Six GOP senators: Shorten or cancel August recess

Six GOP senators are calling for lawmakers to continue working through their August recess unless progress has been made in key areas.

The Republican senators — David Perdue (Ga.), Steve Daines (Mont.), John Kennedy (La.), Mike Lee (Utah), Mike Rounds (S.D.) and Luther Strange (Ala.) — said meaningful progress must be made on healthcare, passing a budget, funding the government, dealing with the debt ceiling and tax reform.

{mosads}The six senators will hold a press conference to air their concerns. The high-profile move comes after 10 Republican senators last month sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) urging party leadership to nix the August recess.

The letter warned the current congressional schedule doesn’t give them enough time to work on legislation. They called for McConnell to cancel, or at least curtail, the recess.

“We respectfully request that you consider truncating, if not completely foregoing, the scheduled August state work period, allowing us more time to complete our work,” the senators said in the letter spearheaded by Perdue.

Senate Republicans are moving forward this week on their legislation to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

Leaders plan to brief rank-and-file Republican senators Tuesday on the revisions they have made to the healthcare legislation and expect to make the revised bill public later this week.