The Senate released a plan Friday to debate and vote on a massive package of bills before exiting for August recess.
Leadership outlined a plan for voting on several bills and exiting for recess, which included voting on a continuing resolution (CR), confirming acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and passing a voter identification bill introduced by Republican Ohio Sen. Jon Husted.
Senators had until 3:25 p.m. EDT to object. If any objections were made, leadership would not have unanimous consent, but could still follow through with their plan. The chamber will likely be voting throughout the night and into the early hours of Saturday morning.
The CR would fund the federal government through Dec. 11 and prevent a shutdown. The upper chamber will also vote on Republican North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd’s amendment that would strip a CR provision delaying a ban on hemp THC products.
Under the plan, the Senate would vote on the amendment and on a final passage of the CR.
Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee said he was “not on board” with the plan and formally objected to the time agreement. He and seventeen other senators previously called for colleagues to join them and vote to delay the August recess to pass the Safeguard America Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.
The agreement did not include a vote on whether the Senate should adjourn for recess, which Lee argued was done on purpose to make it harder for him to object.
“It’s not lost on me that this agreement may have been designed to make it more difficult for me and others to force a vote on whether to adjourn or recess,” Lee said on X. “Regardless, I’m not on board with that plan—not with all that’s at stake and all that remains undone. For that reason, I have formally objected to the time agreement, contingent on scheduling a roll call vote (at 51) as to the part of the agreement that deals with adjournment with pro formas. We are United States senators. It is entirely reasonable to ask for a vote on this.”
The Senate would also vote on confirming Blanche to be the next attorney general. Blanche’s nomination hung by a thread as some Republican senators hesitated to support him, including Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy.
Cornyn and Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis demanded written proof that an $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund was formally rescinded that language be rewritten in an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) settlement to ensure that audit immunity for Trump and his family did not extend beyond the plaintiffs. The senators reached a deal with Blanche Monday and advanced his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska opposed Blanche’s nomination. Cassidy was initially hesitant to support Blanche, though he announced Friday he would support him.
The chamber also planned to vote on a $95 billion budget resolution which passed the House on July 22. The framework includes $10 billion for the House Administration Committee to hand out grants to implement the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, $72 billion for the House Armed Services Committee and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to address the Iran war and $12 billion to aid struggling farmers. It includes no spending cuts.
The budget resolution, which only needs a simple majority to pass, is expected to fail. Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul would then be recognized for a motion to proceed to his alternative budget resolution, which would get two hours of debate time if agreed to.
The upper chamber would then debate and attempt to pass Husted’s bill to amend the “Help America Vote Act of 2002,” which would require voters to provide proof of photo identification.
(DCNF)