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<\/figure>\n\nToday is scheduled to be the Senate\u2019s final day of votes before its five-week August recess.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll see if that actually winds up being the case.<\/p>\n
Before senators leave, Republican leaders are trying to plow through a lengthy to-do list: a Russia sanctions bill<\/a>, an Iran war funding bill, dozens of confirmation votes \u2014 including that of Todd Blanche <\/b>to be the next attorney general<\/a> \u2014 and a continuing resolution that still needs to be passed to avoid a government shutdown at the end of September.<\/p>\n Complicating matters further is President Donald Trump<\/b>\u2019s separate list of priorities.<\/p>\n He wants them to add another item: the SAVE America Act<\/a>, a controversial election security bill that would require Americans to prove their citizenship when registering to vote and present photo identification before casting a ballot.<\/p>\n Majority Leader John Thune<\/b> (R-South Dakota) has made it clear to Trump that with 53 Republicans in the Senate and staunch Democratic opposition, the votes just aren\u2019t there to get the Save America Act over the 60-vote threshold required to stop a filibuster. To which Trump has responded: So what?<\/p>\n Trump has renewed calls to eliminate the legislative filibuster, under which most legislation needs 60 votes to end debate and move toward passage. Senate Republicans have resisted, mindful that the rule also protects them when they are in the minority.<\/p>\n The House has tried another route: approving a budget framework with $10 billion for voting-related changes<\/a> aligned with the SAVE Act. But Thune says Senate Republicans do not have the votes for that approach either.<\/p>\n The dispute only adds to recent tensions between Trump and many Senate Republicans over Blanche\u2019s nomination and the proposed anti-weaponization fund.<\/p>\n GOP senators have also been frustrated by Trump\u2019s decision to back successful primary challengers against two of their own and his focus on controversial issues \u2014 like Trump\u2019s continued claims that the 2020 election was stolen \u2014 instead of voters\u2019 economic concerns.<\/p>\n Trump has called for the August recess to be delayed until the Save America Act is passed. Thune said Monday that a delay is not out of the question, but thinks it\u2019s unlikely the bill will pass unless Trump can \u201cchange the facts and start moving some of those senators who are nos into yeses.\u201d<\/p>\n Thune\u2019s more likely to delay the recess for what is certainly a bigger priority for Senate Republicans: getting a continuing resolution funding bill across the finish line to avoid a government shutdown right before the midterms. There have already been two government shutdowns in the last 10 months, and Thune has said he is committed to ensuring Americans \u201cdo not face a third.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n On Monday, the Senate voted 89-4 to begin debate on the legislative vehicle for a bipartisan stopgap bill that would fund the government through Dec. 11. The House has passed a different version and would have to act on the Senate bill after returning from recess.<\/p>\n A Washington Post poll<\/a> during last fall\u2019s record 43-day shutdown found that Americans blamed Trump and congressional Republicans more than Democrats. Getting blamed for another shutdown right before the midterm elections is a headache Republican leaders do not want.<\/p>\n The Trump administration\u2019s high school athletics competition celebrating America\u2019s 250th starts this weekend.<\/p>\n The Patriot Games<\/a> have drawn mocking comparisons to \u201cThe Hunger Games\u201d series, in which each district selects male and female teenage representatives to compete in a battle to the death. The Patriot Games won\u2019t have any killing, but the events do use the same basic format for contestants: a boy and a girl between the ages of 14 and 17 are being chosen from a pool of applicants to represent each state and territory in a series of televised competitions.<\/p> Read more Andrew Pinckney\u2019s first major league hit is a home run, but Nationals still fall<\/a><\/p>\n The events remained a mystery until Thursday, when ESPN released the schedule. Athletes will compete in dodgeball and kickball Sunday, in events called the \u201cVarsity Circuit\u201d and \u201cOperation Endurance\u201d Monday, and in tug of war and \u201cVictory Hoops\u201d Tuesday. Finalists will then face an obstacle course designed to test strategy and skill.<\/p>\n There will be a boys winner and a girls winner, both of whom will split a $250,000 scholarship prize pool.<\/p>\n The Patriot Games have drawn criticism, both for the unusual concept and for being the Trump administration\u2019s latest platform to rail against transgender athletes in girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n During his announcement of the event, Trump promised \u201cthere will be no men playing in women\u2019s sports. You\u2019re not going to see that. You\u2019ll see everything but that.\u201d<\/p>\n Tennessee Lookout:<\/b> Meet Memphis\u2019s \u201cBird-Watchers,\u201d a group of mostly retirees who track U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement flights<\/a> in and out of Memphis International Airport to monitor potential mistreatment of detainees.<\/p>\n Source New Mexico:<\/b> Earlier this year, a mining company sought permits for exploratory uranium drilling in the Chama Basin Watershed. New Mexico\u2019s congressional delegation introduced a bill yesterday to protect the watershed<\/a>, citing concerns about contamination in the land and water used by nearby ranchers and tribes.<\/p>\n Block Club Chicago: <\/b>The operator of a coronavirus testing lab pleaded guilty this week to charges related to an alleged $900 million fake testing scheme<\/a>. He will have to pay over $90million in restitution and forfeit his condominium in Trump Tower.<\/p>\n Many of you emailed with stories about your experiences with wildfires and your thoughts on how the United States should respond to Canadian wildfire smoke blowing over the border. The most common response was that the U.S. and Canada should work together on the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States has its share of forest fires that blow north into Canada. Rather than threats, perhaps Trump should remember how his neighbors to the north send equipment and manpower to help when fires rage in the USA,\u201d said Victoria Lazier<\/b>.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe instead of complaining about the smoke we could help them fight the wildfires?\u201d wrote Janet Van Meter<\/b>.<\/p>\n Reader Paul Lochner<\/b> noted how disappointing it is to stay indoors during the summer, and he suggested \u201ca collaborative effort with the Canadians to review forest management best practices to try to ameliorate the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Several of our Canadian readers also shared their perspectives and their frustrations with Canada taking the blame for natural phenomena.<\/p>\n \u201cI live in British Columbia, near the border and for the past week we have been inundated with smoke from wildfires in Washington State, and last year was the same. The smoke goes both ways,\u201d said Diane Stephenson<\/b>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe Canadians have no more control over wildfires than the U.S. has control over the hurricanes that come north,\u201d wrote Arch Campbell<\/b>. \u201cSo, no hurricane damage payments to Canada, no smoke payments to the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has been pushing for permanent daylight saving<\/a> time for awhile now, and he pushed Republican senators to make it happen again this week. Would you like to give up the twice-annual clock change?<\/a><\/p> Read more What\u2019s up with all these scandals in Congress?<\/a><\/p>\n