Trump to Senate: Cancel August recess

Savannah Behrmann, CQ-Roll Call on Jul 27, 2026

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As the Senate speeds toward its upcoming August recess, President Donald Trump is turning up the pressure on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to keep his chamber in session and in Washington instead.

So far, that’s unlikely.

“You could stay here till Christmas” and the situation wouldn’t change, Thune said. “If I thought there was a path to getting a result, I’m all for it.”

The president posted to Truth Social on Monday morning that “Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes” the SAVE America Act, a GOP-crafted package that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID at the polls.

The sweeping bill does not have the 60 votes needed to advance through the Senate — a message the South Dakota Republican leader has reiterated both publicly and privately to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

“Show me how this ends. What’s the picture of victory at the end?” Thune said.

While Thune supports the legislation himself, Democrats and a handful of Republicans remain opposed. GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski, for example, said it would harm voters in her home state of Alaska. Instead of safeguarding elections, it would “impose costly new barriers and prevent some, perhaps many, from voting,” Murkowski wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

Even so, Trump urged the Senate to stay in town and “terminate” the filibuster. “Republicans can then quickly pass everything they ever dreamed of, including a full and deep throated SAVE AMERICA ACT, the Budget, and the ever looming Debt Ceiling disaster,” he wrote.

Democrats “will do it on day one, and can’t believe how lucky they got with this Senate leadership,” Trump continued. “Remember, stupidity always brings LOSING & DEATH!”

Thune said Senate Republicans “are not getting rid of the legislative filibuster” and that Trump’s team knows there are “15 noes” on that topic after meeting with a group of 20 GOP senators.

“I mean, this is not an open question. It’s just a fact, and the facts don’t change,” Thune said. “Now, if [Trump] can change the facts and start moving some of those senators who are noes into yeses, then we have a different conversation.”

The frustration boiling within the GOP isn’t new, but the president and his allies online have undeniably dialed up the heat on Thune.

A group of Senate Republicans over the weekend also began ringing the bell to cancel recess, saying they’d object to unanimous consent to begin the month-long state session to stay in D.C. to pass SAVE. That is scheduled to begin at the end of next week.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told Thune via X, “I hereby object to any effort to put the Senate into recess in August—at least until such time as the Senate has passed the SAVE America Act—and hereby request a roll call vote.”

“Do not assume you have my consent. You do not,” he continued.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., echoed that sentiment, posting: “I will vote to stay in session unless we have passed the SAVE America Act.”

Despite this growing group, recess would likely still be safe even if such members demand a roll call vote, because adjournment requires only a simple majority. Leaders on both sides of the aisle are eager to get home and campaign in person with the midterms just 99 days away.

Still, don’t expect the pressure to ease up from Trump and other conservatives this week.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, posted that “the Senate should not recess at all” and instead pass SAVE and tackle other GOP priorities. “Do these things & the Senate needn’t be campaigning . . . you will win.”

Republicans are defending more seats this cycle and will be trying to stave off Democrats, who need a net gain of four to retake the majority. Earlier this year, that was seen as an improbability, but polling has shown some glimmers of hope for Democrats in key Senate races.

Thune said he and the president have not spoken in 10 days. Trump on Monday said their relationship is “fine.”

“I have a good relationship with John Thune. He just has to get his job done,” the president told reporters traveling with him on the way to Michigan. “You got to get the SAVE America Act passed, or better than that, would be [the] filibuster. If you terminate the filibuster everything happens. If you don’t terminate the filibuster, only bad things will happen.”