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Senate conservatives led by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) are calling on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to cancel the August recess so that they can debate the SAVE America Act, a sweeping election reform bill that President Trump has made his No. 1 legislative priority.
Tweeting at Thune, Lee warned on social media last week that he would “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” and requested a roll call vote to adjourn the Senate for five weeks over most of August and early September.
Lee doubled down on Sunday, posting on X, the social media platform: “The Senate doesn’t need a summer vacation as much as the country needs the SAVE America Act. Let’s cancel recess.”
Several other Senate Republicans echoed Lee’s call to stay in session over August and through Labor Day, even though at least three GOP incumbents face tough reelection races — Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jon Husted (R-Ohio) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) — and could benefit from campaigning at home during those weeks.
“I stand with @basedmikelee. I will vote to stay in session unless we have passed the SAVE America Act. The American people expect us to deliver. They deserve secure elections,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) posted on social media.
Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), who’s up for reelection in Florida this November, said she would prefer to stay in Washington in August instead of returning to her home state for an extended period to meet with constituents.
“I didn’t come to the United States Senate because I needed something to do. I’m serving because there are things we need to get done for the American People. The Senate needs to stay in session until we can get the SAVE America Act to the floor and passed,” Moody posted on X.
Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), another Trump ally, said he’s ready to cancel the five-week recess to debate the SAVE America Act, which has already failed several times on the Senate floor.
“I’m all for it. We don’t need a recess. Let’s pass the Save America Act. It’s more important than taking a break, taking a recess,” Banks told Fox News.
“I’m back in Indiana for the weekend, I head back to Washington tomorrow. I’ve heard from people everywhere I go, from the diner this morning to the grocery store, ‘Pass the SAVE America Act.’ We have to get it done,” he said.
The Senate has already spent several weeks of floor time debating the SAVE America Act, which would require people to show documented proof of citizenship when registering to vote, to show photo identification when voting, and would restrict mail-in ballots.
The Senate has voted on the legislation in whole or in part at least five times and it hasn’t come close to mustering the 60 votes needed to pass.
Not a single Democrat supports the bill, which Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) has called Jim Crow 2.0.
An effort to attach the SAVE America Act to a budget reconciliation package that passed the Senate in June failed after four Republicans voted against an amendment sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Collins voted against Graham’s amendment, which would have added President Trump’s preferred version of the SAVE America Act to a $70 billion budget reconciliation package.
Tillis has warned that he will oppose any effort to implement the election reform law before the 2026 midterms, cautioning it would cause chaos in states across the country to change the voting rules so close to an election.
Tillis 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 (Raleigh) News & Observer, calling on GOP colleagues to move on to other priorities.
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