David Perdue to ask Senate leaders to delay August recess to pass backlog confirmations

Sen. David Perdue said Tuesday that he’s calling on his fellow senators to delay the August recess in order to get more things done.

“We’re offering the leadership again this year the opportunity to stay here — nights, weekends, — in through the August break to get that done,” Mr. Perdue, Georgia Republican, said on Fox News.

He said he’s calling his initiative “Make Congress Work Again,” a play on President Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” He said he wants to prevent the last-minute rush to pass spending bills and other important legislative items. He pointed to the massive $1.3 trillion funding bill earlier this year as evidence of what happens when there’s a rush to pass something.

Mr. Perdue said he believes Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would be open to the idea of keeping the Senate in session into the recess since they have done it before.

“Last year, you know, we did the same thing,” he said. “Four days into that period we got the Democrats to agree to 77 confirmations.”

Mr. Perdue said he hopes a similar move will push Democrats to cooperate on some of Mr. Trump’s backlogged nominations waiting to be confirmed.