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Browse major news stories and see what officials have said.

Sep 23, 2026· Updated

Trump Demands the Senate Cancel Its August Recess Over the SAVE America Act, Splitting Republicans and Drawing a Rebuff From Thune

President Trump demanded in late July 2026 that the Senate stay in session through its scheduled August recess until it passes the SAVE America Act — his top legislative priority, which would ban mail-in ballots and require identification and proof of citizenship to vote — or else abolish the legislative filibuster. On July 26, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) publicly objected to any motion to recess until the bill passed, and Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL), Ashley Moody (R-FL), Jim Banks (R-IN) and Katie Britt (R-AL) joined the push over the following days. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) responded coolly, noting the bill had already failed on the floor multiple times and asking supporters to show him a path to an outcome; he separately rebuffed Trump's calls to eliminate the filibuster, pointing out that Republicans hold only a 53-47 majority and lack the votes for either the bill or a rules change. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who supports the underlying bill, opposed canceling the recess, saying she did not see a route to 60 votes. Trump said he had not "even thought" about replacing Thune as leader but said Thune had "got to get his job done." The House had already begun its August recess.

“Let's make it easy to vote and let's make it hard to cheat. [Lee said on the Senate floor as he asked unanimous consent to pass the SAVE America Act.]”
Mike Lee (R-UT) · Sep 23, 2026

The House Votes 220-192 to Condemn Socialism "in All Its Forms" — and Bolts the SAVE America Act Onto It, Splitting Democrats and Sending Eight Across the Aisle

On September 1, 2026, the House adopted H.Res. 1490 by a vote of 220-192, with two members voting present. The four-page resolution, introduced August 27 by Rep. Jeff Crank (R-CO), "condemns and denounces socialism in all its forms, including the Democratic Socialists of America," and also calls for enactment of the SAVE America Act — the voter-ID and proof-of-citizenship bill that Senate Democrats blocked in August. That second half is what made the vote a trap. Eight Democrats — Jared Golden (ME), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA), Don Davis (NC), Vicente Gonzalez (TX), Henry Cuellar (TX), Kathy Castor (FL), Darren Soto (FL) and Gabe Vasquez (NM) — voted yes anyway. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries voted no, calling the measure "toxic voter suppression legislation" dressed up as an anti-socialism vote. Reps. Maggie Goodlander (NH) and Chrissy Houlahan (PA) voted present. Four centrist Democrats — Josh Gottheimer (NJ), Hillary Scholten (MI), Jared Moskowitz (FL) and Tom Suozzi (NY) — tried to head the vote off with an amendment that condemned socialism and the DSA in stronger terms but stripped the SAVE America Act language. The Rules Committee declined to make it in order on August 31, in a markup where members traded accusations over government-run grocery stores and "silly season." Crank was explicit that the point was to put Democrats on the record against the DSA ahead of November. Majority Leader Steve Scalise tied the two halves together directly. Democrats called it a messaging exercise substituting for action on cost of living.

“House Republicans continue to desperately push toxic voter suppression legislation instead of working to make life more affordable for everyday Americans in the midst of a searing cost-of-living crisis.”
Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) · Sep 1, 2026

Trump Refuses to Say He Backs Thune for Another Term as Senate GOP Leader — and Republican Senators Close Ranks Around Thune

In a Punchbowl News interview published Friday, August 7, 2026, President Trump pointedly declined to say whether he would support Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) for another term leading Senate Republicans, telling Jake Sherman "I don't want to get into that necessarily." Trump said he gets along with Thune personally but called it "unfortunate that he doesn't have the votes," referring to the two demands that have driven months of friction between them: passing the SAVE America Act and abolishing the legislative filibuster. Thune has repeatedly told Trump the Senate has neither 60 votes for the SAVE America Act nor 50 votes to end the filibuster — a position vindicated on August 8, when the voter ID component of the bill failed 52-46 on the Senate floor for the sixth time. The non-endorsement was widely read as an opening for a Trump-backed challenge to Thune's leadership. Instead, when senators were asked about it in the days after, Republicans closed ranks. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) said there is "a lot of respect for John Thune" in the conference and drew an explicit line: senators may defer to the president on policy, but the choice of their leader "belongs to us." Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) — who challenged Mitch McConnell for the leadership twice and who had sided with Trump on cancelling the August recess — offered only that leading the conference is "a hard job." Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) framed the rift as a policy disagreement between two men who "like each other." Thune himself declined to escalate, pointing to what he called "a really productive run" and noting he had warned from the outset that some of Trump's asks were closer to impossible than merely difficult. The episode marks a rare instance of Senate Republicans publicly declining to follow Trump's lead, and it sets up the question of whether Trump will recruit a challenger before the conference votes on leadership after the November 2026 midterms.

“I think we've had a really productive run. There are a couple things I said right from the very beginning are going to be difficult if not impossible—frankly more impossible—to do.”
John Thune (R-SD) · Aug 11, 2026