Senate Republicans grow increasingly frustrated with Trump blindsiding them

As President Donald Trump scrambles to wrap up his war with Iran, he’s escalating another one much closer to home, against members of his own party in Congress.

WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump scrambles to wrap up his war with Iran, he’s escalating another one much closer to home, against members of his own party in Congress.

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From the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in France, Trump ordered the Senate on Wednesday to cancel an afternoon hearing for Jay Clayton, his nominee to be director of national intelligence, and threatened not to sign a reauthorization of a critical surveillance law unless the Senate passed a sweeping election bill that has already failed — repeatedly.

The hearing delay not only blindsided and frustrated Senate Republicans, but it also completely derailed Majority Leader John Thune’s carefully laid plans to fast-track the nomination in a bid to unlock Democratic votes for the now-expired spying program.