What looked like a last-minute lifeline for the turned into a 2 a.m. Senate dead end, even in spite of a late push from President Donald Trump.
After a frantic Friday filled with amendments, objections and pressure from the President to keep lawmakers in Washington, supporters believed they had a path to a vote before the August recess.
Senators and aides were called back to the Capitol late Friday night as momentum appeared to be building.
But in the early morning hours on Saturday, that push came up short. Unfortunately for Senators , R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., along with Eric Schmitt, R-Mo, they could not garner enough support for a vote.
TED CRUZ URGES SENATE TO STAY IN WASHINGTON UNTIL PROTECT COLLEGE SPORTS ACT PASSES THIS WEEK
“The Protect College Sports Act continues to show great momentum. Sens Cruz and Schmitt have worked tirelessly with the support of nearly every conference in the country, HBCUs and the Olympic sports committee. It’s clear that this bill is the only way to save college sports and womens sports,” Cruz and Schmitt said in a statement early Saturday morning.
“While we are disappointed that we could not get the unanimous consent agreement to finish this week, we locked in a guaranteed vote in September. With the strong support of President Trump, we look forward to him signing the bill on college game day in the Fall.”
In what turned out to be an intense day of negotiations, Senators from both sides of the aisle met numerous times to discuss the legislation that kept college athletic officials and reporters glued to their phones over the previous 72 hours.
When the SEC and Big Ten voted to put their support behind the bipartisan legislation just one week ago, there was hope among everyone involved that they could get the bill to the Senate floor and send it to the House before the congressional recess.
On Friday, with the deadline creeping up on those looking to push this legislation through, a bevy of amendments were filed by Senators looking to enhance the bill in their eyes.
After days of anticipation about whether this ‘NIL Bill’ would actually be taken up for a vote, Senate aides were scrambling early Saturday morning to make their way back to the Capitol.
But, the intense negotiations turned into all sides laying down their swords, until September.
“Time may have run out to protect college sports in August, but there is plenty of time in September,” Senator Maria Cantwell said in a statement. “I’m glad Senator Thune set a date certain in September to bring it up because the challenges facing student athletes and universities aren’t going away.
“The Protect College Sports Act provides stability and gives first-ever federal NIL rights and scholarship and healthcare protections for athletes. And this bipartisan bill is how we protect women’s and Olympic sports. I look forward to its passage in September.”
Even with a push from President Donald Trump, this legislation was fighting against time, objections and the Senate ‘hotline’ that is used to essentially determine whether a bill would actually have the support to be voted on.
It was actually Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL
