GOP to attach voting provisions to September budget bill
Senators departed Washington in the predawn hours Saturday, ending for now a standoff over President Donald Trump’s demand that they remain in session to pass a strict proof-of-citizenship voting bill before the summer recess.
The chamber wrapped up many key priorities in the overnight votes, but advancing the SAVE America Act was not among them.
Instead, the Republican senators who had brought the chamber to a standstill spoke to Trump late in the evening about an alternative plan. They would try again to approve elements of the voting bill as part of a broader GOP budget package to fund the Iran war and replenish the Pentagon when they return to work in September.
“Obviously, with the president at his direction, this is what he wants to do,” said Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the GOP budget committee chairman, flanked by Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Rick Scott of Florida after their phone call with the president.
The trio’s plan would carry the proof-of-citizenship elements into the budget process when the Senate reconvenes after the summer recess, leaving the voting measure without a near-term floor vote as members headed home for the break.