Senate Republicans are threatening to cancel their own August recess after Democrats refuse to pass the GOP’s budget framework and key election-integrity legislation.
The chamber’s scheduled monthlong break — set to begin at week’s end — hangs in the balance as over a dozen Republican senators signal they’ll block adjournment unless the party can advance its $95 billion reconciliation spending bill and parts of the SAVE America Act voter ID legislation.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) emerged from a Tuesday GOP lunch and delivered a blunt assessment to reporters.
“I HAVE NO IDEA. DON’T KNOW WHAT WE’RE DOING. I’M JUST SAYING I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS.”
The closed-door meeting covered government funding, Iran war spending, crypto regulations, and Russia sanctions — but the reconciliation framework Kennedy hoped to discuss never came up in detail.
None of the Senate GOP’s priorities face hard deadlines, except for a House-passed government funding bill to avert an Oct. 1 shutdown. Still, President Donald Trump has repeatedly called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to keep the chamber in session until it passes the SAVE America Act — legislation requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has threatened a procedural motion to block the Senate from adjourning. More than a dozen other GOP senators have signaled they’d back him.
Thune spoke with Trump on Tuesday and pushed back against claims he’s isolated from the president. But he also delivered a reality check on the Senate math.
“SEEMS TO ME, SOME DAYS, I’M THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO CAN COUNT TO 50 IN THIS TOWN. BUT WE DON’T HAVE THE VOTES TO GET RID OF THE FILIBUSTER, AND WE AREN’T FLIPPING 10 DEMOCRATS TO VOTE FOR THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.”
Senate Republicans remain divided over changes to the $95 billion House-passed budget framework for what would be the party’s third reconciliation bill in Trump’s second term. The proposal needs only a simple majority and skirts the filibuster.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) met Tuesday with panel members and was scheduled to meet that evening with Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) about defense spending levels in the proposal.
Johnson told the Washington Examiner attendees agreed on one thing.
“We really do need to pass a budget resolution before we leave town,” he said.
It remains unclear which, if any, portions of the SAVE America Act could be included and survive the Senate’s strict Byrd rule reconciliation process. The bill includes stricter voter ID laws and state voter-roll oversight by the federal government — provisions Democrats refuse to support.
Without at least some parts of the elections bill, enough Senate Republicans say they’ll force the chamber to stay in session.
“I don’t think we’re going to go home unless we do a budget resolution,” said Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), a leading SAVE America Act proponent.
Trump’s pressure is working — and Democrats are the ones standing in the way of commonsense election security.
