Congressional Republicans split into two groups Tuesday morning to discuss the fate of the Republican presidential nomination at the GOP’s party headquarters on Capitol Hill Tuesday, reflecting the GOP divide over Donald Trump’s controversial campaign.
As a small group of lawmakers gathered for a meeting with Trump’s new campaign team, most of the House Republican conference huddled with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus to hear a presentation on convention rules that could ultimately be used to block the billionaire businessman from winning the nomination.
The meetings took place at the Republican National Committee headquarters near the U.S. Capitol.
A group of House Republicans met with Paul Manafort, who Trump has elevated to help redirect his campaign effort into a more effective ground game leading into the next round of primaries after Trump’s expected win in New York on Tuesday.
The change came as Trump has stumbled in recent contests and chief rival Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has been able to sweep up delegates outside of the normal primary voting system where Trump had been dominating.
In the pro-Trump meeting, Manafort “was talking states, talking what the campaign is doing now,” Trump supporter Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told the Washington Examiner.
Manafort talked about the Trump campaign moving “from an insurgency campaign to what you would think of is a more normal political campaign,” Hunter said. “One that doesn’t just win states but the delegates, too.”
But those backing Trump in Congress represent just a small fraction of lawmakers. Most lawmakers are undeclared or signalling they want a more establishment candidate to win the nomination. They are hoping Trump will come up short of the 1,237 delegates, which will prompt a contested convention and multiple ballots that could pave the way for someone other than Trump to win.
Dozens of House lawmakers met in another room at the RNC with Priebus, who assured them that the delegates would be deciding the nomination if no candidate can win the 1,237 delegates by the end of the primary season.
Priebus’ assurances contradict an RNC Rules Committee member who predicted last week that if Trump wins more than 1,100 delegates, he would likely become the nominee.
“You have to get 1,237,” Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore.,who is chairman of the House campaign arm, said Priebus told the group. “That is the number. There are no ifs, ands or buts.”
Walden said Priebus told lawmakers “the delegates make the decisions,” and if a candidate comes up 100 delegates short, “all he has to do is go find the other 100. It’s a number that everybody knows now that they have to get.”
Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., praised Priebus after the meeting and called him “a meticulous attorney” who is making sure “rules are the rules, that rules are followed.”
House Republican leaders said they invited Priebus to explain what would happen in a contested convention, which has not happened in decades.
“Members need to know how the convention process works,” Walden said. “It’s just a lack of knowledge. How often have we had a contested convention? You’ve got to go back to Reagan-Ford in ’76.”
