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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), President Trump and Senate conservatives reached a deal Friday night to set aside a vote on a budget resolution and defer action on much of the SAVE America Act until after the August recess, settling a fight that had divided Senate Republicans for weeks.
Conservative Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) emerged from Thune’s office in the Capitol after speaking with Trump and holding a two-hour conference meeting with GOP colleagues, and told reporters they had reached an agreement.
They said that there’s now consensus within the conference to postpone action on a Senate budget resolution that would serve as a blueprint for a reconciliation bill until after the August recess and to vote immediately on a key element of the SAVE America Act — the requirement that voters show photo identification in federal elections.
Johnson, Lee and Scott, who have called on Senate GOP colleagues to cancel the August recess to debate and attempt to pass the full SAVE America Act, acknowledged they didn’t have the votes to advance that bill anytime soon.
“We had about a two-hour conference meeting, trying to figure out what we need to do to come to an agreement to accomplish what the president wanted,” Johnson said, acknowledging that the proposed budget resolution may have failed on the Senate floor because of a lack of enough Republican support.
“There was a concern whether or not it could actually pass, the budget resolution, tonight,” he said, noting that some colleagues wanted substantially more funding for the Pentagon than the $73 billion proposed in a House-passed budget resolution. The budget resolution would serve as a blueprint for a party-line reconciliation bill Republicans aim to pass without needing Democratic support.
“There’s certainly concern in terms of the need for our military. When the finest among us are in harm’s way, is it really enough?” Johnson said. “The conclusion of the conference and then we had the discussion with the president, he agrees, don’t take the vote tonight. Just work diligently through August and September to do an actually better budget reconciliation bill.”
“We’re all satisfied with that. So, we’re not going to vote on budget resolution tonight and really work hard tonight,” he said.
The conservative leaders say they’re also “hopeful” on finding a way to vote soon on a continuing resolution to fund the government through Dec. 11 and to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general. Republicans had spent much of Friday searching for a deal to accelerate the timeframe for passing both priorities.
Lee indicated that he would not force Republican colleagues to vote on a politically sensitive adjournment resolution in order to embark on a five-week recess because he was satisfied with an emerging agreement to vote instead on a bill sponsored by Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) to require voters to show photo identification in federal elections.
Lee said “of course” he’s disappointed that the SAVE America Act won’t pass anytime soon but acknowledged “we’re not in a position right now where we have the wherewithal to pass it right now.”
“But we are going to vote on a handful of things, including the Husted measure with photo ID, which is about half of what the SAVE America Act is,” Lee said. “That will give us some indication of where we stand.
“Voter ID is a major component of SAVE America,” he added.
Democrats defeated Husted’s proposal to require voters to show voter identification in a 53-47 vote when he offered it as an amendment on Senate floor in March. The vote came during a lengthy debate on the SAVE America Act, which Senate Democrats have repeatedly blocked.
Democrats voted against Husted’s amendment in March despite Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer’s (N.Y.) claim that Democrats support photo ID requirements for elections.
Schumer told reporters in a March 15 press call that Democrats included a voter ID provision in their Freedom to Vote Act, which they introduced in 2021 when they controlled the Senate.
“Democrats support voter ID. In fact, we included it and it is included in our Freedom to Vote legislation several years ago. So, we’re not opposed,” Schumer said.
Lee said conservatives want to put Democrats on the record on the issue once again.
“We’ve got many Democrats who’ve said, ‘I’m just fine with voter ID.’” Lee said. “We’re going to find out where they are on that.”
Johnson said Trump signed off on the plan to wrap up the Senate’s work before the August recess.
“We’re in total agreement. There’s no argument about it,” he said.
The Senate has already voted five times on the SAVE America Act or major elements of it but have failed to entice enough Democrats to overcome the 60-vote threshold for ending a filibuster.
Thune has repeatedly said that Senate Republicans don’t have the votes to abolish the filibuster to pass election reform legislation, as Trump has demanded.
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