President Donald Trump on Monday demanded Senate Majority Leader John Thune cancel the August recess and keep lawmakers in Washington until the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act passes, threatening to end the legislative standoff by any means necessary.
“John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER,” Trump posted on Truth Social Monday morning.
The SAVE America Act would require documented proof of citizenship when registering to vote, photo identification at the polls, and would restrict mail-in ballots. Trump has called it his No. 1 legislative priority for the 119th Congress.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) is leading the charge to block any recess vote. In a post on X, Lee announced he would formally object to adjournment on the Senate floor: “I hereby object to any effort to put the Senate into recess in August, at least until such time as the Senate has passed the SAVE America Act.”
Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL), Ashley Moody (R-FL), and Jim Banks (R-IN) quickly joined Lee’s objection. “The American people expect us to deliver. They deserve secure elections,” Scott posted on social media. Moody, who faces her own reelection race in November, said she would rather stay in Washington than return home. “I didn’t come to the United States Senate because I needed something to do,” she wrote.
Banks told Fox News he was hearing about the bill everywhere he went back in Indiana over the weekend. “From the diner this morning to the grocery store, ‘Pass the SAVE America Act,'” he said. “We have to get it done.”
The Senate recess typically runs from early August through Labor Day. A single senator can block adjournment and force a floor vote on whether the chamber stays or goes.
Despite the pressure, the SAVE America Act remains short of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster. No Democrat supports the measure, and Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (ME), Thom Tillis (NC), Mitch McConnell (KY), and Susan Collins (ME) previously voted against attaching it to a budget reconciliation package in June.
Tillis has said the bill is “dead” in the Senate for the foreseeable future. “Unless they do the work to get to the 60 votes, they know it’s dead, and so all this is theater,” Tillis told The News and Observer last week.
Thune has publicly pushed back on the White House’s demands, telling aides the administration should focus its energy on convincing Democratic senators to vote yes rather than pressuring Republican leadership. Thune has also threatened to hold up the House-passed budget resolution as leverage in ongoing negotiations to prevent a government shutdown before the break.
