While Donald Trump’s war in Iran is growing more intense, dangerous, and unpredictable, MAGA-land activists have a different preoccupation. Following Trump’s lead, they are demanding that Congress move heaven and earth to enact the SAVE America Act. This national “show your papers” measure requires elaborate proof of citizenship for people registering to vote. Earlier versions that focused on voter ID passed the House twice. But now Trump is demanding that the Senate immediately pass an expanded version of the bill that also bans no-excuse voting by mail and includes bans on transgender surgery and transgender athletes in women’s sports. (No, this has nothing to do with the bill’s supposed purpose of improving “election security,” but Trump seems to think it will help Republicans score points with the public.)

Recognizing that Democrats are sure to filibuster this bill, MAGA Republicans (plus influencers like Elon Musk) are haranguing the GOP leadership of the Senate to keep the SAVE America Act on the floor until hell freezes over. This would force Democrats to undertake what is known as a talking filibuster, actually debating the bill instead of just proving they have the votes to stop it.

Like Trump, MAGA activists claim with zero proof (and ignoring a lot of contrary evidence) that many millions of illegal immigrants are voting in elections at the direction of Democrats. SAVE America Act proponents appear to believe that endless debate over the bill will red pill Americans on the phantom menace of non-citizen voting.

It’s more likely to backfire. At the moment, Republicans can point to polls showing vague but high levels of public support for some sort of photo-ID requirements for voting. The SAVE America Act goes far beyond such voter-ID requirements (which many states have imposed on their own); an estimated 21 million citizens lack the documentation the bill requires, so it may force hasty purges of voter rolls right before the midterms. The longer the bill is debated, the more its draconian effects will become known, and support for it could actually go down instead of up. That’s particularly true with respect to the non-germane provisions of the SAVE America Act Trump is insisting upon. Florida’s Republican legislature just passed an election security law that doesn’t interfere with the midterms, preserves the full right to vote by mail (very popular among Florida Republicans), and doesn’t get into anti-trans demagoguery. The SAVE America Act will suffer by comparison.

Just as important, Democrats would by no means be on the defensive during the days, weeks, or even months of a talking filibuster. As Senate Majority Leader John Thune has warned, Democrats would have a field day forcing votes on amendments guaranteed to embarrass Republicans and put them on record taking unpopular stands. While Democrats hold the Senate floor, Republicans would be unable to advance other legislation — say, an affordability agenda, a second budget reconciliation bill, or anything else designed to improve the GOP’s increasingly imperiled midterm-election odds. And perpetuating a talking filibuster will require iron party discipline among Republicans, at a time when many of them would prefer to be back home campaigning or helping themselves with debates on other topics.

The appropriate response of Democrats to the demand for a talking filibuster should be: Go ahead. Make my day! The scenario would be an excellent device for Democrats to stall the GOP agenda and show their own base they are “fighting Trump” hammer and tong, day and night. It might even make Chuck Schumer popular with Democrats again. But for Republicans, it would be an own goal of immense proportions.

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