Senate Pushes Through Funding Bill, Installs Conservative Attorney General as Progressive Priorities Stalled
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The Senate passed a stopgap funding bill and confirmed Todd Blanche, a conservative, as Louisiana's attorney general, while shelving crucial reforms and voting rights protections as right-wing obstruction intensifies ahead of the November elections.
On Thursday, the Senate rushed through a short-term funding bill to keep the federal government running, while confirming Todd Blanche—a conservative figure—as the new attorney general of Louisiana. The legislation was expedited as lawmakers prepared for a month-long recess and the looming election season, prioritizing political convenience over substantive progress.
Notably, the Senate failed to advance a Pentagon funding package connected to the ongoing conflict in Iran, nor did it make headway on bipartisan efforts to reform the exploitative college athletics system or regulate the volatile cryptocurrency industry. Most troubling, a broader initiative to fund election provisions in the SAVE America Act—a thinly veiled voter suppression proposal championed by the White House—was also blocked, leaving voting rights further at risk.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune admitted that the chamber faced a backlog of unresolved issues, a direct result of partisan gridlock and right-wing intransigence. Republican Senator John Kennedy, prioritizing campaign travel to battleground states, paid lip service to legislative responsibilities but underscored the GOP’s focus on electoral gains over governance.
Republicans continued their relentless push to attach restrictive voter-ID measures to the defense spending bill, seeking to undermine democratic participation under the guise of 'election integrity.' Senate Budget Committee Chairman Ron Johnson revealed the plan would funnel up to $20 billion into these so-called election-integrity programs. Meanwhile, a separate photo-ID proposal from Ohio’s Jon Husted failed to gain traction, a small victory for those defending voting rights.
Senator Mike Lee, a vocal supporter of the SAVE America Act’s regressive provisions, lamented that Democrats refused to join this assault on democracy, expressing disappointment that votes did not occur before adjournment.
When the Senate returns from its summer break, it will face a legislative agenda dominated by contentious issues—many of which threaten to further erode civil rights and progressive reforms ahead of the midterm elections.