Mitch McConnell in a rare display of leadership has canceled three of the four-week August recess. This will affect Democrats much more than it will Republicans. The Democrats have six endangered Senators including one no one saw coming in Bob Menendez who is only four points ahead of his expected Republican opponent.
The Republicans only have one in Dean Heller of Nevada. Incumbents use the August recess to do major campaigning and that will not be possible if they must be in Washington.
Schumer has two choices. He can continue to block Trump’s nominees and deprive 6 of his Senators to face an uphill battle in retaining their seats or he could allow the nominees to go through. I suspect he will take the former position and then try to blame it on Republicans. The budget is another consideration. As of today, the Congress has just 66 days to send a budget to the president for his signature. President Trump has made it clear he will not approve another budget like the omnibus spending bill from earlier this year. Democrats will call his bluff and Trump will likely allow the government to shut down.
The senators’ #MakeCongressWorkAgain campaign is supported by conservative groups, including the Tea Party Patriots and the Conservative Partnership Institute, which posted about Congress’s short work week and lack of productivity on its Facebook page.
“The U.S. Senate recessed at 3 p.m. Thursday, with no votes until 5 p.m. Monday,” the post said. “Most weeks, the Senate only works 2 1/2 days. Do you think Congress should be in D.C. working on President Trump’s nominations and policies like funding the border wall?”
Sen. Perdue; Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots; Marc Short; White House director of legislative affairs and former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), who now works with CPI, held a press conference on May 11 to announce the campaign, as Breitbart News reported.
Last year the Democrats relented and approved 77 of Trump’s nominees before the August recess.