Senate Passes Trump Voting Bill By Leaving Town
Senators preserved American democracy early Saturday by leaving Washington before they could vote on President Donald Trump’s demand to pass the SAVE America Act or demolish the filibuster in the attempt. The chamber adjourned for August without advancing the election bill, which lacks sufficient Republican support and has even less chance of attracting the Democrats needed to reach the Senate’s 60-vote threshold. The White House promptly classified the failure as Trump’s most decisive legislative victory since the last proposal Congress defeated on his behalf.
Trump praised the Senate for approving the measure through absence, a parliamentary method available only to presidents whose agenda succeeds independently of votes, laws or events. “Nobody has ever passed a bill this successfully without passing it,” Trump said. “The senators left because my demand already made the elections completely secure. Tremendous security. You cannot see it, and that is how secure it is.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune demonstrated his loyalty by permitting lawmakers to do precisely what Trump ordered them not to do, executing the advanced procedural maneuver known as hoping the president finds a different grievance during recess.
The SAVE America Act would require documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections and photo identification to vote. Trump has argued that the legislation would “guarantee the midterms,” reassuring Americans who had mistakenly believed elections were designed to leave the winner unsettled until ballots were counted. Sen. Mike Lee and other conservatives objected to adjournment, apparently unaware that abandoning Trump’s top priority is now the purest available form of advancing Trump’s top priority.
Administration officials instructed voters not to interpret the Senate’s departure as rejection. Lawmakers are instead taking the bill home so it can mature naturally in the August humidity before returning to Washington and lacking exactly the same votes in September. By refusing to debate, amend or pass the legislation, the Senate has enacted it at the highest level possible under the Trump administration: total nonexistence.
* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.