Senate Republicans delay budget vote, pivot to photo ID measure after Trump deal

Senate Republicans ended an overnight standoff without passing President Donald Trump’s preferred proof-of-citizenship voting bill, leaving the broader SAVE America Act for a later fight and adjourning for the summer recess. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and conservative Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah and Rick Scott of Florida spoke with Trump and agreed to try again in September by folding elements of the election measure into a broader GOP budget package tied to funding the Iran war and replenishing the Pentagon. The Senate did move several other priorities during the nearly 20-hour session. Senators confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general, passed a Russian sanctions package to aid Ukraine, and approved a bipartisan measure to fund the government into December as an early step to avoid a shutdown. Republicans also tried to advance a narrower bill requiring people to show IDs before voting in federal elections, but it failed largely along party lines with Democrats opposed. The episode underscored both Trump’s influence over the Senate agenda and the limits of that pressure. Trump had pushed Thune for weeks to pass the SAVE America Act and had urged the Senate to abandon the filibuster to move it with a simple majority. Thune and most senators have resisted that approach, and Republicans still lack the support needed to overcome the 60-vote threshold on election legislation. Lee said he was disappointed but acknowledged, "We are not in a position right now where we have the wherewithal to pass it."

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