President Donald Trump and his closest allies on Capitol Hill said they’re willing to do whatever it takes to pass the so-called SAVE America Act before the midterms — except follow through on threats to cancel August recess.
A group of ultraconservative House Republicans and even a few GOP senators lobbied for the chamber to forgo its summer break until it passed the voter ID bill. But last week the MAGA wing yet again had a hard pill to swallow: They simply don’t have the votes.
“We’re going to have to keep fighting on that one. We’re not done, we’re just getting started,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who had promised to try to keep the Senate in session, said in a video after the chamber adjourned without passing the bill. “We did our best, left no stone unturned. I wish the outcome had been different.”
Lee and others had threatened to force a roll call vote on the motion to adjourn — something that’s become a rarity in modern Congress — but when push came to shove in the early hours on Saturday morning, the Senate adjourned by voice vote.
Any recognized senator can ask for the yeas and nays, triggering a formal roll call vote. Nobody did so Saturday, allowing the chamber to leave without forcing senators to go on the record.
