Last July, as Senate Republicans struggled to pass workable health-care legislation, Donald Trump made his opinion clear: no bill, no break. “Inaction is not an option. And frankly, I don’t think we should leave town unless we have a health-insurance plan,” he said, referring to the Senate’s August recess—a rare blessed time when, traditionally, members of Congress travel home to visit their constituents while their staffers go on long vacations. At the time, his threats amounted to nothing: Congress dispersed as usual, after its final attempt to repeal portions of Obamacare was thwarted. But in the lead-up to this year’s recess, the president has again taken up the call, this time tweeting that Senators should pass funding for his border wall “before the August break, or NOT GO HOME.” And this time, in a move akin to a vindictive parent grounding their teenage daughter from attending prom, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has complied.

On Tuesday, McConnell announced that he was canceling August recess thanks to his insubordinate and churlish Democratic colleagues. “Due to the historic obstruction by Senate Democrats of the president’s nominees, and the goal of passing appropriations bills prior to the end of the fiscal year, the August recess has been canceled,” he said in a statement, adding that he expected his colleagues to stay in D.C. to work on appropriation bills and confirming Trump’s nominees, hundreds of whom are in limbo. In doing so, McConnell killed two birds with one stone: he both pleased the president and handed Senate Republicans a strategic advantage just five months before the midterm elections.

There is little to no chance that Republicans will be able to shake off their foremost albatross, the widely divisive president, who may be an asset in locking down the base, but whose mere presence tars the party’s reputation among more middle-of-the-road voters. But with this move, McConnell hopes to show constituents that the Republican Senate is, in fact, productive: a point the G.O.P. has struggled to prove, having driven both health-care and immigration bills into the ground. “In general, what I hear from the conservative base in Wisconsin is, why aren’t you guys supporting Trump? Where’s the funding for the wall? But specifically, why didn’t you fix Obamacare?” Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson told CNN. More significantly, cutting short the August recess keeps vulnerable Democratic incumbents off the campaign trail—a big setback to those hoping to defend their seats in Trump Country.

So far, special elections have shown Democrats gobbling up the Republicans’ normal buffer zone in red states: Democrat __ Doug Jones__ won a Senate seat in Alabama, and several other candidates overcame double-digit deficits to challenge, or outright win, Republican-held seats. One senior Senate Democratic aide told CNN, “The fact that the Republicans have resorted to keeping Democrats off the campaign trail in August shows you just how nervous they are about November.” Of course, Democrats’ chances of retaking the Senate in November have always been fairly slim. But if vulnerable Democratic senators are replaced by Republicans come 2018, a G.O.P. majority in the Senate could nullify a Democratic House altogether. As an added bonus, McConnell’s decision also insulated Republicans somewhat from a tiff with the president on the cusp of midterms. “It’s totally out of fear of what Trump will do,” one Republican Senator told CNN. “The only reason this is being considered, the only reason, is that leadership is fearful that Trump will blast the Senate if they’re not in session and therefore hurt Republican chances.” (Trump, naturally, praised the move on Twitter, writing, “Maybe the Democrats will finally get something done other than their acceptance of High Crime and High Taxes. We need Border Security!”)

For weeks, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he would support whatever McConnell decided to do. “I think what’s important here is to move the Senate forward on appropriations, and we Democrats have every intention of doing that and cooperating,” he told Politico last month. Faced with the cancellation, Schumer has eagerly seized on what he perceives as a chance to ding Republicans in the eyes of constituents by holding them accountable on health care. “We believe this previously unscheduled session time can be put to good use to finally help Americans secure the affordable health care the President and Congressional Republicans have thus far failed to deliver,” he wrote in a letter to McConnell. Whether his counterattack will prove successful for fellow caucus members stuck in D.C. remains to be seen.