The Hitchhiker’s Guide to what the Senate did and didn’t do overnight

The Senate wrapped up its summer session at 4:57 a.m. ET.

Senators knocked two major items off their checklist. They confirmed Todd Blanche as the nation’s 88th Attorney General. 

They also approved a bipartisan interim spending bill that likely goes a long way toward preventing a government shutdown in October.

But nearly as important as what senators accomplished is what didn’t get done.

The Senate did not stay in session and attempt to pass the SAVE America Act. 

In fact, there was not even procedural stunting by the pro-SAVE America Act Republicans, who advocated blowing up the August recess.

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Moreover, the Senate did not take a vote on a budget framework which could enable them to eventually tack on some election integrity measures – and pass them at a later date in a bill not subject to a filibuster.

Expect some conservatives to rail against the Senate for not working this out. 

The SAVE America Act continues to lack votes. However, advocates of the bill can use the decision by the Senate to leave town without passing it as an opportunity to apply pressure on its opponents.

That said, the Senate did take a test vote on a more narrow voter ID bill backed by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio. The Senate blocked that bill. 

But the test vote got Democrats on the record for opposing it. And giving Husted a vote on his measure was a tactical move to boost his chances in a competitive race this fall against former Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

The Senate did not take a test vote on the bipartisan bill to regulate money for intercollegiate athletics – despite the endorsement by the Big 10 and SEC. 

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In fact, President Trump even implored the Senate to stay in session in August to pass the bill authored by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the panel. 

The legislation was beset by an internecine fight among Republicans about whether the legislation kept men from competing in women’s sports. 

The President published a full-throated endorsement of the legislation Friday night, declaring that the measure did go far enough. “Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying,” wrote the President on Truth Social.

 In an overnight statement, Cruz said that the bill was still in play.

“The good news is that when the Senate returns in September, the Protect College Sports Act will be one of our first orders of business, having locked in a vote,” said Cruz.

However, no vote is officially secured on the Senate docket.

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But what about a test vote on a bill to regulate cryptocurrency?

It was thought that the Senate might pursue that bill in the closing days of the summer session. But the differences were just too wide to close. 

However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., teed up a procedural vote on cryptocurrency for September 15.