Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus was burning up phone lines Thursday morning as he tried desperately to ink a deal with an anti-Trump coalition threatening to free the RNC delegates.
Reince on the phone pic.twitter.com/IIkXGV2HQ7
— Jon Ward (@jonward11) July 14, 2016
Leading the negotiations was former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (a surrogate for Sen. Ted Cruz) and Sen. Mike Lee, who agreed to meet Priebus during a lull in Republican Rules Committee proceedings. Under the guise of fixing a “paper jam” in the committee’s in-house printer, the factions met around 10:30am and will continue to meet during the committee’s recess until 1:30pm.
Rules Committee members seeking to unbind the delegates, so that delegates opposed to nominating Donald Trump could vote for the candidate of their choice, offered the so-called “conscience amendments” to 9 of the 12 rules the Committee is considering today.
Leaders of the “Dump Trump” coalition claimed, over the weekend, that they had the 28 votes necessary to issue a “minority report” bypassing the Rules Committee and putting a vote on unbinding to the full slate of delegates when it meets next week. Some Dump Trump members seem to be telling conservative publications, privately, that they do not believe they have the necessary 28 votes without a high profile leader of their own.
As of noon Eastern time, there was no deal on the table that would keep anti-Trump delegates from defecting and forcing a floor vote, if they have enough Rules Committee members on their side, but sources say that there are “broad parameters” being discussed among the warring factions.
Priebus naturally wants the Rules Committee meeting to go smoothly, so that Donald Trump, his presumptive nominee, culled through his nomination process, can proceed directly to the nomination dais. It’s likely, if “Dump Trump” does not have the votes it needs to unbind the delegates, that they may look for some other concessions. Both Cuccinelli and Lee could try to pave the way for an easier nominating process in 2020, even one that favors this year’s second-place finisher, Ted Cruz.
