Reporter's Notebook: Inside the Senate showdown over Trump's push to scrap August recess

"Should I stay or should I go now? If I go there will be trouble. And if I stay it will be double." - The Clash

The words "schedule" and "Congress" don't always mesh.

But the formal Senate schedule has long had senators taking off at the end of this week until early September for the customary "August recess."

"I think there's nothing more important than they pass the SAVE America Act. I think they should stay," said President Trump. "They do what they want. But I think they should stay."

"I don't think having a Congress sitting around here for the month of August and quorum calls or having to vote on Democrat amendments is probably a good use of anybody's time," said Thune.

There's tension between the South Dakota Republican and the President over the Senate's legislative realities. Thune may be Majority Leader. But Thune believes the President bears responsibility for changing some minds on Capitol Hill.

"We have in the past suggested to he and his team to come up here and visit with some of my Republican colleagues," said Thune. "Now if he can change the facts and start moving some of those senators who are noes into yesses, then we have a different conversation. But that's just the reality."

As always, it's about the math. And the SAVE America Act lacks the votes.

"I know Sen. Thune says the votes aren't there. I'm not saying he's wrong. I'm just saying people change their mind sometimes," argued Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.

But it doesn't look like there will even be a vote on that, unless something ripens quickly.

So what happens next?

So, under the Constitution, each body must - at a minimum - hold a brief "pro forma" session where lawmakers convene for just a few seconds and then immediately gavel out. That meets the Constitutional requirement.

But there's the rub.

When the Senate wraps up, Thune or one of his lieutenants would usually go to the floor and ask "unanimous consent" that the Senate meet on a series of Mondays and Thursdays or Tuesdays and Fridays between now and September. These are the "pro forma" sessions, convening at three-day intervals. But if Lee or someone wants to object, they're stuck. The Senate can't green light the set of pro formas. The Senate must have buy-in of all 100 senators.

But an objection in this case hardly blocks the recess or compels debate - let alone a vote or passage - on the SAVE America Act.

If Thune or his designee can't get unanimous consent, the only option they have is to move to meet again the next day. Let's say 9 a.m. ET. If someone objects to the time, it will meet at noon et under the Senate's default protocols.

That said, this is where someone could force what might constitute the de facto "vote to go on recess." A Republican senator might demand a vote on the Senate adjourning for the day on Friday and meeting on Saturday. This is not a vote to "go on recess." But it's the closest someone can engineer a possible vote related to Senate action.

A motion to adjourn is not debatable on the floor. But it is amendable. Someone could offer another option about when the Senate should meet. But that's about it.

On this hypothetical Saturday session, it's possible that Thune could simply get recognition and ask for the Senate to adjourn for the day again. One of those pushing the SAVE America Act doesn't even get recognized to speak. However, if Thune is gracious and is willing to allow someone to have their say, they could get the floor and hold it as long as they want.

Note that doing so does not constitute a filibuster. Filibusters are efforts by senators to stop something. In this case, advocates of the SAVE America Act are trying to start something. So no filibuster. This would just be a really long speech. But Thune might not let it come to that. And even though they've chattered about it a lot, the strongest advocates of the SAVE America Act have not taken advantage of their prerogatives as senators and gone down to hold the floor at length.

Keep in mind that SAVE America Act advocates could potentially do this and push for recognition on the floor on all subsequent days during the August recess. Thune could block them from speaking because the order of the day is to convene and adjourn during a pro forma session. And if the SAVE America Act faction were to push for a vote, all it takes is another senator to block them on the floor.

One might ask the question about whether the SAVE America Act group might demand a "live" quorum call (where all senators must report to the floor for attendance) or even the more extreme motion of "instructing the Sergeant at Arms to arrest" absent senators and bring them to the floor. Well, this works at cross purposes during August. The reason? The Senate doesn't have a quorum. In the old days, the Senate took quorum calls to establish if enough senators present were present to do business. It violates the Constitution to conduct business without a quorum present.

The SAVE America Act coalition may prove that there aren't enough senators in Washington to conduct business. That helps make their point. But it also forces the Senate to adjourn because it can't operate without a quorum.

These gambits might not achieve the legislative goal of passing the SAVE America Act. But there are other benefits for SAVE America Act advocates. A series of lengthy speeches could potentially delay the recess. These Republican senators could argue that they are willing to stay and debate the SAVE America Act while their colleagues fled Washington for summer. Such a maneuver would focus attention on the issue. It would draw a contrast between senators willing to fight for the issue and those who went home. The effort might impress President Trump. And such a maneuver could show divides between them and Thune - who the President often chastises.

"The worst case scenario is for us is to stay all the way through and then we lose the Senate in the days ahead," said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., on Fox. "Then President Trump is dealing with all the impeachment crazy all over again."

Remaining in Washington for the next five weeks would pull the most vulnerable GOP senator off the trail, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

Collins was crystal clear when pressed by yours truly whether she would campaign and miss her first roll call vote since entering the Senate in 1997.

"I don't miss votes," said an emphatic Collins.

So don't expect the Senate to forgo the recess at the end of the week.

This is why those philosopher kings who comprise the band The Clash may have been on to something. If the Senate stays, Republicans can't pass the SAVE America Act. But if they go, certain GOP senators can rabble rouse.

There's trouble whether senators stay or go.