The U.S. Senate concluded a high-stakes legislative session in Washington, passing a government funding bill aimed at preventing a shutdown and confirming Todd Blanche as attorney general. This late-night flurry of activity served as a departure point for lawmakers, who have now transitioned into their annual five-week recess to focus on upcoming campaign efforts.
Despite the late-night accomplishments, the chamber left a significant amount of unfinished business on the table. Efforts to advance Pentagon funding amid the ongoing conflict in Iran were stalled, as were bipartisan initiatives to reform college athletics. Furthermore, long-awaited legislation regarding cryptocurrency regulation failed to progress, and a complex push to enact elements of the SAVE America Act—a voting restriction bill prioritized by President Donald Trump—remained incomplete.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, had previously acknowledged the difficulty of aligning his caucus on these competing priorities. “It’s just a series of things that are sort of piled up,” Thune remarked earlier this week, though he added that describing the situation as a “train wreck’s probably a little extreme of an analogy.”
The legislative calendar is now constrained, with lawmakers facing limited time before the November midterms. Senate Republicans continue to navigate the tension between maintaining their majority and addressing their legislative agenda. Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, noted the pressure during a floor speech, stating, “I’m planning on being in all battleground states, and I’m anxious to get there to help my colleagues, but we’ve got to stay here and get our business done.”
A central point of contention has been the SAVE America Act, which proposes strict requirements for photo identification and documentary proof of citizenship for voting, while also limiting mail-in ballots. While the full bill faces significant hurdles, GOP leaders have attempted to bypass the filibuster by incorporating parts of the legislation into a budget bill, which could pass on party lines. This strategy involves using federal grants to incentivize states to adopt the voting requirements.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, noted the scale of the proposal, stating, “The most you’d spend is $20 billion on election integrity.” Although the House of Representatives approved the broader effort weeks ago, Senate Republicans were unable to finalize the measure before departing, citing last-minute disagreements and conflicting priorities.
In an attempt to appease supporters of the SAVE America Act, Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, introduced a measure during the final night of the session to mandate photo ID for elections, but the proposal failed. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a vocal proponent of the legislation, expressed frustration that no Democrats supported the move. “Not a single Democrat joined us,” Lee stated.
Lee had previously threatened to obstruct the Senate’s adjournment if the voting legislation did not advance. Reflecting on the outcome via social media, he wrote, “I left no stone unturned. I wish the outcome would’ve been different as to the adjournment and as to these votes.” Despite his vocal opposition to the schedule, Lee and other Republican senators ultimately allowed the chamber to adjourn just before 5 a.m. without formal objection.
Lee, or any other Republican senator, could’ve objected to the chamber adjourning just before 5 a.m.
But after days of Republican infighting, the chamber left a lot on the cutting room floor.
Hopes of getting around to years-in-the-making legislation to regulate cryptocurrency were dashed.
A circuitous effort to implement pieces of President Donald Trump’s biggest legislative priority ‒ a voting restrictions bill called the SAVE America Act ‒ didn’t get closer to the finish line, either.
A few days ago, Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledged the challenges he was having getting everyone on the same page.
The result: Congress will be using what vanishingly little time it has left before the November midterms fighting some of its most politically fraught battles.
Instead, hoping to quell frustration among the biggest SAVE proponents, Sen.