Congress' July sprint off to a stumbling start

WASHINGTON — Republican leaders laid the groundwork for a final dash to pass partisan legislative priorities before August recess. But if this week was any indication, it won’t be an easy run.

First, Washington was struck by the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on July 11. Moving quickly, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster chose Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, to serve out his term, and she was sworn in on Tuesday.

The House saw a few notable wins early in the week, including successful maneuverings from Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to get past a legislative blockade that had halted floor action before the Independence Day holiday. Lawmakers went on to advance their fiscal 2027 State Department funding bill.

But the winds began to change once Johnson and the White House unveiled their $95 billion reconciliation package that would fund the Iran war, farm aid and voter ID measures — a price tag that includes no offsets.

Republicans in both chambers raised concerns about the bill’s lack of pay-fors despite a visit from Vice President JD Vance, who hoped to rally support for the package. Johnson appeared to win over Republicans on the House Budget Committee, who advanced the budget blueprint in a party-line vote Thursday.

But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Thursday that there are “hawks” in his conference “who want it all to be offset.”

“Then you got the question (on) germaneness and what threshold amendment votes would be at and whether or not we can win them all,” he said. “It is a very uneven path. The option is open. We’ll see what the House can execute on. But again, I can’t make any guarantees over here.”

Math remains Thune’s No. 1 problem: He would have to keep his skinny majority — made even slimmer by the extended absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. — together during two vote-a-rama series as more of his conference finds their independent voices.

At the core of the GOP’s mess remains the White House’s push for Congress to pass the so-called SAVE America Act, a package of voter ID requirements and elections overhauls.

The instruction to the House Administration Committee is intended to produce a measure similar to that legislation, which would require proof of citizenship to register and ID to vote. That measure doesn’t have the votes in the Senate needed to become law.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told reporters, “Let me tell you what won’t get done: If we keep on layering layers of complexity, like another bogus attempt at the SAVE Act, then we’re never going to get it done. Let’s be real.”

“I mean, our goal right here is to fund the government, get out of here, get reelected. That’s my goal,” he said. “I think the best way to do that is keep it simple. Get reconciliation if we have to. If Schumer wants to shut down the government, let’s just show them that we can do it within the rules.”

Vance posted to X on Thursday: “Let’s deliver for the people who sent us here and use reconciliation to send as much of the SAVE America Act as possible to President Trump’s desk.”

Tillis said he would “absolutely” vote against a reconciliation bill that includes the SAVE Act. “And I’ll slow other things down too. It’s a waste of time. It’s an exercise in futility, and those are the only positive things I can think of to say about it.”

Thune told reporters Thursday he was “reserving judgment” based on what the House is sending over, but conceded that it could be a nonstarter in the Senate.

“We probably will have to do our own thing because (they), in a lot of cases, don’t factor in the Byrd rule and its implications on what we’re able to do over here.”

NDAA, Israel

Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate blocked a motion to proceed to the $1.15 trillion National Defense Authorization Act. The 50-46 vote on Tuesday fell short of the 60 votes needed, registering Democrats’ objections to the Trump administration’s handling of the conflict with Iran.

“Republicans want the Senate to take up the NDAA, the defense bill, as though none of this is happening, as though Congress can debate the nation’s central national security bill while ignoring the nation’s most urgent national security crisis,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday. “We cannot.”

Meanwhile, House Democrats faced their own internal squabble Wednesday when leadership split on an amendment to the State Department funding bill from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., that would have blocked billions in U.S. military aid to Israel.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., voted against the amendment, while Minority Whip Katherine M. Clark, D-Mass., and more than 100 other Democrats voted for it. The amendment was overwhelmingly rejected, 104-314, but the vote laid bare divisions within the party over support for Israel.

Blanche, Clayton

This week marked one month of Congress letting a key spy power lapse, but lawmakers didn’t appear to be working to renew it. Members of both parties had issued warnings about what could happen if they didn’t act to extend section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before it expired on June 12, calling it a make-or-break task, but there’s been scant progress in the days since.

It looked like the Senate would take a small step toward a renewal when Trump’s pick to head the intelligence community, Jay Clayton, testified Wednesday to the Senate Intelligence Committee. Following Trump’s orders, Clayton had skipped his originally scheduled hearing in June.

But Democrats threw cold water on the idea of harmony shortly after the hearing, with Schumer calling Clayton’s performance “abysmal.” Clayton faced questions over voter fraud and his role in the subpoenas of New York Times reporters last weekend.

Another blockbuster confirmation hearing for a Trump nominee took place this week as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and was grilled on his involvement in a $1.8 billion “weaponization” compensation fund and his relationship with the president.

The questions came as two Republicans on the panel — Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Tillis — have, so far, not announced their support for Blanche.

Due to the death of Graham — a senior member and former chairman of the Judiciary Committee — the panel has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats, allowing any one Republican to vote with Democrats and complicate Blanche’s confirmation. The Senate could still proceed with confirmation without a positive committee vote, but it would require procedural votes on the floor.

Tillis on Thursday also set a new condition for his vote to confirm Blanche by wanting him to meet with victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse. Blanche reportedly met with some of the accusers later that day, but one, Dani Benksy, said, “He danced around his wording, repeatedly interrupted us and could not commit to anything that would demonstrate good faith or begin to restore trust.”

Veterans bill pulled

In a final show of drama, Johnson pulled a major veterans bill from the floor seconds before its scheduled vote, after a handful of Republicans opposed it over cuts to some benefits as well as how it would be paid for.

Johnson nearly lost a vote on a Democratic procedural move known as a motion to recommit, when four Republicans split from their party. One of the holdouts, Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., ultimately flipped her vote, allowing the motion to be rejected, 210-211.

Still, the rebellion forced GOP leadership to abruptly change course and cancel the vote on passage that had been scheduled to occur immediately after the motion to recommit.

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Jacob Fulton, Nick Eskow, Rebecca Kheel, Nina Heller and Michael Macagnone contributed to this report.

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