The Senate wrapped up its work for August in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday morning and departed for a five-week recess after punting on some of Republicans’ top priorities. That leaves lawmakers with a lot to do when they return from their summer break — and some political concerns to worry about as they look ahead to November.
Before senators left for their recess, they managed to advance a Russia sanctions bill; confirm a package of 74 nominations; approve a stopgap bill funding the government from October through December 11; and confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general in a 50-49 vote. They also failed to advance a voter ID bill. And they put off what would have been a failed vote on a third budget reconciliation bill with money for the military, farm aid and election changes.
Then they adjourned at 4:56 a.m. Saturday, leaving their unfinished business, including a bill reforming college sports NIL rules and a sweeping cryptocurrency measure, on hold until September 14 at the earliest.
President Trump reportedly signed off on the decision to delay a vote on the election measures he has been demanding. Even so, Politico reports that some Republicans “are prepared for the mercurial president’s yearslong obsession with the election measure to resurface over the five-week recess and risk further inflaming the party’s base just months before GOP senators need those same voters to turn out.
Looking to avoid a pre-election shutdown: The Senate voted 90-6 to approve a stopgap funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, stretching from the start of the new fiscal year on October 1 until December 11.
The House had passed its own bill, which extended funding through December 4, before it started its summer break. To avert a shutdown, both chambers will need to pass the same spending stopgap before the deadline at the end of September.
Unlike the House-passed bill, the bipartisan Senate version makes some adjustments to current funding levels and temporarily blocks a Trump administration plan that would give political appointees control over federal grants. Lawmakers are expected to resume a fight over that grant issue after they return from recess, as both Democrats and some Republicans object to the administration changes.
The Senate bill also includes language preventing the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agencies from getting additional money as part of the stopgap spending bill. That could lead some House Republicans to object to the Senate measure.
The White House said earlier this month that it supports the Senate bill.
“This bill would proactively provide additional time for the full-year appropriations process to continue moving forward while preventing another dangerous shutdown that harms hardworking families and forces Federal employees to go without pay,” the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement of administration policy. “President Trump strongly opposes another futile Government shutdown. Every Member of Congress should support passage of this CR to keep the Government open as discussions on full-year appropriations continue.”
Reconciliation 3.0 on hold: Senate Republicans last week unveiled their budget framework for a third reconciliation package but did not vote on it given the expectation that a vote would fail. That leaves the GOP plan to provide more money for the Iran war and farm aid in limbo, likely until after the November elections — and leaves President Trump’s push for new voter restrictions entirely unresolved.
Senate Republicans are set to return to the Capitol on September 14 and are reportedly expected to revise the blueprint they released last Friday. Even so, they may not take up the budget plan for fear that the reconciliation process they are using to bypass the threat of a Democratic filibuster would open them up to a series of sensitive amendment votes from Democrats just weeks before voters cast their ballots.
The bottom line: Congress has plenty of work left to do, even just to avoid a government shutdown in October (not to mention full-year funding for fiscal year 2027). But the House isn’t scheduled to be back until the end of the month, and the Senate is slated to be out until mid-September.