Mike Lee, Donald Trump say Congress should skip its August recess to pass voting bill

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Sen. Mike Lee and President Donald Trump are pushing for Congress to work through its planned August recess in order to pass the voting bill known as the SAVE America Act.

Lee, a Republican and close ally of Trump, has been one of the most vocal proponents of the bill, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and create a national voter database. Now, with just two weeks left on the Senate calendar before senators leave Washington for a 37-day break, Lee said he would vote against recessing if the SAVE America Act isn't passed.

"The Senate doesn't need a summer vacation as much as the country needs the SAVE America Act," he wrote on X on Sunday. "Let's cancel recess."

Trump directed a similar statement on Monday to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, who has previously said there aren't enough votes to clear the 60-vote threshold in the Senate to close debate on the bill and bring it up for a final vote.

"John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to 'leave town' until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER, where Republicans can then quickly pass everything they ever dreamed of," the president wrote on Truth Social.

Lee added in a post Monday that "working through weekends and recesses trying to pass the SAVE America Act would enhance the GOP's odds of winning elections in November more than anything else."

Thune on Monday didn't rule out pushing back the Senate's recess, but only if it would bring results.

"If I thought there was a path to getting a result, I'm all for it," he told reporters. "I'm a cosponsor of the SAVE Act. We voted on it two, three, four, five times already. We had it up on the floor for an extended period of time."

"We're going to have some conversations over the course of the next couple of days," he added. "If somebody can show me how we get an outcome, how we get a result, how we get an answer to this, I'm all for it."

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