The Senate has been out of session for about two weeks. It’s convened in brief “pro forma” sessions for just a couple of moments on four occasions since senators called it quits for more than a month at 4:57 a.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 8.
Pro forma sessions are where the Senate huddles for just a few seconds, gaveling in and gaveling out with a skeleton crew. It’s rare that more than one senator is even in the chamber.
The Senate truly isn’t back for debate and votes until the afternoon of Monday, Sept. 15.
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But what about all of that sturm and drang about “cancelling the August recess?” Remember that President Donald Trump and conservatives – ranging from Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to Rick Scott, R-Fla. – wanted the Senate to remain in session for the month to debate the SAVE America Act. That’s the chief legislative demand of Trump. It requires voter ID and proof of citizenship to vote.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., was on the floor when the Senate cut town a little more than two weeks ago. Did Thune hornswoggle his fellow Republicans into recessing the Senate for five weeks in the dead of night?
Hardly. In fact even those Republicans who would have liked senators to remain in Washington to debate the SAVE America Act were in on Thune’s plan, allowing the Senate to abandon town for most of August and nearly half of September.
Huh?
Believe it or not, Thune and all other 99 senators agreed to leave Washington. In fact, that’s the only way it could have happened.
The Senate was meeting at 2:07 a.m. that Saturday, on the verge of commencing a vote series to confirm Attorney General Todd Blanche and approve the Russia sanctions bill. That’s when Thune asked the following on the Senate floor:
“When the Senate completes its business on Aug. 8, to meet for pro forma sessions only at 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. 8 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026,” requested Thune.
The majority leader then continued, rattling off a host of dates on Mondays and Thursdays for the Senate to convene in those pro forma sessions.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, was presiding over the Senate at the time.
“Without objection?” asked Moreno of the body when Thune concluded.
There was none.
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In other words, the Senate would soon depart Washington. There would be no August debate about the SAVE America Act. The Senate would simply meet for abbreviated sessions over the next few weeks.
And shortly before 5 a.m., Thune requested the following from the floor:
“Madam President, I ask unanimous consent when the Senate adjourns on Thursday, Sept. 10, it stand adjourned until 3 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 14. And following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved and the Morning Hour be deemed expired,” asked Thune.
The South Dakota Republican then threw in some more boilerplate, parliamentary language, to tee up a test vote on an unresolved cryptocurrency regulation bill for the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 15.
“Without objection,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wy., who was presiding over the Senate at that ungodly hour.
Thune paused briefly. But no one said boo from the floor.
That’s because the chamber was bereft of senators — except for Thune and Lummis. Everyone bailed and was heading for the airport.
“Madam President, if there’s no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order,” Thune asked.
“The Senate stands adjourned until 10 a.m. ET on Monday,” declared Lummis, rapping the Senate’s unique hourglass shaped gavel on the dais.
No objection. No roll call vote.
The Senate was done.
So let me filet this for you.
The Senate conducts much of its business via “unanimous consent.” The Senate is a body of equals. All 100 senators wield nearly the same power. The Senate relies on “unanimous consent,” the blessing of all 100 members, to conduct quotidian tasks, like going in and out of session or what time to meet. The Senate occasionally approves bills — sometimes even big ones — by unanimous consent if all senators agree.
But unanimous consent is just that. All 100 members must be on the same page. And if you have 99 senators in agreement and one holdout, well, that’s not unanimous consent.
All it takes is the objection of a solitary member to sidetrack a “unanimous consent” request on the floor. And note that despite the advocacy by some Republican senators for the body to remain in session during August, no one lodged an objection.
That’s because Thune pre-baked a series of unanimous consent requests offstage before he came to the floor.
Late in the evening of Friday, Aug. 7, Thune ran what’s called a “hotline” in the Senate. He proposed a series of votes to confirm Blanche, OK Russia sanctions and consider a few other items. If any senator had a problem with Thune’s hotline, they should let leadership know before 11:30 p.m. that night. Otherwise, Thune would go to the floor and “propound” the unanimous consent request for the upcoming vote sequence. Thune would also propound a unanimous consent request for what the Senate would address when members returned in September,
This package included a plan for those aforementioned pro forma sessions. And, for the Senate to hold off on any votes until Monday, night, Sept. 14. Thune also locked in the procedural vote on the cryptocurrency measure for Sept. 15.
Anyone could have objected offstage.
They didn’t. That would have scuttled the entire enterprise.
Anyone could have objected on the Senate floor when Thune made the unanimous consent requests in real time. That didn’t happen either. That’s why both Moreno and Lummis asked the body if there was “an objection.” Or, they declared “without objection, so ordered.”
However, those pushing for the Senate to remain in session to debate the SAVE America Act did manage a minor victory. Part of Thune’s unanimous consent request at 2:07 a.m. that Saturday included a test vote on a voter ID bill pushed by Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio. This package addressed some of the provisions desired by Trump. It was also helpful to Husted, who faces a tough election this fall against former Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. And, the test vote would get senators on the record voting for or against voter ID.
All Republican senators voted yes. All Democratic senators voted no. Republicans will likely deploy this roll call vote against their Democratic colleagues this fall.
The vote secured more than a simple majority in the Senate. But here’s the catch: part of Thune’s unanimous consent request — pre-agreed to by all 100 senators — dictated that the test vote on the Husted measure was subject to a 60 vote threshold. Republicans only command 53 votes in the Senate. So without Democratic assistance, the Husted plan was doomed from the start.
So the Senate is long gone. And will continue to be gone for a few weeks.
This wasn’t because of some backroom plan cooked up by Thune. This wasn’t just Thune going against the wishes of conservative senators who suggested the Senate remain in session. This wasn’t just Thune working against the president.
Those unanimous consent requests reflected the will of all 100 senators. Anyone on either side could have blocked the proposals. But they didn’t.
And when someone asks why the Senate didn’t remain in session this month to address the SAVE America Act, you can tell them that all 100 senators agreed to call it quits and go home at 4:57 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 8.
