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National

Fed-up Senate Republicans are starting to whisper about recess appointments again as Democrats stonewall them on nominees, cutting into the start of August recess.

Why it matters: Senate leaders and the White House are still negotiating on a deal to end the standoff. But skipping town and letting President Trump speed-run his nomination list is an increasingly attractive option, some GOP senators told Axios.

"The Senate should immediately adjourn and let President Trump use recess appointments to enact the agenda 77M Americans voted for," Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) posted on Saturday.

Recess appointments, as well as using the so-called nuclear option to change chamber rules with a simple majority to expedite the confirmation process, are becoming real possibilities as talks drag into the evening.

The Senate is in session on an August weekend, voting on nominations, as Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the White House struggle to find a compromise.

How it works: Recess appointments would give Trump leeway to jam through numerous nominees without having to go through the usual Senate confirmation process.

The Senate would have to agree to adjourn with a majority vote, and the House also would have to come back in town and agree to adjourn and cancel scheduled pro-forma days.

Those nominees would only be able to serve through the end of 2026, and without payment.

Zoom in: Schumer wants the White House to release withheld federal funding in exchange for passing a small batch of uncontroversial nominees, per a source familiar.

Democrats are also willing to commit to another batch later in the year — but only if it is formally written into an agreement that the deal is off if the White House as much as sends over another rescissions package.

Republicans continue to point out that Democratic stonewalling is unprecedented. Typically, even the minority party ultimately allows some level of deference to the party in power and allows lower-level nominations to move more quickly.

What's next: Both sides were still trading offers as of early Saturday evening.

"All options remain on the table," a Thune spokesperson told Axios.

Senate GOP eyes recess appointments as stalemate drags on

"The Senate should immediately adjourn and let President Trump use recess appointments," one posted.

Man in a dark blue suit, light blue shirt, and red patterned tie looking down, surrounded by people holding smartphones in a hallway with blurred background.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) with media members close at hand at the U.S. Capitol on Aug. 1. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Dealmaking

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

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Barriers that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to eliminate have reappeared in modern forms as the country marks its 60th anniversary.

The big picture: A backlash to the 2020 racial reckoning has made it almost impossible for any bipartisan effort to renew the Voting Rights Act — even though the country is more racially and ethnically diverse than ever.

President Trump continues to push baseless claims about voter fraud while pressuring states like Texas to redraw congressional district boundaries with little consideration to historic racial discrimination.

In March, Trump signed an executive order to tighten voting restrictions — including calls for proof of citizenship to vote.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE), a Republican-led bill that would codify those requirements into law, passed the House in April but stalled in the Senate.

Meanwhile, GOP-leaning states also have passed bills in recent years that critics argue impose new restrictions on Black and Indigenous voters.

The latest: Earlier this week, Sen. Raphael Warnock reintroduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, backed by Senate leaders and civil rights groups.

The bill would restore federal oversight of voting changes in states with histories of discrimination — and ban voter roll purges for missed elections.

Multiple groups promoted its introduction to Congress, but it's unlikely to pass either of the GOP-controlled chambers.

What they're saying: "We're going to continue to fight for that bill, even though it's an uphill climb — particularly because of the Senate filibuster," National Urban League president Marc Morial told Axios.

Morial says every Republican president since its passage has signed every extension, but now it's a partisan issue fueled by far-right movements.

Morial called on Texas lawmakers to use "race-conscious" criteria, gather public input and prohibit maps that dilute voting power in communities of color, he said Friday in a statement with CEO Quincy Dunlap and Houston Area Urban League President Judson Robinson III.

"Texas is home to the largest Black population of any U.S. state, with non-Hispanic Blacks comprising nearly 12% of the population and contributing 14% of the state's growth between 2010 and 2020," they said in the statement.

"Yet, the maps passed in 2021 — and the newly proposed revisions — fail to reflect this demographic reality, instead 'cracking' Black communities among majority-white districts or 'packing' them into just a few districts to limit their impact elsewhere."

The other side: Some Republicans contend that the voting changes are "common sense" reforms to require ID and prevent noncitizens from voting — which is exceptionally rare and illegal.

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told Axios earlier this year that voting rights groups' concerns about such changes were "absurd armchair speculation."

Yes, but: Older Black Americans, especially in the South, are being disproportionately targeted by new documentation requirements, Color Of Change PAC national director Jamarr Brown told Axios.

That's because rural, poor areas like the "Black Belt" of Alabama and Mississippi lack the infrastructure to get voters the required documents in a timely and easy fashion.

Arizona and Montana have passed new laws barring ballot collection important to Native American voters living in isolated regions, since they lack reliable mail service.

"This isn't about proof of citizenship. This is about eliminating people from the electorate… to get a desired political outcome," Brown said.

Between the lines: Since taking office, Trump has attempted to reverse many of the gains made during the Civil Rights Movement and unravel the late President Lyndon B. Johnson's civil rights legacy from six decades ago.

The clawback on voting rights comes as the Trump administration also pulls back on civil rights enforcement and focuses on "anti-white racism" rather than discrimination against people of color.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday released new guidelines for recipients of federal funding and directed them not to be involved in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion ("DEI") programs.

 Flashback: Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act on Aug. 6, 1965, after the attack on unarmed peaceful demonstrators in Selma, Ala. 

Johnson had encouraged the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to march for voting rights to sway the public.

Stunning stat: Since the passage of the Voting Rights Act, the number of Black Americans elected in the U.S. has shot up from just a few in 1964 to about 9,000.

Most Black Americans are aligned with the Democratic Party, but Black and Latino Republicans have won high-profile races in Kentucky, Texas, New Mexico and California.

The bottom line: Voter suppression efforts now target Latinos, Asian Americans, and young voters, alongside Black communities.

Those policies could hurt not only Democrats but Republicans as Latino and Asian American voters become more unpredictable. 

Go deeper: Alabama capital to mark 60th anniversary of key voting rights march

Trump came close to winning Latino vote in '24 — Pew analysis

In photos: Black History Month's 60 year anniversaries

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional statements from Urban League leaders.

Alabama capital to mark 60th anniversary of key voting rights march

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Voting Rights Act's 60th anniversary comes amid uncertainty

And the nation is more racially and ethnically diverse than in 1965

Photo illustration of President Lyndon B. Johnson and  Martin Luther King Jr. exchanging a pen, overlaid with text from the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Photo illustration: Lindsey Bailey. Photos: Washington Bureau/Getty Images, National Archives

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White House envoy Steve Witkoff told hostage families on Saturday that President Trump wants to "shift" the Gaza policy from trying to get a partial and phased Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal to reaching a comprehensive deal that ends the war and returns all remaining hostages at once, according to a statement by the families and recordings from the meeting.

Why it matters: Witkoff's remarks, during a two-hour meeting in Tel Aviv with dozens of families of hostages held by Hamas, were an acknowledgment that the approach Israel and the U.S. have pursued over the last six months to try and reach a partial and incremental ceasefire and hostage deal has failed.

Behind the scenes: Two members of the hostage families who were in the room said Witkoff listened for a long time to every family member who wanted to speak. "We never have these meetings with senior Israeli government officials," one family member said. 

Witkoff told the families he doesn't have "perfect news" for them but stressed he believes "we are going to be successful here ultimately" for reasons he said he can't discuss at the moment.  

"President Trump now believes that everybody ought to come home at once - no piecemeal deals. That doesn't work," Witkoff said. 

"Now we have to get all the 20 [live hostages] at the same time... we think that we have to shift this negotiation to all or nothing so that everybody comes home. We think it is going to be successful and we have a plan around it." 

Catch up quick: Trump and Witkoff had a big role in closing a ceasefire and hostage deal in January, days before the inauguration. 

That deal led to the release of 33 hostages, but was supposed to open negotiations on a comprehensive deal to end the war and release all remaining hostages. 

But the Trump administration allowed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to violate that deal by not negotiating seriously on its next phase. Israel resumed the war unilaterally in March.

Since then, Netanyahu preferred to try and get a partial and incremental ceasefire and hostage deal. He did that for domestic political reasons, so as not to have to commit to ending the war.

Trump preferred a comprehensive deal, but despite his reservations, endorsed Netanyahu's approach during the ensuing rounds of talks, which thus far have all failed.

In a meeting with hostage families 10 days ago, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear he and Trump still don't think the incremental approach is the right one and hinted that it might be time to explore a more comprehensive approach to end the war and free all the remaining hostages.

State of play: Witkoff discussed with Netanyahu on Thursday the stalemate in the negotiations over the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, an Israeli official said in a briefing with reporters.

The official said Netanyahu and Witkoff discussed the possibility of moving from an incremental and partial Gaza deal to a comprehensive deal.

"An understanding is being established between Israel and the U.S. that, in light of Hamas' rejectionist position, there is a need to shift from a framework for the release of some of the hostages to a framework for the release of all the hostages, the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip," the Israeli official said.

Yes, but: A senior Israeli official and two other sources involved in the negotiations said a final decision to change course hasn't been made yet and stressed that the partial deal for a 60-day ceasefire in return for the release of 10 live hostages and 18 deceased hostages is still on the table. 

"We are at a crossroads. Hamas is taking its time and not engaging, but this could change in the near future," the official said. 

The big picture: Witkoff told the families on Saturday that any deal for ending the war in Gaza will have to include Hamas demilitarizing. 

"Hamas has said it is prepared to demilitarize. But even over and above that, multiple Arab governments are now demanding that Hamas demilitarizes. So we are very very close to a solution around this war," he said. 

Hamas responded to Witkoff's comment that were published in the Israeli press and stressed it will not disarm before the establishment of an  independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.  

Trump: Canada backing Palestinian statehood makes any trade deal "very hard"

Trump team rethinks Gaza strategy after six months of failure

Gaza starvation widens MAGA's rupture with Israel

"No piecemeal deals": Witkoff tells hostage families Trump wants full Gaza agreement

Witkoff's remarks were an acknowledgment that the approach Israel and the U.S. have pursued to reach a partial deal has failed.

Man in dark suit with pink tie speaking at a podium with the U.S. presidential seal, while another man in a blue suit and red tie stands to the right, inside a formal room with a large portrait and flags.

US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff speaks as President Trump looks on during a swearing-in ceremony in the Oval Office on May 28, 2025. Photo: Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images

Axios

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