Vice President Pence and President Trump ‘s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner met behind closed doors with Senate Republicans on Tuesday to talk…
Vice President Pence and President Trump ‘s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner met behind closed doors with Senate Republicans on Tuesday to talk criminal justice reform as the president urges GOP leadership to vote on a bill this year.
Senators said Kushner, who has been deeply involved in the Senate talks, didn’t speak during the lunch, instead letting Pence make the administration’s case for supporting the legislation.
“Appreciated VP Pence & Jared Kushner representing the White House 2day at GOP caucus lunch in support of crim justice reform Will [be] historic achievement [and] big win for Pres Trump,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who helped craft the deal, said in a tweet on Tuesday evening.
Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, unveiled additional support for the bill after the powwow on Tuesday, bringing the total number of senators who are formally cosponsoring the legislation to 24.
But Sen. Tim Scott (R-S. C.), after the closed-door meeting, said senators had 21 “hard” yes votes among the Senate Republican caucus with another handful of GOP senators viewed as likely to support the bill.
Supporters believe they have momentum after Trump offered his endorsement of the legislation earlier this month. Since then, the president has publicly urged Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to bring it up for a vote.
The agreement would merge a House-passed prison reform bill with four changes to sentencing laws including lowering mandatory minimums for some drug-related felonies and retroactively applying the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act.
