Republicans made a last-gasp bid Wednesday to answer simmering anger in the electorate, holding a pair of failed show votes on high costs and corruption, then recessing until after the midterms.
Republican leaders had considered leaving sooner so members could campaign, as the House did, but stuck around after GOP senators clamored for votes on items they could use in those campaigns.
It was partially successful. After spending more than a week passing a package to overhaul college sports — which may or may not die in the House — they had to settle for failed procedural votes on a bill aimed at curbing energy costs from data centers and another to curtail stock trading by lawmakers. Democrats derided both as toothless.
The closing record left some lawmakers worried the moves were too little, too late with less than five weeks until Election Day, especially as the Iran war drags on and gas prices remain near highs for the year.
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“You’re always concerned that if you could do more, you should do more,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota). “We know the American people are hurting right now. We know that.”
“I think the current status right now with prices being high on petroleum products in particular … it hurts anybody who’s currently in office,” Rounds said. “If the price of gas were to go down by a dollar a gallon right now, that would really help.”
The party in power has found itself on the backfoot on a number of fronts as voters prepare to cast ballots. President Donald Trump’s approval rating has cratered nationally, weighing on incumbents and candidates in key battleground states.
On top of gas prices, Republicans are dealing with record-high diesel prices and the ramifications of Trump’s decision to remove tariffs on imported beef, especially in the Midwest where farmers have been hit hard.
The grim electoral outlook prompted Republican leaders to hold those last-minute votes, including the vote on the data center bill designed to boost its sponsor, embattled Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio).
Husted has been pilloried back home for his past support for data centers when he was Ohio’s lieutenant governor and appeared at numerous ribbon cuttings for them. Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown’s campaign has dubbed him “the face of data centers.”
“I think it’s an important message to send. That we are listening and we understand people’s concerns about data centers raising their electricity rates, and are determined to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said. “I think it’s an important message, pretty much everywhere.”
“The election’s still a month off,” Cornyn added, arguing “it’s not too late to spread that message.”
Democrats, however, were not in the mood to hand Republicans an electoral boost and blocked the bill. Only four — Sens. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Raphael Warnock of Georgia — voted to advance Husted’s proposal.
The minority party also blocked a Republican measure aimed at curbing stock trading among members of Congress. The issue has become a frequent topic in campaign ads.
Although Republicans were pleased they squeezed the votes in under the wire, there is concern that the party controlling the White House and Capitol Hill has not done enough since the start of the Iran war to bring down costs.
Lawmakers have tried to pitch what they consider to be popular parts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to voters, only to see the war overshadow their sales job. Even Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, conceded conflict could be costly at the polls.
Some had pushed for Senate Majority Leader John Thune to seek some wins prior to the August recess with a third reconciliation bill, which would have used expedited budget rules to pass bills on a simple majority. But the party was unable to find the requisite 51 votes needed to plow ahead.
Some members worried they spent much of the September passing a bill overhauling college sports rather than working on affordability concerns.
“I hate to leave good bills on the table, but I understand that some of my colleagues want to get back and start campaigning again,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), who has complained the Senate used its dwindling time to make “the football coaches happy.”
“We should have started right after we passed [OBBBA]. We’re leaving two reconciliation efforts on the table,” Kennedy said. “You can say, ‘Well we’ll do it in the lame duck,’ but you don’t know what people’s moods are going to be.”
Kennedy also lamented that the chamber has not voted on a pair of Congressional Review Act resolutions, including one to nix energy regulations that could result in lower costs.
“It is legislative malpractice if the United States Senate is not allowed this week to vote to kill these rules,” he said in a floor speech Tuesday.
The party has also struggled to respond to stubbornly high gas and diesel prices that are causing major consternation for Republicans in farm states, especially as polling numbers have dipped considerably.
The idea of a diesel export ban has been bandied about, but members were torn over choosing the right path forward. Thune told reporters that Trump has yet to make a final decision on that front.
The leader also cautioned that even if they did make a move, it may not matter with so little time before voters make up their minds.
“I think we’ve done everything we can do,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota). “Whether or not it’s enough, I guess we’ll see in the numbers.”
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