WASHINGTON — The Senate recessed on Wednesday, Sept. 30, until after the midterm elections in November, dispersing lawmakers across the campaign trail to fight an increasingly close battle to control the chamber for the last two years of President Donald Trump's term.
Amid Trump's sinking approval numbers and an unpopular war in Iran, Democrats left town feeling newly bullish. But they still face tougher political math in the Senate than in the House of Representatives — where Republicans are, by many metrics, more likely to lose their grip on power.
Still, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer projected confidence to reporters before lawmakers hit the exits. He predicted a "close election" and said Senate Democrats had drawn nearer to the "edge
of victory."
"We do not want to be overconfident," he said at a news conference. "But what we're seeing, in state after state after state, is that people are sick of Trump. They're sick of the Republican Senate going along with him, and they see the clear divisions we have drawn between what we stand for and what they stand for."
Republicans, meanwhile, used the chamber's ultimate day in session to turn the screws on Democrats over several politically salient issues — including data centers, election reform and corruption in Congress. They offered three bills on shielding energy costs from data centers, requiring voter ID and banning stock trading among lawmakers. All were mostly blocked by Democrats, who criticized the efforts as "toothless" show votes.
Majority Leader John Thune, however, said the GOP succeeded in capitalizing on the Senate's final hours to create a contrast for voters.
"Given the overwhelming support for this measure in the House," Thune said, "it's difficult to conclude that Senate Democrats blocked this bill for any reason other than the desire to deny Republicans another win in an election year, which is a pretty poor reason."
Yet several of Thune's own members spent much of the last two weeks admitting to seeing worrying signs for the GOP. Many had hoped to get more affordability-related measures, aimed at bringing costs down for consumers, closer to the finish line before election day.
"No matter how much you love us as Republicans, we're in control," Sen. Jim Justice, R-West Virginia, said. "If you can't pay the bills, you've got a real problem with us."
Instead of realistically considering more legislation related to the cost of living, the chamber's most significant actions of its final weeks before the midterms included passing a college sports overhaul, taking Wednesday's messaging votes and confirming a new secretary of Labor.
"I can assure you that moms and dads out there across America, when they lie down to sleep at night, they're not worried about the football coaches," Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, said last week.
The last-minute effort to pass the data center bill succeeded in dividing Democrats, four of whom bucked party leadership to vote with the GOP to advance it. It also gave a slight political boost to Sen. Jon Husted — the GOP candidate in an ultracompetitive, data center-dominated race in Ohio.
While the Senate's eleventh-hour debates mirrored many of the issues they'll spend the next month discussing on the campaign trail, some senators were skeptical there was anything lawmakers could do to shift what may be an already "baked-in" result in November, as retiring Sen. Thom Tillis put it last week.
"If people are doing it under the assumption that it creates a sea change," the North Carolina Republican said, "I just don't buy it."
The Senate is scheduled to return to session on Monday, Nov. 9.
Zachary Schermele is the congressional correspondent for USA TODAY. Reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com and on Signal @zachschermele.02. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: As race for control tightens, Senate calls it quits until after midterms
