The SAVE America Act just won’t go away for Senate Republicans, no matter how many times they think it’s dead and gone.
Republican lawmakers have been locked in a monthslong battle over the conservative voting bill as it has become evident they don’t have the votes in the upper chamber to pass the bill, no matter the avenue. This has left members miffed — they want to finally turn the page, but are again faced with a zombie.
“It just keeps coming back,” one Senate Republican told NOTUS. “It’s like the ‘Night of the Living Dead.’”
The bill would require voters to present a photo ID to vote, proof of citizenship for voter registration and severely curtail the use of mail-in balloting.
Trending
President Donald Trump tried to resurrect the issue last week by calling for it — alongside hundreds of billions of dollars in defense priorities — to be part of a third party-line budget reconciliation package. He also declared over the weekend that he’s against reauthorizing the now-lapsed Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act unless it comes with the measure attached.
Trump has made the voting package a priority since the start of the year, backed up by conservative lawmakers and an intense pressure campaign waged by right-wing influencers.
Not only have they called for the bill to pass, but they have used it as part of a blitz to push Senate Republicans to nix the chamber’s 60-vote threshold and institute a “talking” filibuster.
The attempt backfired spectacularly, with a critical mass of Republican senators maintaining that they will not weaken the filibuster.
“There is a frustration,” the Senate Republican continued. “It’s not just the president. We have other members who keep pushing this when they know … we don’t have the votes. I don’t know how you can be more clear than that.”
“I don’t know why they keep pushing something that’s basically not possible,” they added.
“It doesn’t get us votes. Literally, we lose votes with it,” a second Senate Republican said.
The inability to pass the bill on its own has Trump and some allies again pushing for it to be added to another budget reconciliation package, needing just a simple majority of members. But that strategy has proven to be a rough go as the package runs afoul of the Byrd rule, which prevents non-budget items from being green-lit with 51 votes.
Even top backers of the voting measure have admitted reconciliation is not a viable path. That was especially evident after four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis — effectively voted against adding the SAVE America Act to the border bill.
“I just can’t put a gun to my colleagues’ head and make them vote for it,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), who has been open about wanting to pass parts of it via reconciliation.
On top of the SAVE America Act, the president’s most recent demand included a one-time $350 billion defense spending infusion, which has roiled defense hawks. Republican lawmakers widely do not believe that a third reconciliation bill has much hope of passing..
McConnell said at a hearing last week that it is “safe to conclude” there will not be another single-party bill, potentially leaving those defense priorities on the cutting-room floor. Collins agreed with his assessment.
The pressure on all fronts has most acutely mounted on Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has been under intense pressure to act on the voting measure. There is little he can do given the lack of appetite among his members to change the rules and the reconciliation parameters. He’s also shot down the “talking filibuster” option as it would tie up the floor for weeks on end.
Thune’s allies have taken issue with the endless campaign that has viewed him as the main roadblock. That spilled onto social media in the wee hours of Friday morning as Sen. John Cornyn, a newly unshackled Texas Republican after losing his primary, accused Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) of a needless crusade.
“Mike, I am a co-sponsor and have repeatedly voted for this but you don’t have the votes. @LeaderJohnThune can’t change that. It is math,” Cornyn told Lee. “Try focusing on Democrats instead of Republicans. Republican on Republican attacks are hurting our chances to win the majority in November.”
That prompted a five-post response from Lee, the most vocal senator in favor of the voting measure, with others piling on in the wake of the failed vote-a-rama tally.
“It is beyond EMBARRASSING that ‘Republicans’ continue to block the SAVE America Act,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), wrote on X, going so far as to name-check the four Republican “no” votes and say they “have not only betrayed their constituents — they are ACCOMPLICES in Democrats’ ‘Illegals First’ agenda.”
“The people of North Carolina, Alaska, Kentucky, and Maine deserve better,” he added.
The problems for the bill are not limited to the Senate. Three Republican sources told NOTUS that the current version of the SAVE America Act likely can’t get through the House either. The lower chamber approved another version of the SAVE Act earlier this year, but it does not include restrictions on mail-in balloting that has significantly stifled the bill from progressing.
“We agree on voter ID, but the bill Trump wants is far beyond that scope,” said a Senate GOP aide, who said there is “exasperation” with the SAVE America Act.
“It’s taken on a life of its own. It’s not rooted in reality and it’s not rooted in what we can actually achieve.”
Author
