Nothing says "I care about election integrity" quite like packing your bags for a five-week summer vacation while the bill you supposedly support collects dust on the Senate floor. As The American Tribune reported, eleven Republican senators are getting absolutely roasted for apparently being more interested in a 37-day August recess than sticking around to pass the SAVE America Act.
Here's the setup. The Senate holds 53 Republican seats, but the chamber's 60-vote filibuster threshold means they need Democratic cooperation. Democrats have shown approximately zero interest in helping. Senate Majority Leader John Thune keeps saying his conference doesn't have the votes to change the rules, and President Trump keeps saying he doesn't care, get it done anyway.
The SAVE America Act itself would mandate documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering for federal elections, require photo ID at the ballot box, force states to create systems for finding and booting noncitizens off voter rolls, and make absentee voters submit copies of eligible identification documents. Acceptable proof would include passports, citizenship-marked REAL IDs, military documents showing a U.S. birthplace, or certain government IDs paired with birth certificates. States would also need to set up alternative processes for eligible citizens who can't immediately produce documentation. Criminal penalties would apply to anyone knowingly trying to register unlawfully.
Sounds like the kind of thing every Republican would sprint to support, right? Well, according to a July 31st report from Senator Jim Banks' office, only 14 GOP senators had either called to cancel recess or pledged to stay put. Mike Lee, Rick Scott, Tommy Tuberville, Jim Banks, Ashley Moody, Marsha Blackburn, Roger Marshall, and Ted Cruz want the break axed entirely. Darline Graham Nordone, Bill Hagerty, Katie Britt, Todd Young, Eric Schmitt, and Dave McCormick also expressed willingness to remain.
That leaves eleven Republicans who apparently have better things to do. Conservative activists are calling them RINOs and warning that voters might grant them a "permanent vacation" come election time.
Mike Lee is threatening to blow up the entire recess process by denying unanimous consent and forcing a recorded vote on whether senators should leave. "I hereby object to any effort to put the Senate into recess in August," Lee wrote, adding a pointed message to Thune: "Do not assume you have my consent. You do not." Rick Scott backed him up, saying Americans "deserve secure elections."
Thune, meanwhile, is playing the pragmatist card. "What is your picture of victory at the end?" he asked reporters, suggesting they could "stay here till Christmas" without finding ten willing Democrats. He also noted that roughly 15 members of his own conference oppose eliminating the filibuster.
Trump fired back by demanding Thune either pass the bill or terminate the filibuster entirely. Activist Scott Presler put it more colorfully, telling senators that if they vote for vacation without passing the bill, voters would be "more than happy to give you a permanent vacation from the Senate."
The recess would keep the Senate dark until mid-September, leaving precious little runway before the November midterms. So basically, eleven senators are choosing poolside relaxation over the election integrity legislation their party has been screaming about for years. Peak Washington, folks.
Read more American news stories at: The American Tribune
