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\n Photo: Finn Gomez\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n
Senate Majority Leader John Thune<\/a> really wanted to adjourn the Senate for five weeks of heavy pre-midterms campaigning this past weekend, but his plan looked doomed as Donald Trump went into serial tantrums<\/a> about the need to keep working to advance his 2026 agenda.<\/p>\n Trump wanted a vote on his toxic Save America Act<\/a>, and his ally Mike Lee<\/a> had riled up MAGA activists to demand it. He wanted a crypto-regulation bill<\/a> his fellow profiteers in that industry had helped design. He wanted a budget resolution to set up another party-line bill<\/a> like last year\u2019s One Big Beautiful Bill Act<\/a> and this year\u2019s ICE funding extravaganza<\/a> with this one focused on Pentagon funding, bribes for unhappy farmers, and a measure<\/a> to encourage proof-of-citizenship rules for voter registration. And near the very end of the week, Trump also demanded<\/a> immediate Senate action to enact a long-stalled college-sports bill that would put a lid on player compensation.<\/p>\n Yet in the wee hours of Saturday morning, the Senate adjourned<\/a> until mid-September without meeting any of Trump\u2019s demands. Yes, the Senate did confirm Todd Blanche<\/a> as attorney general, a Trump-pleasing measure that was clinched when Bill Cassidy announced his support for Blanche<\/a> on Friday. Republicans also got Democrats on record as opposing a national voter-ID requirement<\/a>, though they had the very good excuse that it was late in the game to change all the election rules. But Thune\u2019s big move was a successful bipartisan vote to preempt a government shutdown at the end of September via a stopgap spending bill<\/a> that included some pretty significant concessions to Democrats, unlike the parallel bill passed earlier by the House<\/a>. The administration arguably could have stalled or killed the compromise bill, particularly since it put a hold on a Trump\u2013Russ Vought plan<\/a> to set up a highly partisan new panel that would vet and possibly halt grants to blue state and cities. But the White House reportedly green-lit the Senate bill<\/a>, which could put a lot of pressure on House Republicans to go along with it when Congress returns next month.<\/p>\n The bottom line is Thune got what he wanted and didn\u2019t give Trump much of what he wanted before busting the Senate out of Washington for a long preelection recess. Sure, it\u2019s possible some elements of the presidential wish list could gain a fresh glance in September. But the odds are much higher that both Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson<\/a> will prevail on Trump to let them avoid late controversies that might discomfit candidates in purple states and districts.<\/p>\n Down the road, Trump might find ways to punish Thune for thwarting so much of his agenda, particularly if (as seems likely) Democrats flip the House, if not the Senate, and radically reduce the GOP\u2019s power to impose its will on Congress and the country. It\u2019s also entirely possible the president was so distracted by his unsuccessful war with Iran<\/a> and judicial orders to stop construction of his beloved ballroom<\/a> that he just didn\u2019t care what the Senate did before adjourning. But for now, it looks like TACO<\/a> taunts may be in order once again.<\/p>\n