{"id":29475,"date":"2026-08-06T06:04:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T01:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=29475"},"modified":"2026-08-06T06:04:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T01:04:29","slug":"senates-summer-pileup-is-threatening-a-quick-recess-escape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=29475","title":{"rendered":"Senate\u2019s summer pileup is threatening a quick recess escape"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.politico.com\/a1\/76\/427820594daa9a5ff4c22375e665\/u-s-congress-2235.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Ideally, the Senate would be adjourning for a five-week break in less than 24 hours.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Republican senators are still navigating what Majority Leader <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/51242\" data-person-id=\"51242\">John Thune<\/a> described as a \u201ctrain wreck\u201d as they face a pileup of legislation, key nominations and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2026\/07\/27\/congress\/trump-thune-senate-recess-01012561\" target=\"_blank\">public pressure<\/a> from President Donald Trump and angry conservatives to show progress on a GOP election bill Trump views as his \u201cNo. 1 priority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re heading into Thursday \u2014 when the scent of jet fumes typically starts wafting through the halls of Congress \u2014 without a deal that would let them speed up votes on a <a href=\"https:\/\/legislation.politicopro.com\/bill\/US_119_S_DRAFT31\" target=\"_blank\">government funding bill<\/a> or long-stalled Russia sanctions bill.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Todd Blanche\u2019s attorney general nomination is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2026\/08\/04\/congress\/todd-blanche-votes-curtis-01023896\" target=\"_blank\">still stuck in limbo<\/a> after he came to the Capitol Wednesday for a roughly hourlong meeting with two key Republican holdouts.<\/p>\n<p>That said, the general outlines of a deal that would allow senators to quickly get out of Washington and onto the campaign trail has started taking shape, even as senators and aides acknowledged they might have to stick around at least a little bit longer than they\u2019d hoped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t kill the vibe \u2014 it\u2019s starting to pick up,\u201d Thune said in an interview, while cautioning that \u201cyou\u2019re not going to be smelling those [jet fumes] anytime real soon. \u2026 We\u2019ve obviously got, like I said, a stack of stuff to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One key issue Republicans haven\u2019t yet settled is a new party-line spending bill that would pump billions of dollars into the Pentagon, to ailing farmers and into some elections-related spending that could take some of the Trump-fueled pressure off \u2014 even as several people with knowledge of the discussions said the votes aren\u2019t there.<\/p>\n<p>Thune hasn\u2019t formally ruled out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/07\/29\/senate-reconciliation-russ-vought-01015594\" target=\"_blank\">taking up a budget blueprint<\/a> for the GOP bill, saying Wednesday it was \u201chard to say at this point\u201d if he had the votes. But he indicated there was progress behind the scenes toward an exit strategy that would allow Republicans to start their recess with minimal internal friction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere&#8217;s not clarity, but it&#8217;s getting less cloudy if you put it that way,\u201d Thune said.<\/p>\n<p>Three people granted anonymity to discuss internal discussions said that endgame would not involve the time-consuming process of advancing a budget, but instead calling up a vote related to the SAVE America Act, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/06\/29\/donald-trump-mail-voting-save-america-00980173\" target=\"_blank\">Trump-backed elections bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Republican leaders are hoping that holding a vote on the elections proposal, at the Senate\u2019s usual 60-vote threshold for legislation, will let them hammer Democrats as the holdup while satisfying Republicans who have been frustrated over the lack of progress and have threatened to oppose leaving town.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re looking at options there,\u201d Thune said about possible SAVE America-related votes.<\/p>\n<p>He added that it \u201cremains to be seen\u201d if that would be enough to placate Trump-allied rabble-rousers, \u201cbut we\u2019ve had a number of conversations now about how we get the votes people feel are necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A key MAGA ally, Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/151827\" data-person-id=\"151827\">Mike Lee<\/a> of Utah, posted a social media video Wednesday thanking Thune, saying that the conversation has moved in a \u201cfavorable direction\u201d and that Republicans were discussing \u201cwhat procedural vehicle to use in order to get this thing done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thune has several other obstacles to clear besides the SAVE America fight.<\/p>\n<p>Senators want an agreement that would let them extend government funding into mid-December, pass a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/07\/28\/senators-advance-russia-sanctions-bill-lindsey-graham-01014368\" target=\"_blank\">sanctions bill targeting Russia<\/a> in honor of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, confirm dozens of Trump nominees, including Blanche, and start work on a bipartisan college sports bill.<\/p>\n<p>The highest drama surrounds Blanche, who met Wednesday with GOP Sens. <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/66858\" data-person-id=\"66858\">Bill Cassidy<\/a> of Louisiana and <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/51218\" data-person-id=\"51218\">Lisa Murkowski<\/a> of Alaska. Neither said afterward how they would vote on his nomination. With Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/51168\" data-person-id=\"51168\">Susan Collins<\/a> (R-Maine) and every Democrat expected to oppose Blanche, and Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/51216\" data-person-id=\"51216\">Mitch McConnell<\/a> (R-Ky.) out for health reasons, he will need to win support from at least one of the two.<\/p>\n<p>The legislative targets have issues, too: Republicans are grappling with intraparty <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/live-updates\/2026\/08\/05\/congress\/donald-trump-hemp-ban-cr-01026529\" target=\"_blank\">wrangling over hemp language<\/a> included in the stopgap bill, and Democrats are working through concerns in their ranks about the sanctions bill.<\/p>\n<p>They also want to know if Republicans are going to force them to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/07\/22\/democrats-crypto-booker-clarity-act-01009115\" target=\"_blank\">take a vote on cryptocurrency legislation<\/a> that many Democrats currently oppose. They are eager to avoid taking that vote ahead of the recess as bipartisan talks happen behind the scenes \u2014 especially because a failed vote could potentially fuel tens of millions of dollars of campaign spending against Democratic opponents by industry allies.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats are also looking for signals from Republicans about whether they will move forward with the party-line budget plan. But it was clear by Wednesday afternoon that major obstacles remained.<\/p>\n<p>One GOP senator said Wednesday evening that \u201cthere won\u2019t be the votes to do reconciliation and that will simplify things\u201d for the rest of the schedule.<\/p>\n<p>At a Senate GOP lunch meeting, Budget Chair <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/151822\" data-person-id=\"151822\">Ron Johnson<\/a> of Wisconsin presented his ideas for the budget blueprint. It would closely mirror a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/07\/16\/senate-budget-reconciliation-tensions-01000751\" target=\"_blank\">version that the House advanced<\/a> last month, but it would also instruct a host of new committees to help draft the bill \u2014 expanding the range of issues Democrats could force vulnerable GOP incumbents to take tough votes on just months before the midterms.<\/p>\n<p>Besides ongoing intra-GOP disputes about the amount of Pentagon funding to include and whether to offset the spending with cuts elsewhere, Thune is dealing with senators who aren\u2019t convinced that they should force the issue just months before voters cast ballots.<\/p>\n<p>Retiring Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/directory.politicopro.com\/member\/192907\" data-person-id=\"192907\">Thom Tillis<\/a> (R-N.C.), who described himself as a \u201clean no\u201d on the budget, said his views were being influenced by wanting to protect vulnerable colleagues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere&#8217;s only like five members of my conference that I care about. and they&#8217;re the ones who are running in at-risk states,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Asked if he would vote \u201cno\u201d to protect them, Tillis added, \u201cI\u2019m going to support my members who are up for election. They&#8217;re the most important priority right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ideally, the Senate would be adjourning for a five-week break in less than 24 hours. Instead, Republican senators are still navigating what Majority Leader John Thune described as a \u201ctrain wreck\u201d as they face a pileup of legislation, key nominations and public pressure from President Donald Trump and angry conservatives to show progress on a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static.politico.com\/a1\/76\/427820594daa9a5ff4c22375e665\/u-s-congress-2235.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}