Nothing Good Happens After 10 p.m.: Senate Republicans’ Late-Night Unanimous Consent

I grew up in a strict household with early curfews. My dad always said nothing good happens after 10 p.m. We had to be home before the street lights came on, and it kept us out of trouble. Turns out Dad’s philosophy might apply to more than just his daughter’s well-being - especially when it comes to U.S. Senate Republicans.

After weeks of bold statements about fully funding the Department of Homeland Security and passing the SAVE America Act, Americans are left with neither issue resolved. On March 27, in the wee early morning hour (around 2:30 am), Senate Majority Leader John Thune and a small group of senior Republicans joined Chuck Schumer in using unanimous consent to pass a bipartisan package funding most of the Department of Homeland Security.

The measure restored operations and pay for TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard after a six-week partial shutdown. But it excluded additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and key parts of Customs and Border Protection. The bill passed by unanimous voice vote of the handful of senators present.  Because there is no attendance record or roll call vote, some sources falsely report the vote as “100-0”.

Unanimous consent is a favorite Senate tool for efficiency. When no one objects, legislation sails through on a simple voice vote instead of a recorded roll-call vote that puts every senator’s position on the official record. It works for routine matters, but on contentious border security issues, it creates a void of transparency and accountability.

The timing raised eyebrows, especially for Senator Marsha Blackburn. She was captured on video leaving Washington on the evening of March 26, high-tailing it out of the capital. The next morning, she was back in Tennessee flipping pancakes at a local fundraiser. Her strong public demands for full ICE funding have left constituents questioning the sincerity of those statements when she wasn’t present to object and force a recorded vote.

Making matters worse, the late-night shortcut proved wasteful. The House rejected the Senate’s approach, so two weeks later we’re back at square one — still facing a partial DHS shutdown. Meanwhile, the SAVE America Act, another supposed high-priority bill requiring proof of citizenship for federal voter registration, has passed the House but remains stalled in the Senate. With so much time spent campaigning back home, one has to wonder: are legislators too busy running for the next election to finish the job they were sent to do?

By contrast, in 2019, then-Representative John Rose (R-Tenn.) repeatedly objected to unanimous consent requests on a major disaster aid bill, forcing transparency and debate on a pork laden Nancy Pelosi proposal.

In the end, that wee-hour unanimous consent delivered only short-term efficiency for Senate Republicans. It left critical border security questions unrecorded and unresolved. Maybe my dad was right all along: nothing good happens after 10 p.m. — especially when important national security votes get sacrificed for procedural shortcuts and campaign schedules.