During the long night to send the Senate home, deals were brokered, major legislation was punted and promises were extended.
The SAVE America Act never made it off the shelf, despite promises up and down from its biggest proponents to thwart any attempt to leave Washington, D.C., without trying to pass it. And the vehicle to blast through Democratic objections and pass parts of the bill never left the garage, either.
But it all nearly fell apart before lawmakers ever got a chance to hit the Senate floor for an early morning round of votes. Here’s what happened in the dead of night, and how Republicans are readying for a busy stretch when the Senate returns in September.
The sun was about to rise in Washington, D.C., as the Senate tidied up last-minute work, but no lawmaker ever made an objection to adjourning for the rest of August.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, empowered by President Donald Trump, vowed that he would object and force a floor vote to keep lawmakers in Washington to find a way to pass the SAVE America Act.
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He even stood in the way, along with several other Republicans for differing reasons, of the deal concocted by Republican leaders to get major items, like averting a shutdown, agreed to and sent to Democrats for their approval in a bid to get a guaranteed floor vote.
But the promised objection never came. A roll call vote didn’t happen. And Lee and others settled for a voice vote, responding “no” to the Senate adjourning for recess. They weren’t successful.
Another issue that played out during the night was over the budget blueprint designed to sketch out how to pass pieces and parts of the SAVE America Act without fear of Democrats blocking the process.
It was destined for failure, and Trump pushed Republicans to pull the plug.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who is now at the helm of the Senate Budget Committee, plans to go back to the drawing board with his budget resolution and beef it up to include more funding for the Pentagon.
“We’re, obviously, with the president at his direction. This is what he wants to do,” Johnson said.
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But the slowdown serves as another blow to the SAVE America Act and vastly lowers the possibility that Republicans can get another budget resolution and forthcoming reconciliation package, passed before the lame-duck period after the midterm elections.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged that “we’re going to need to do another reconciliation bill,” but wouldn’t say just how soon the Senate could make it happen.
“We’ll see,” Thune said. “I mean, I think that Ron’s gonna work on it over the break, and his team, and we’ll see what they come up with.”
A major reason that the night dragged on as long as it did was because of a massive college sports bill to redraw the boundaries of the big money tied to name, image and likeness (NIL).
The package, pushed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, faced pushback from several Republicans over bringing it to the Senate floor. It prompted Trump to call on the Senate GOP to move the bill in a Truth Social post, but it wasn’t enough to kill the resistance.
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A source familiar with negotiations told Fox News Digital that things had become bleak as the night went on.
“We are pretty much at a standstill and could be here through Monday or Tuesday,” they said.
Ultimately, the bill was stripped from the larger floor deal and delayed until September after Cruz and Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., huddled with Thune in his office.
“We will get the bill to President Trump’s desk and deliver results for hundreds of thousands of student-athletes and bring stability to college athletics,” Cruz said in a statement.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation almost didn’t happen, not because of Republican defectors, but because of tired lawmakers.
When it finally came time to do back-to-back votes to officially lock him in as former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s replacement, it was just past 3 a.m. And senators were ready to go — Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., had his suitcase ready just outside of the Senate floor.
But two key votes, Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., had missed the preceding votes. The late night had gotten to them, and Republicans needed them to confirm Blanche.
They were eventually roused and voted to confirm him, handing Trump one of the narrowest confirmation wins in history at 50-49.
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