Senators are sticking around Washington this weekend after a busy week on the Hill highlighted partisan divides, intraparty friction and growing tension between the two chambers. One thing is clear — everyone is ready for spring break. The Senate has largely been wrapped up in an extended debate on the GOP’s marquee voter ID legislation, dubbed the SAVE America Act. Debate on the bill began Tuesday and is anticipated to extend through the weekend, at least. “We’re in through this weekend,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said on Fox News on Friday morning. “There will be a vote on this bill. We will find out where everybody stands.” And House Republicans are keeping a close eye on their colleagues across the Capitol, threatening to hold up Senate-passed legislation if they don’t advance the bill. A group of 25 House Republicans wrote to Thune, saying President Donald Trump has “called on the Senate to use the talking filibuster to secure passage of the SAVE America Act immediately, superseding everything else. We agree.” “Consider this our filibuster,” they wrote. The decision to vote down Senate bills will only get more challenging if the two chambers strike a deal on a major housing measure, which passed the Senate earlier this month but has faced some resistance in the House. That measure is key to the party’s affordability messaging ahead of November. Many House Republicans have been urging Thune to try to send the election bill to Trump’s desk via a simple majority by forcing a “talking filibuster,” which could hold up the Senate floor for months. Thune has maintained the votes do not exist to get off a talking filibuster if they took that route, or to change the legislative filibuster, like many House Republicans are also calling for. “What I will tell you is there are not the votes to nuke the filibuster in the United States Senate today,” Thune said. Coupled with the ongoing shutdown over the Department of Homeland Security, legislative gridlock is on the horizon. Mullin momentum Trump’s pick to replace Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, was approved by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on Thursday after he received a critical vote from a Democrat. The panel voted 8-7 to report Mullin to the floor, the day after a contentious confirmation hearing that included criticism from the panel’s chairman, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who described the Oklahoma Republican as a man with “anger issues.” Mullin’s committee vote was also momentarily questioned over recent questions about comments he’d made regarding his travel history, including testifying he’d participated in a “classified” trip. That led to a separate private briefing with members of the committee on Wednesday afternoon. Paul bucked his party to vote against Mullin’s nomination, but Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., crossed party lines to support him. Mullin only needs a simple majority vote on the floor to get the job, and with the GOP in control of the Senate, he will almost certainly get it. A confirmation vote could happen as early as next week, with some procedural votes possible this weekend. DHS shutdown sitdown After Senate appropriators of both parties held a face-to-face meeting Thursday with White House “border czar” Tom Homan — some of the first signs of progress in weeks — Thune set a deadline of next week for resolving the DHS funding standoff. The meeting was a “pretty big deal and a recognition that we need to get this resolved,” Thune said. “It needs to get resolved by the end of next week.” The meeting drew participation from several key moderates who broke ranks to help end the historic partial government shutdown last fall, including Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said “there was a robust discussion” and that progress was made, but also accused Democrats of adding more demands. But she said she also expects to see another offer from the White House. “We’re going to keep trying, but it would be helpful if the Democrats showed some movement on their part, which doesn’t seem to be happening.” House Democrats started a separate bid to force a vote on their bill to fund most of DHS except federal immigration enforcement, which would reopen key agencies like the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. To sidestep leadership and bring the bill to the floor, they need 218 members — all Democrats and a few Republicans — to sign on to the discharge petition. As of Friday morning, they only had 175 signatures. “Now some cynics on the other side have said this is just for show,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a press conference this week. “This ain’t for show, this is for the American people.” Hunter Savery and Aris Folley contributed to this report.
