The Senate adjourned for its August recess Saturday morning without voting on the Protect College Sports Act. But as part of an agreement to adjourn, the PCSA is slated for a vote between Sept. 15 and Sept. 23rd when the chamber returns.
“Our work is not over,” Senate Commerce Committee chairman Ted Cruz (R., Texas) said shortly before 3 a.m. ET Saturday. “The good news is that when the Senate returns in September, the Protect College Sports Act will be one of our first orders of business, having locked in a vote.”
The news ended a rocky week for the bill on Capitol Hill.
Despite taking the first step to a vote earlier in the week, the PCSA was competing with several other legislative priorities. Among Democrats, opposition mounted from the Congressional Black Caucus and AFL-CIO, while Republican senators and interest groups raised last-minute concerns over whether the bill would overturn state laws preventing transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports. Three senators filed amendments.
Sens. Pete Ricketts (R., Neb.) and John Hickenlooper (D., Colo.) signed on as cosponsors Thursday night, bringing the bill’s total to eight. The White House, which backs the bill, continued to lobby senators.
