Some Democratic Party figures have “lost patience” with Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin amid his “precarious tenure at the national party,” said The Hill. A “rash of headlines and social media chatter” about Martin’s tenure has “only exacerbated the problems facing the DNC chair,” as some worry the issue will be an “unwelcome distraction for Democrats” ahead of the midterms. While “much is going politically right for Democrats these days,” said The New York Times, “dysfunction and debt inside one of the party’s key institutions” is “creating rising anxiety” for some party leaders. 

Although Martin “remains bullish about November,” his party is “far behind Republicans when it comes to money,” said the Times. One year after quelling a DNC rebellion, he is “in no firmer control of a Democratic Party apparatus” that risks “losing its relevance to the voters (if it hasn’t already),” said the National Review. Detractors point to the party’s debt and the “bungled release of the party’s 2024 election autopsy” as proof that Martin is “unfit to lead the committee ahead of a crucial midterm,” said CNN. But his “core base of supporters,” made up of state party leaders and rank-and-file members, “appears to be sticking beside him.”

Despite a “handful of congressional Democrats” who have called for Martin’s resignation, “most simply don’t want to broach the subject,” said Axios. The “apathy” suggests there is “minimal momentum” within the party to oust him. The “most common response” to the outlet’s request for comment on the subject “was essentially, ‘who cares?’”

Trump’s demands that Congress pass his controversial Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act have taken a toll on the president’s relations with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), the man tasked with delivering on the GOP’s legislative agenda. With Trump “intent on forcing an August breakthrough” for his “No. 1 Capitol Hill priority,” Thune has the “unenviable task of trying to bring him back to reality,” said Politico. Tensions between the pair are “breaking out into the open” as the Senate “approaches its August recess without making progress” on the restrictive voting bill that Trump so firmly desires, said Time. 

Thune has “warned against wasting time” on passing the SAVE Act, which has “already failed multiple times on the Senate floor,” said The Hill. He has also rebuffed Trump’s “repeated demands” to abolish the filibuster to help pass the bill. “We voted on it two, three, four, five times already,” said Thune to reporters on Monday. “Show me how this ends. What’s the picture of victory at the end?” 

Trump’s bill, which would require “documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote,” has “stalled in the Senate” since it needs Democratic support to clear the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster, said Forbes. That’s a “highly unlikely feat.” 

While pressure has been “piling up on Thune” from the White House, he has an “important insurance policy,” said Axios: “GOP senators have his back.” While Trump has not called for Thune’s ouster, the “building anger” has “fueled widespread speculation in D.C. that the president could eventually go there.”

Thomson Reuters is at the center of the scandal