Republican senators fighting to cancel August recess over the Save America Act did not receive enough support from their side of the aisle to hold a roll call vote on the matter, a source familiar told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee demanded a vote on whether to adjourn, although he accepted a voice vote that did not require senators to formally register a position. Senate Republicans lacked the necessary 20 senators to get a sufficient second, which was the level of support needed to order a roll call vote, a source familiar told the DCNF.
The ordinary threshold for a sufficient second is typically 11 votes, although sometimes 20 votes are needed.
Lee said leadership agreed to hold a voice vote if he agreed to vote on “critical items” on the floor. The majority of senators supported the adjournment and left Washington, D.C., until Sept. 14.
“I keep getting asked why we didn’t have a roll call vote on the recess, as I had repeatedly requested, and ultimately settled for a voice vote,” Lee said. “In this case, the recess was set up as part of the same unanimous consent agreement that allowed us to vote on Blanche, the CR, and the voter ID bill.
Senate GOP leadership made clear that without such a UC agreement, it would take weeks to queue up each of those votes individually—and that some members would start leaving within 24 hours, making it impossible to finish any work at all.”
“So every single senator consented to the UC in order to lock in votes on a few critical items, and I made my consent contingent upon a final vote on whether to recess while still preserving the ability to vote against the recess. My request was granted with a voice vote. That was the trade-off,” Lee continued.
Lee previously threatened to block the chamber from adjourning or force them to vote on leaving for vacation. Leadership granted a voice vote after Lee conditioned his consent on getting an adjournment vote.
Eleven senators submitted statements to the Congressional Record declaring they would have voted against adjourning if a roll call vote reached the floor. These Republican senators were Lee, Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Rick Scott of Florida, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, Bernie Moreno of Ohio, Jon Husted of Ohio, Ashley Moody of Florida and Darline Graham of South Carolina.
Other senators who joined Lee in supporting the cancellation included Jim Banks of Indiana, Ted Cruz of Texas, Jim Risch of Idaho, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Todd Young of Indiana. They called on the recess to be canceled so the upper chamber could pass the Safeguard America Voter Eligibility SAVE America Act and other pieces of legislation.
Senate leadership released a plan to pass several pieces of legislation, including a continuing resolution (CR) and confirming Attorney General Todd Blanche. Lee objected to the plan so the chamber could consider canceling recess, meaning the plan did not receive unanimous consent.
Scott said Saturday that himself, Lee and Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson engaged in negotiations with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and secured a commitment to passing election integrity legislation in September. Lee, Scott, Moreno and Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson negotiated with the White House and then brought these negotiations back to Thune, a source familiar told the DCNF.
“It is an honor to continue to fight alongside @basedMikeLee to secure our elections,” Scott said on X. “Last night, all Republicans voted to require identification in our elections, and every Democrat opposed it. We have a commitment from Leader Thune that, in September, we will work hard to pass the House-passed insider trading ban, which includes identification in our elections and a reconciliation bill to provide funds for our military and farmers, and election security … While we didn’t think we should have adjourned, I will continue to fight alongside Mike Lee and other conservatives to prevent fraud in our elections. Washington is broken. Americans are rightly frustrated with Congress.”
“Everybody should really appreciate Mike Lee because he is really taking the lead on this and busting his butt to try and get this done,” Scott said.
A spokesperson for Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville said Lee “led the charge” on forcing a vote and that Tuberville objected to adjourning during the voice vote.
“[Senator] Lee was leading the charge. Coach was one of the people who voiced an objection during the voice vote,” the spokesperson said.
Kennedy said he voted against the adjournment.
“I did not—and do not—support the decision to postpone the budget resolution,” Kennedy said on X. “I worked hard to get Leader Thune to agree to bring it up so we could move forward on the SAVE America Act, and I appreciate his willingness to do so. I’m very disappointed we didn’t vote. We’ve talked enough. It’s time to stop talking and start voting. I also voted NO to adjourn, and my NO vote is recorded in writing with the Senate clerk.”
The offices of Moody, Kennedy, Republican Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, McCormick, Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, Banks, Graham and Schmitt did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Lee called the adjournment a “lost opportunity” to get the SAVE America Act passed.
“These few weeks in August offer what could be the perfect chance to return to the SAVE America Act and debate the bill until it passes,” Lee said on X. “We should be doing precisely that. Frankly, we should have done it months ago. That’s why I objected to recess and voted against it. Unfortunately, I and those who joined me in opposing it were far outnumbered—with all Democrats and most Republicans preferring to take yet another lengthy recess, this time until September 14th. Lost opportunity.”
“For me, it’s all about show me a path to passage,” Thune told the DCNF. “What’s your picture of victory at the end on this? Because if the end game is we actually get an outcome or a result, we could stay here till Christmas. The Democrats aren’t voting for this, I’m just telling ya. And Republicans are not getting rid of the legislative filibuster.”
The chamber left without passing the SAVE America Act, a cryptocurrency bill or a college sports bill put forth by Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell.
(DCNF)