Senate Republicans are preparing for what Majority Leader John Thune described as a “full and robust debate” next week on a voting eligibility bill that would tighten proof-of-citizenship requirements, setting up a prolonged floor fight aimed at satisfying President Donald Trump even though the measure has not shown it can win enough support to become law.
Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, said Thursday that he is planning a talkathon on the Senate floor for an indefinite period as the chamber takes up the bill after it already passed the House. Speaking as he announced the plan, Thune said, “I can guarantee that we are going to put Democrats on the record,” according to the account of his remarks on the Senate floor.
The effort comes amid what the AP described as pressure from Trump, who has made the SAVE America Act a top priority ahead of the midterm elections. Trump has said he will not sign other legislation until the voting bill is passed, elevating the procedural dispute over the bill’s chances into a test of whether Republicans can deliver results with Trump’s approval.
Republicans have already acknowledged that the SAVE America Act faces unified Democratic opposition in the Senate. With Democrats opposed, Senate passage likely would require Republicans to change the rules and eliminate the filibuster, which sets a 60-vote threshold for most legislation. The AP account said many GOP senators are reluctant to go that far, even as Trump has suggested a “talking filibuster” as a path forward.
Even if Republicans had the votes to eliminate the filibuster or to adopt a talking filibuster approach, the AP said such a strategy would not guarantee passage. Supporters argued Democrats could tire of speaking or eventually allow the legislation, but the AP also noted Democrats would be able to offer an indefinite number of amendments on any subject, forcing Republicans into difficult votes and potentially delaying the outcome further during an election year.
Faced with those procedural constraints, Republican senators have been looking for an alternate approach that still keeps pressure on Democrats on the floor. The AP reported that Republicans plan to hold the floor for days, “if not weeks,” to pressure Democrats without formally using the “talking filibuster” that Trump has pushed for, and to avoid letting Democrats have a weekslong stage for debate.
Thune’s plan is also tied to Republicans’ view that they need to keep the discussion focused and moving on their preferred priorities. The AP account said Republicans are expected to consider amendments, including issues Trump has named such as an end to most mail-in balloting, as they attempt to structure the extended debate.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who has led the effort with Trump to pass the SAVE America Act and has pressed for a talking filibuster, said Thursday that it was not yet clear how the plan would play out. “I think he understands that we need to put in an aggressive effort here,” Lee said of Trump, adding that “a lot of that is going to have to be determined in real time as we go about it.” Lee said Trump’s satisfaction would depend on whether, in his view, Republicans “gave it everything we have.”
Alabama Sen. Katie Britt said the goal of the debate is to figure out how to bring the bill to the floor and “actually achieve a result,” according to the AP account. Britt said, “We’re working through what that means and what we need to be prepared to do.”
Democrats have said they expect the prolonged floor time to be used to press their case against the bill. The AP reported that Democrats “uniformly oppose the legislation,” arguing it would disenfranchise some voters who do not have birth certificates or other documents readily available.
Sen. Alex Padilla, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Rules Committee, said Democrats are organizing “to bring our arguments — and the facts — to the floor as well.” Padilla described the effort as more than a narrow voting ID bill, saying it is “Save Trump’s Ass Act” because the only way he said Republicans can try to hold on to power in the November elections is to make it harder for eligible people to vote, according to the AP account. Padilla added that the SAVE America Act “is not a voter ID bill. It is a voter suppression bill. It is a voter purging bill.”
The procedural strategy Republicans are outlining thus sets the stage for a high-stakes Senate week in which, even without a clear path to final passage, the debate itself becomes part of the political and presidential calculus heading into the midterms.