the MinnPost this week. 

Simon also said that the issue of non-citizen voting, which is a myth that the SAVE America Act further perpetuates, is “microscopic.”

As TPM has reported, there is no evidence of any kind to suggest that non-citizen voting is a problem.

Connecticut Democratic Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas similarly emphasized to Democracy Docket that the bill will disenfranchise eligible voters. 

“This bill assumes that every voter can navigate these requirements and navigate them quickly, and that is just not reality,” she said. “Imagine a woman, divorced, she’s moved, changed her name and needs to update her voter registration. Under this bill, that is no longer a simple matter. It means tracking down multiple documents.” 

And Democratic Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, during a press briefing on Thursday, said the legislation “suppresses Americans’ ability to access the ballot box.”

Senate Republicans began a marathon debate this week ahead of an eventual Senate vote on the SAVE America Act.

For several weeks now, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), has been facing pressure from President Trump to change filibuster rules in order to pass the bill. Thune has repeatedly said there is not enough support in the Senate to do so. The legislation is not expected to move forward because it requires a supermajority to pass. 

— Khaya Himmelman