Senate Majority Leader John Thune says if there’s a path forward for passage of the SAVE America Act, he’s “all for it,” but that he doesn’t see one.
President Donald Trump is ratcheting up calls for Thune to get the election bill over the finish line, including by ending the filibuster and/or canceling the Senate’s August recess set to start Aug. 7.
“We're going to have some conversations with our folks in the next couple days,” Thune said Monday on the recess question. “If somebody can show me how we get an outcome, how we get a result, how we get an answer to this, I'm all for it. But if we are going to be sitting here and in endless quorum calls, I don't know if that's in anybody's best interests.”
The South Dakota Republican stressed that he’s a cosponsor of the SAVE America Act, which would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and photo ID to cast ballots in federal elections.
“If the end game is we actually get an outcome or a result, we can stay here till Christmas,” he said.
“The Democrats aren't voting for this, I'm just telling you. And Republicans are not getting rid of the legislative filibuster.”
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said Democrats, including him, were wrong during Joe Biden’s presidency to push for an end of the filibuster, which effectively sets a 60-vote threshold in the Senate before final consideration of most legislation.
“The one thing that has stopped many unpopular policies since the beginning of 2025 isn’t the Democrats — it is the filibuster,” Fetterman said in a Washington Post op-ed.
Trump defends trade agenda to car manufacturers
Just a week after he imposed a 50% tariff on automobiles from Canada, Trump on Monday defended his trade policies while visiting a General Motors facility in Michigan.
Trump has used tariffs as a tool to attempt to reshore U.S. manufacturing, including by imposing a 25% tariff on passenger vehicles and light trucks, in addition to a separate 25% on medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
The 25% tariffs established an exemption for importers who comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement; however, the recently announced 50% tariff doesn’t exempt USMCA goods.
“The trade deficit on automobiles was more than $300 billion annually. That means outside countries and companies were coming in and just robbing us blind, and it was causing tremendous problems for your jobs. But now that is changing because I placed historic tariffs on foreign producers and manufacturers,” Trump said at GM.
Georgia inks agreement with USDA to allow sales of state-inspected meat products across state lines
State-inspected meat processors in Georgia will now be able to ship their products to other states under an agreement signed with the Agriculture Department.
Through a newly finalized Cooperative Interstate Shipment Agreement, state-inspected establishments that comply with federal inspection requirements can send meat products out of state. Aside from Georgia, 10 other states currently have similar agreements.
In a release on Monday, USDA Undersecretary for Food Safety Mindy Brashears said the announcement "expands market opportunity for Georgia’s processors, while ensuring that rigorous food safety standards are in place.”
"Georgia’s participation in the CIS program will support the local and regional economy,” Brashears said.
The other states with CIS agreements are Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin.
Lawmakers introduce the FLOOD Act
Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., and Jim Justice, R-W-Va., along with House counterparts Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., and Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, have introduced a bill aimed at protecting farmers against flood risks.
The measure, dubbed the Farmers Lifeline Options to Overcoming Disasters Act, or FLOOD Act, would make USDA’s Emergency Watershed Program a covered program under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. EWP authorizes the agriculture secretary to take emergency actions, including buying floodplain property if needed, to protect lives and property from flood, drought and erosion in any watershed.
The bill would allow for the voluntary purchase of floodplain easements in high-risk flood areas prior to a flood, according to the press release.
Eggs recalled in connection with salmonella outbreak
Midwest Poultry Services has recalled nearly 1.6 million eggs linked to a salmonella outbreak, the Food and Drug Administration says.
Laboratory, epidemiological and traceback data from FDA’s investigation show that the company’s shell eggs “are a likely source of illnesses in this outbreak,” the agency said, but added that the producer “does not account for all the illnesses in this outbreak. Additional investigation is ongoing to determine if there are other sources of illness.”
Ninety-eight people from 17 states have been infected with the outbreak strain of salmonella. Forty of 44 ill persons (91%) reported eating eggs before becoming ill, based on available information. Twenty-six people have been hospitalized; no deaths have been reported.
Midwest Poultry Services’ recall involves white shell eggs and brown cage-free shell eggs “produced and distributed from farms in Texas between June 6, 2026 and July 3, 2026 with sell by or best by dates between July 20, 2026 and Aug. 17, 2026.”
Midwest Poultry Services “is not aware of any specific illnesses linked to its products,” an FDA announcement says.
RD reorg raises concerns among Dems
Senate Democrats are expressing concerns about the reorganization of USDA’s Rural Development mission, one of the department areas where employees are being asked to relocate.
“The mission area has already lost about 36 percent of its staff last year, with nearly a third of those who left having more than 20 years of USDA experience,” the letter to Deputy Ag Secretary Stephen Vaden says. “The reorganization plan for [RD] will result in even further cuts, with 60% of staff in the National Capital Region being required to relocate to St. Louis or Dallas.”
Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and 19 other senators signed on to the letter, which seeks answers to specific questions about the reorganization.
USDA’s RD web page says under the “modernization effort, USDA RD will maintain a presence in the National Capital Region while relocating select NCR-based positions to St. Louis, Missouri, and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. These locations will serve as operational hubs supporting loan and grant processing and program management.”
Final word
“Some of my colleagues, including myself, have been frustrated when engaging with the minority. But that process isn’t a bug — it’s one of the best features of the Senate. We have a great democracy that is imperfect, but it requires working together. If we don’t do that willingly, the filibuster will force us to. That’s the way it should be.” – Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., on why the Senate filibuster must be preserved.
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