Thune quashes Trump push to reform filibuster for SAVE Act

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told GOP colleagues Tuesday that they don’t have the votes to pass a House-approved voting reform bill through the Senate by forcing Democrats to use a talking filibuster to oppose it, rejecting President Trump’s full-court press.

Senate Republicans at a Tuesday lunch meeting discussed the prospect of forcing Democrats to actively hold the floor for days — or even weeks — of continuous debate to make it as hard as possible for them to block the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which Trump called his “No.1 priority” at an issues conference with House Republicans on Monday.

Trump warned in Florida on Monday that passing the SAVE Act is critical to helping Republicans keep control of Congress in November.

“It will guarantee the midterms. If you don’t get it, big trouble,” he said.

Democrats counter that there have only been a few instances of immigrants who are in the country illegally voting in federal elections in recent years and say the claims of widespread fraud are unfounded.  

Trump has ramped up pressure on Senate GOP leaders to embrace the talking filibuster by not following through on his pledge to endorse a candidate in the heated Senate Republican primary battle between Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Thune and other Republicans have lobbied Trump intensely to endorse Cornyn, who they think has a better chance of winning the general election, but Trump hasn’t yet done so.

Asked about speculation that the White House is slow-walking the endorsement in Texas because of Trump’s disagreement with Senate Republicans over the talking filibuster, Thune acknowledged he was concerned about it.  

“Yeah, I mean, that’s probably not a linkage that is in anybody’s best interest because voting on the SAVE America Act is something we can do but passage is not guaranteed,” Thune said. “You have to make political decisions independent of what the final disposition of that might be on the floor.”

Senate proponents of the talking filibuster strategy, such as Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), argue that it’s the best way to pass the SAVE Act and stave off what they and Trump warn could be massive fraud in the 2026 midterm election.

They hope the debate will become so tiring that Democrats will eventually relent and allow the measure to pass by a simple majority vote.

Lee made his case for the talking filibuster at Tuesday’s meeting.

But other GOP senators, including Thune, are warning the more likely result is that the Senate floor would be paralyzed for weeks or even months and that it won’t result in a legislative victory.

Thune said his staff can’t find any “piece of legislation in history” that’s been passed by grinding out a legislative wind by voting to table dozens or scores of dilatory amendments and waiting out days or weeks of floor debate.

“What people don’t realize, I think, is that’s unlimited debate but it’s also unlimited amendments,” he explained earlier in the week.

GOP sources say that under current precedent, offering amendments to the SAVE Act would allow Democrats to debate the legislation without limit — potentially tying up the floor for the rest of the year.

The animated debate behind closed doors on Tuesday failed to change any minds within the GOP conference, according to Republican senators who attended the meeting.

“We don’t have the votes either to proceed, get on a talking filibuster nor sustain one if we got on it, but that’s just a function of math, and there isn’t anything I can do about that,” Thune told reporters after the lunch.  

“I understand the president’s got a passion to see this addressed, as we all do,” he said of Trump’s threat on Sunday not to sign any more bills passed by Congress until the Senate passes the SAVE Act.

Several Republicans expressed skepticism that forcing Democrats to stand at their desks talking for hours, just like Jimmy Stewart did in the classic film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” is going to yield a result on voting reforms.

“It works well in movies,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) quipped of the prospect of forcing a talking filibuster.

Asked whether Tuesday’s meeting appeared to shift sentiments within the conference, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a proponent of the proposed reform, said, “I don’t think so.”

A GOP senator who requested anonymity said “we had a very full discussion” but didn’t make much progress.

“There was a full variety of opinions that were offered,” the source added. “The votes aren’t there to do this.”

Thune told colleagues the Senate instead will vote on the legislation to put Democrats on the record about the SAVE Act’s principal reform, which would be to require people to show passports or birth certificates as proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

Some Republicans, such as Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), applauded that announcement to have a vote, but Trump’s most loyal Senate allies are disappointed.

“I am still of the opinion that I would really like to have a vote on the SAVE Act,” Rounds said after the meeting.

He argued Monday that such a vote would make clear to voters that Democrats oppose requiring proof of citizenship to vote, despite polls showing the idea is popular.

“I’d like to see the Dems have up-or-down vote on moving to the SAVE Act. I think there’s a real value in letting the American people know who is supporting it and who is not,” Rounds said. “I think a talking filibuster is a lot more challenging than some people think.”

Democrats could easily block the SAVE Act by voting against a cloture motion. Republicans control 53 seats and would need 60 votes to advance the bill.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) argued that Democrats will get rid of the filibuster once they win back control of the White House and Congress to raise taxes and boost domestic spending programs and that Republicans should act first.

“Democrats have shown us their cards. They’re going to eliminate it the next time they get a chance to. We’d be schmucks not to beat them to the punch,” he said.

Johnson said he supports getting rid of the filibuster or requiring a talking filibuster to make it tougher for the minority to block legislation.

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