Melania Trump Facing Humiliating ‘Failure’

Melania Trump’s signature legislative effort is in danger of becoming an embarrassing political failure as a deadline set by the first lady rapidly closes in.

The 56-year-old has just weeks left to persuade the Senate to pass her foster care legislation before Congress leaves Washington for its annual August recess.

During a bipartisan Capitol Hill roundtable in April, Melania reportedly told House lawmakers that she wanted the bill placed on President Donald Trump’s desk “by the August recess,” according to Rep. Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican who attended the meeting.

Congress is scheduled to begin its break on Aug. 10 and will not return until Sept. 8, leaving senators with a narrow window to act.

But despite sailing through the House with unanimous support, the legislation remains stalled in a Senate committee — raising the possibility that Melania could miss the deadline she personally imposed.

The bill is connected to the first lady’s “Fostering the Future” initiative and would expand access to housing, education, technology and workforce training for people who are eligible for services through the foster care system.

More than 400,000 children are currently in foster care across the United States, according to federal data.

Melania has presented the legislation as a rare bipartisan cause in an increasingly divided Washington. During the April roundtable, she noted that only 3 percent of children in foster care ultimately earn a college degree and called the issue a “moral imperative.”

Smith admitted that he initially questioned whether inviting the first lady to the meeting was a smart political move because, as he put it, “Democrats really don’t like her husband.”

Still, Melania moved forward with the appearance after discussing the idea of a roundtable following President Trump’s signing of a “Fostering the Future” executive order in November.

Behind closed doors, she reportedly made her expectations unmistakably clear.

“I want this on Donald’s desk by the August recess,” Melania told lawmakers, according to Smith.

The legislation encountered virtually no opposition in the House and passed unanimously. During a White House congressional picnic held on the same day as the vote, both Melania and the president publicly encouraged the Senate to act.

“Hopefully, it will quickly pass in the Senate,” the first lady said. “I’m sure it will. It’s a great thing.”

However, the bill has yet to advance out of committee, and President Trump has not publicly pressured Senate Republicans to move it forward since the picnic.

That silence could prove costly for Melania, who has made the proposal the centerpiece of her relatively limited public policy agenda.

With the Senate calendar shrinking and lawmakers preparing to leave town, the first lady now faces an uncomfortable political test: either convince her husband’s party to deliver or watch her most prominent legislative initiative miss its own deadline.

Representatives for the first lady have been contacted for comment.