Senate Finds the Votes to Go Home, Not to Pass Election Integrity

WASHINGTON—The Senate demonstrated early Saturday that it can still pass a measure when the measure is adjournment.

After a session that ran nearly 20 hours, senators left for summer recess without advancing President Donald Trump’s SAVE America Act, the strict proof-of-citizenship voting bill he had urged them to finish before leaving Washington.

The legislation did not have enough support even within the Republican majority, much less the Democratic votes needed to clear the Senate’s usual 60-vote threshold. Trump had pressed Republicans to set aside the filibuster to move it through, a step Senate Majority Leader John Thune and most senators were unwilling to take.

The chamber was not idle. During the overnight session, senators confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general, passed a Russia sanctions package aimed at aiding Ukraine and approved bipartisan funding to keep the government running into December.

Republicans also attempted to advance a narrower bill requiring identification to vote in federal elections. That measure failed largely along party lines, leaving the Senate with two voting proposals, zero victories and a firm departure time.

Sens. Mike Lee, Ron Johnson and Rick Scott had pushed to keep the chamber in session. After a Republican meeting and a late call with Trump, the senators accepted a plan to try again in September, when elements of the voting bill could be folded into a broader budget package to finance the Iran war and replenish the Pentagon.

Lee and several others still opposed adjournment near daybreak, but the ayes carried on a voice vote. The Senate’s most dependable August coalition had assembled exactly when required.

Republicans say they will return to election legislation in September. Recess, having already secured the votes, began immediately.