GOP debate on SAVE America Act morphs into 'circular firing squad' |
GOP debate on SAVE America Act morphs into ‘circular firing squad’
Senate Republicans say the debate within their conference over how hard to push for passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, a sweeping voting reform bill, is becoming a “circular firing squad” as President Trump’s allies ramp up pressure on their GOP colleagues to use extraordinary tactics to pass the bill.
Trump and his allies are warning that if Senate Republicans don’t pull out all the stops to pass the bill, they will face the wrath of MAGA voters.
That threat is angering Senate GOP critics of the bill, who think it’s poorly drafted and has no chance of passing. They say threats to punish them for not rallying behind the bill will only backfire as the party heads into a midterm election facing strong political headwinds, such as Trump’s low approval ratings and voter dissatisfaction over inflation and the economy.
“Circular firing squads never end well,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who says the bill needs more work and has questioned the endgame for passing the bill when Democrats are vowing to block it with a filibuster.
Tillis and several other Republican senators were outraged by Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) post on social media this week suggesting that Republican colleagues who don’t support forcing a talking filibuster to help pass the SAVE America Act should be replaced.
“To me, it’s disingenuous to say we’re going to go out here and we’re going to bring the bill, make [its virtues] apparent to the American people, and then he’s out there the night before we’re about to go on the bill and threatening primaries for people who don’t get on board for something he knows he doesn’t have support for,” Tillis said.
Trump added to the pressure Tuesday when he declared on Truth Social that the SAVE America Act is “one of the most IMPORTANT & CONSEQUENTIAL pieces of legislation in the history of Congress and America itself” and vowed to withhold support from any Republican who opposes it.
Tillis circulated Lee’s post to Senate Republican colleagues so that they knew what their colleague was posting about them on social media, according to GOP senators who were alerted to the bombshell comment.
A Republican senator who requested anonymity said the suggestion that Republicans who don’t support the talking filibuster should be ousted “doesn’t do much for camaraderie.”
“I don’t have a great appreciation for that,” the lawmaker added.
The GOP senator also questioned whether the Senate needs to debate the SAVE America Act beyond next week when it’s highly unlikely any Democrats will vote for it and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has announced there aren’t enough GOP votes to force Democrats to wage a talking filibuster by actively holding the floor for days or weeks to oppose it.
“I don’t think we need a month on it, to be honest,” the senator said. “Does it go into week? I don’t know.”
A second Republican senator who requested anonymity urged his colleagues to lower the temperature within the GOP conference.
“The frustration should be focused on Democrats coming into the election year and not on Republicans,” said the senator.
Some Republican senators think Lee, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and other Republicans who are making a full-court press to pass the SAVE America Act are holding Senate GOP leadership “hostage” by threatening to gin up Trump if they move off the bill too soon.
But Lee, one of Trump’s closest Senate allies, is not backing down.
He warned at a press conference Wednesday that Republicans face political suicide if they don’t do everything in their power to pass the bill, which would require people to show documented proof of citizenship when registering to vote, even if it requires weeks of debating it on the floor.
Lee warned that if Republicans settle for a failed vote next week to end debate and advance the SAVE America Act it would be a “suicidal move.”
“It would be a suicidal move for us as Senate Republicans or Republicans in general if we don’t put everything we’ve got into this,” he said. “I think we need to debate this as long as it takes to get done.”
“Getting it teed up, getting debate and then immediately proceeding to cloture [to end debate] … on the bill would be, I think, a profound mistake,” he said.
Lee said he wants Republicans to exhaust Democrats on the floor by debating the bill for days or weeks, even though some Republican colleagues are already talking about wrapping it up next week and moving on to something else.
Schmitt — who is sponsoring an amendment to the bill to implement Trump’s demands to dramatically restrict mail-in voting, prohibit transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports and ban gender reassignment surgery for minors — echoed Lee’s call to push the bill as hard as possible.
“My feeling is we should debate this as long as it takes to get it done. And I think that people are very familiar with ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.’ I think most folks back home think that’s how it actually works, that people come here and they can stand on conviction,” he said, referring to the Hollywood classic staring Jimmy Stewart.
Schmitt made progress this week by helping to work out a deal between Trump and Senate Republicans over Trump’s demand to end no-excuse absentee voting.
Trump signed off on a compromise Monday night to allow a hardship exemption for voters who want to vote by mail even if they aren’t sick or disabled or on military duty or travel.
Republican senators from rural states such as Montana, including Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), had balked at an earlier version of Schmitt’s amendment that would have dramatically restricted absentee voting.
Daines on Wednesday said he was satisfied with the new deal for mail-in voting rules, but other Republican senators who spoke with The Hill still have concerns.
Thune, the Senate GOP leader, declined to take a side when asked Wednesday about the growing tensions within his conference and whether conservatives need to temper their pressure tactics on colleagues during an election year.
“I want to keep the Republican majority,” he said, flashing a thumbs-up before walking into the Wednesday Senate GOP lunch.
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