Judy Gilford
on August 10, 2026
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This cartoon gets to the heart of why so many Republican voters are furious with the Senate right now.
After an overnight session, senators left Washington for a five-week August recess without passing President Trump’s SAVE America Act, even after Trump publicly told Republican leaders to keep the chamber in session until they got it done.
The bill would require proof of citizenship to register for federal elections and photo identification to vote.
Republicans did not have the 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster, and AP reported the broader bill lacked enough support even inside the GOP conference.
But here is what makes this infuriating.
The Senate’s own tentative calendar lists 68 weekdays as non-legislative from August 10 through December 31.
That is 13.6 workweeks out of the roughly 21 calendar weeks remaining in that stretch.
Call them “state work periods” if you want, the Senate still is not in Washington legislating for roughly 14 workweeks.
Harvard CAPS/Harris found 81% support requiring voter ID, 75% support proof of citizenship to vote, and 71% support the SAVE America Act.
Republican senators will tell you the filibuster is the problem.
Fine. That is a real obstacle.
But voters elected them to solve problems, force votes, negotiate, pressure holdouts, expose Democrats who block popular reforms, and stay in Washington when the work is unfinished.
Instead, the bus leaves for recess.
The maddening part is that electing Democrats is not the answer.
A Democratic Senate would be worse because Democrats actually use power.
They would move judges, spending, regulations and election policies conservatives would hate.
So conservatives are stuck with an ugly choice, Republicans who too often refuse to fight, or Democrats who fight very effectively for things we oppose.
At what point should Republican voters start demanding that senators stay in Washington and do the job they were elected to do?
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