The Senate summer session ended in the early hours of the morning with the chamber clearing a few important items but leaving several of its biggest fights for later. In the final stretch before senators left town, the Senate confirmed Todd Blanche as the nation’s 88th Attorney General and approved a bipartisan interim spending bill that is expected to help avert a government shutdown in October.
Even so, the most consequential story of the overnight session was what the Senate did not take up. Lawmakers did not remain in Washington to push the SAVE America Act, a priority for Republicans who wanted to press ahead during the August recess. The chamber also did not vote on a budget framework that could have opened the door to later election integrity measures, including changes that might have been attached to a bill not subject to a filibuster. Conservative critics are likely to fault the Senate for heading home without settling those questions.
The SAVE America Act still lacks the votes it needs to move forward, but its supporters can use the Senate’s departure as a pressure point against opponents. The chamber did take a test vote on a narrower voter ID bill backed by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, and blocked it. That vote still put Democrats on record against the measure and gave Husted a political boost as he prepares for a competitive fall race against former Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.
The Senate also passed over a chance to advance a bipartisan bill aimed at regulating money in intercollegiate athletics, even though the Big Ten and SEC had endorsed it. President Trump urged senators to stay in session through August so they could pass the measure, which was written by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the panel’s top Democrat. The bill became tangled in a Republican dispute over whether it did enough to keep men out of women’s sports.
