If you’re a senator who’s made vacation plans for August, you may want to look into whether your trip is refundable.
President Donald Trump is leaning on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to cancel the so-called “August recess,” when both the House and the Senate go out of session for a month in the dead of summer.
The reason: The president is eager to get more of his nominees confirmed.
“Hopefully the very talented John Thune, fresh off our many victories over the past two weeks and, indeed, 6 months, will cancel August recess (and long weekends!), in order to get my incredible nominees confirmed,” Trump wrote on Truth Social over the weekend. “We need them badly!!!”
Thune told reporters on Monday he was “thinking about” canceling the recess and said that senators were working on getting as many nominees “through the pipeline” as they could.
At least one other senator has said he’s fully on board.
“Absolutely, I’m willing to do it,” Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said on Fox News on Sunday. “I’m happy to stay here as long as we’re working.”
More than 20 of Trump’s diplomatic nominees are still awaiting confirmation votes. Among them is Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was nominated to serve as US Ambassador to Greece.
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If Trump is successful, senators will have to stick around for lots of in August, even while their House colleagues get to go home.
It wouldn’t be the first time this has happened. In 2018, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell canceled recess for similar reasons.
According to the Senate Historical Office, the August recess evolved out of an effort to modernize the way that Congress worked, building in more predictable breaks in the schedule rather than remaining in session until work is finished.
It was also especially popular with the spouses of members of Congress, who wanted to spend more time together as a family during the summer.
While many lawmakers do take vacations during the month of August or during other shorter recesses throughout the year, they often find themselves busy with other work back home.
That includes constituent meetings, town halls, and during election years, lots of campaigning.
A Senate GOP source told BI on Monday that senators would likely prefer to be back in their home states to talk about the impact of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” the sprawling piece of fiscal and tax legislation that Trump signed into law earlier this month.