A hot debate has now broken out in the Republican Party over the so-called SAVE Act.
Republicans support the SAVE Act, which would force voter ID nationally. Democrats in the Senate have been holding it up.
President Trump correctly <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/president-trump-addresses-house-republicans-at-annual-retreat/674954">points out </a>that the SAVE Act is quite popular with Americans.
“Even the Democrats — you saw the numbers today?— Democrats voted 86% that this stuff should be passed,” he noted. “With the Republicans, you&#8217;re at 98%. But Democrats are at 86%, except for the people that run the Democrat Party, because they want to try and win elections illegally. The only reason you vote against voter I.D. is because you want to cheat. There&#8217;s no other reason. They come up with reasons; they say it&#8217;s racist. That&#8217;s their number one: racist. Then they have to explain it, and they&#8217;re just sitting there mumbling. They can&#8217;t explain it.”
President Trump has also been having fun <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/president-trump-addresses-house-republicans-at-annual-retreat/674954">mocking</a> Chuck Schumer: “It&#8217;s the easiest thing we have. Now the problem is you call it the SAVE Act, and nobody knew what the hell the SAVE Act was. &#8230; It&#8217;s called ‘The Save America Act’. And I saw Schumer yesterday: ‘We will stop Save America.’ He’s getting killed. They can&#8217;t do it.”
President Trump says that Republicans should <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/president-trump-addresses-house-republicans-at-annual-retreat/674954">not approve anything</a> until the SAVE Act passes:
“But they have to get it done. Because if we don&#8217;t get this done, if it takes six months, I&#8217;m for not approving anything. I don&#8217;t think we should approve anything until this is approved. And they can&#8217;t win politically. Look, you have them in a corner, and they&#8217;re listening to every word I&#8217;m saying. It doesn&#8217;t matter because they can&#8217;t win it politically. Because when they say, ‘We don&#8217;t want voter identification. We don&#8217;t want proof of citizenship,” all these things are just losers for them.”
Chuck Schumer, for his part, keeps arguing that if we clean the voter rolls of people who have moved or are dead and require people to use voter ID, somehow this is going to result in mass voter disenfranchisement, a proposition that pretty much no one actually agrees with. 
“It allows ICE to kick tens of millions of people off the rolls, off the rolls, and they don&#8217;t tell them until Election Day,” he <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/news-conference/senate-democratic-agenda/675075">huffed</a>. “And you show them, you say. ‘You&#8217;re not registered anymore, you&#8217;re not registered here, you&#8217;re not on the rolls.’ And they say, ‘I didn&#8217;t know that.’ This is a bill that destroys the country. And it is not about showing ID when you show up to vote. It&#8217;s about the voter registration rolls, destroying them, purging them, not letting people know, and taking the rights in an algorithm put together by ICE, put together by DOGE and Musk. It&#8217;s an outrage.” 
If you just say DOGE or Musk three times in a row, Beetlejuice appears, according to Chuck Schumer.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2385-iranian-propaganda-syndrome?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
This is silly. If you can&#8217;t abide by the law with regard to voting, you shouldn&#8217;t vote. And if you moved and you didn&#8217;t tell them you moved, then you probably should tell them you moved. Democrats trying to turn basic adult functions into some sort of Mensa test are lying. It’s not that hard to register to vote. It&#8217;s not hard to determine where and how to vote. People have been figuring it out for decades.
But now, because Democrats are trying to filibuster the SAVE Act in the Senate, to prevent it from passing by forcing Republicans to find 60 votes in the Senate, President Trump is talking about killing the filibuster.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, by contrast, says, no, we&#8217;re not doing that.
“We don&#8217;t have the votes either to proceed, get on a talking filibuster, nor to sustain one if we got on it,” he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-EQvN-hLoz0">stated</a>. “But that is just a function of math. &#8230; I understand the president&#8217;s got a passion to see this issue addressed, as we all do. We’ll continue to make that argument because I think it&#8217;s important that everybody understands this is really about the votes. It&#8217;s about the math.”
A lot of people are asking, why doesn&#8217;t Thune kill the filibuster? The answer is simple. He&#8217;s concerned if Republicans kill the filibuster, the next time the Democrats have a majority in the House and the Senate and run the presidency, they simply run roughshod over Republicans and essentially end any chance of possible parity in future elections, all with just 51 votes. They add new states, they add new senators, and they change the voting rules and all the rest.
There have been two arguments that have been put out there to counter John Thune’s argument. First, there&#8217;s the argument that Republicans should end what&#8217;s known as the “talking filibuster.” When most people think about the filibuster, they think of Jimmy Stewart talking for hours until he faints in the film “Mr. Smith goes to Washington.”
It takes 60 votes to ensure “cloture,” which means to stop a talking filibuster. Under Senate Rule 19, each senator can speak twice per day. Members of the same party can hold the floor continuously. Theoretically, Johnson could force Democrats to do that, get up there and just talk and talk and talk and talk.
In the past, however, opposing parties have allowed the so-called “silent filibuster,” a filibuster that all agree would be possible in the absence of talking for days at a time. People basically say, “You don&#8217;t have 60 votes. Instead of making us talk for weeks on end, we are not going to do that. You don’t have 60 votes to kill it anyway.”
So why doesn&#8217;t John Thune kill the silent filibuster? There are a few practical reasons. First, if 47 Democrats each gave six-hour speeches and did that continuously in a cycle, they could stop the business of the Senate for months. The only way to keep the Senate in session, in order to keep the pressure on Democrats to keep talking, would be for Republicans to maintain a quorum, meaning 51 senators nearby. If they didn&#8217;t have a quorum, if somebody goes home and suddenly there are 49 senators, Democrats can move to adjourn the session, the clock restarts, and all the senators can speak twice again. Which means that killing the silent filibuster basically ensures pain, but not gain.
That&#8217;s not going to stop critics from attacking Senator Thune and other Republicans as somehow feeble or insufficient in their defense of conservative policy. That&#8217;s always the rap from people in my industry toward politicians: “The reason that Republicans don&#8217;t do enough is a lack of will. If only they had more Nietzschean willpower! Or maybe they&#8217;re corrupt?” 
 
But that&#8217;s not what&#8217;s happening. The simple case here is that in the Senate, which happens to be a more collegial body than the House, Republicans must always have one eye on the question of what happens when the political shoe is on the other foot.
Just as Democrats killed the judicial filibuster only to watch Republicans stack the Supreme Court, Republicans have to be careful not to kill the filibuster on other issues, just to watch Democrats ram through fundamental changes to the nature of American life and law.
Democrats are obstructing, there&#8217;s no question about it.
They aren’t interested in honest voting.

SchumerSAVE

The SAVE Act Standoff

Chuck Schumer

Congress

Donald Trump

House of Representatives

Iran

John Thune

Mike Johnson

Opinion

SAVE America Act

U.S. Senate

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) must &#8220;be a leader&#8221; and take the SAVE American Act across the finish line as Senate Republicans face continued pressure from voters and the White House to pass the voter ID legislation before the midterm elections.
Asked about Thune on Wednesday, Trump made it clear that the SAVE America Act remains the single most important task for the GOP-controlled Senate.
&#8220;He&#8217;s gotta be a leader,&#8221; Trump said of Thune. &#8220;He&#8217;s a leader, he&#8217;s gotta get [the votes].&#8221;
&#8220;It&#8217;s the most popular bill put before Congress,&#8221; he added.
This week, Thune has poured cold water on a Trump-backed proposal to revert to the talking filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act. The talking filibuster would force Democrats who oppose the SAVE America Act to speak nonstop on the Senate floor if they want to block a vote, but according to Thune, a group of Republicans is not on board with changing Senate rules to meet Trump&#8217;s demand.
&#8220;The votes aren’t there, one, to nuke the filibuster, and the votes aren’t there for a talking filibuster,&#8221; Thune told reporters on Tuesday. &#8220;It’s just a reality. I’m the person who has to deliver sometimes the not-so-good news that the math doesn’t add up, but those are the facts, and there’s no getting around it.&#8221;
A <a href="https://x.com/MarkMeadows/status/2031779224470897145">list</a> put together by former White House Chief of Staff and North Carolina Congressman Mark Meadows shows that Senate Republicans are split down the middle on support for the talking filibuster. Senators who have signaled support for using the talking filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act include, Jim Banks (IN), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Ted Budd (NC), Katie Britt (AL), Bill Cassidy (LA), John Cornyn (TX), Ted Cruz (TX), Joni Ernst (IA), Bill Hagerty (TN), Josh Hawley (MO), Ron Johnson (WI), Mike Lee (UT), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Roger Marshall (KS), Dave McCormick (PA), Ashley Moody (FL), Bernie Moreno (OH), Markwayne Mullin (OK), Rand Paul (KY), Jim Risch (ID), Eric Schmitt (MO), Rick Scott (FL), Tim Scott (SC), Tim Sheehy (MT), Dan Sullivan (AK), and Tommy Tuberville (AL).
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is the only Republican senator who has publicly opposed the SAVE America Act, and Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) has publicly voiced his opposition to using the talking filibuster. The remaining Republican senators have not said where exactly they stand on the talking filibuster.
Republicans who are wary of using the talking filibuster argue that it would allow Democrats to control the Senate floor and propose an unlimited number of amendments that could be tacked onto the SAVE America Act.
&#8220;I understand everybody feels— they&#8217;re really invested in this, but this particular approach, in terms of the process, is much more complicated and risky than people are assuming at the moment, which is why that the Democrats looked at doing it both under [Chuck] Schumer and [Harry] Reid when they were in the majority, and opted against it,&#8221; Thune told reporters earlier this week.
The SAVE America Act also contains provisions to keep men from competing in women&#8217;s sports and to protect children from gender procedures, key issues for Trump and Republicans.
&#8220;It&#8217;s the most popular bill I think I&#8217;ve ever put before Congress,&#8221; Trump reiterated.
Recent polls show that the vast majority of Americans support voter ID requirements similar to those put forward in the SAVE America Act. While 50 Republican senators have come out in support of the bill, Republicans would need to reach 60 votes to get past the filibuster and move the legislation to a vote. Democrats have remained united in their opposition to the SAVE America Act, effectively tanking the bill&#8217;s chances.
Many Republicans, however, believe they would have a chance to pass the bill if they instituted the talking filibuster, which could wear down Democrats who oppose the Trump-backed legislation. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) told The Daily Wire on Tuesday, &#8220;Voters across the nation are demanding the SAVE America Act. If we need a few more Senators to get on board to beat a Democrat standing filibuster, that’s not a reason to give up — it’s a reason to push even harder.&#8221;
&#8220;If Republicans don’t fight hard to deliver this wildly popular legislation that President Trump has specifically requested, how can we ask Americans to entrust us with both chambers of Congress in the future?&#8221; Lee added.

Donald Trump/John Thune

‘Be A Leader’: Trump Challenges John Thune As Save America Act Faces Uncertainty

2026 Midterms

Election

Voting

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said on Tuesday that there is not enough support for the talking filibuster pushed by President Donald Trump and some Republican senators, placing the SAVE America Act&#8217;s Senate chances further in doubt.
The talking filibuster, first suggested by Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, would potentially clear a path for the GOP-controlled Senate to pass the legislation by forcing Democrats who oppose the SAVE America Act to speak non-stop on the Senate floor if they want to block a vote. Thune said the Republican-controlled Senate, however, doesn&#8217;t have enough support from his party to use the talking filibuster.
“The votes aren’t there, one, to nuke the filibuster, and the votes aren’t there for a talking filibuster,&#8221; Thune <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5776860-thune-blocks-talking-filibuster/">told</a> reporters. &#8220;It’s just a reality. I’m the person who has to deliver sometimes the not-so-good news that the math doesn’t add up, but those are the facts and there’s no getting around it.”
Trump has ramped up the pressure on Senate Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act before the 2026 midterms, arguing that a law imposing strict voter ID requirements is vital for Republicans to perform well in the upcoming elections. The legislation would require voters to provide proof of citizenship before registration and would prohibit states from sending mail-in ballots to voters, with the only exceptions being illness, disability, military service, or travel.
Sen. Lee, who sponsored the legislation, told The Daily Wire that Senate Republicans need &#8220;to push even harder&#8221; to get the SAVE America Act across the finish line.
&#8220;Voters across the nation are demanding the SAVE America Act. If we need a few more Senators to get on board to beat a Democrat standing filibuster, that’s not a reason to give up — it’s a reason to push even harder,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If Republicans don’t fight hard to deliver this wildly popular legislation that President Trump has specifically requested, how can we ask Americans to entrust us with both chambers of Congress in the future?&#8221;
Recent polling has shown that despite harsh Democratic opposition to the SAVE America Act, a majority of Americans support strict voter ID requirements.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the SAVE America Act &#8220;one of the most critical pieces of legislation in our nation&#8217;s history.&#8221;
&#8220;Passing the SAVE America Act is the most important thing that Republicans and frankly, Democrats, can do to strengthen election integrity and protect democracy,&#8221; Leavitt added. &#8220;It&#8217;s what the American people elected Republicans to do, and they must deliver on it as soon as possible.&#8221;
The press secretary also slammed Democrats for promoting the &#8220;myth&#8221; that the legislation would make it more difficult for women to vote.
&#8220;As far as married women who have changed their name, if they&#8217;re already registered to vote, they&#8217;re entirely unaffected by the SAVE Act, and for the some fraction of individuals who have changed their name or their address, they can still register to vote, of course. They just have to go through their state processes to update that documentation,&#8221; Leavitt continued.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/front-of-the-line-trump-says-he-wont-sign-a-thing-until-save-act-hits-his-desk">said</a> on Sunday that he would not sign any other legislation until the SAVE America Act is sent to his desk. The White House kept the pressure up on Tuesday, urging Americans to &#8220;DEMAND&#8221; that their senators get on board with the Save America Act.
&#8220;We either fix the integrity of America&#8217;s elections, or we won&#8217;t have a country left to fight for,&#8221; the White House <a href="https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2031396991238869117">posted</a> on X. The post also included a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/saveamerica/">link</a> to a White House webpage that provided contact information for each U.S. senator&#8217;s office.
Thune <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-paid-influencer-ecosystem-it-just-entered-the-election-integrity-fight?author=Drew+Berkemeyer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=The+%E2%80%98Paid+Influencer+Ecosystem%E2%80%99%3F+It+Just+Entered+The+Election+Integrity+Fight">said</a> on Monday that much of the pressure campaign on the SAVE America Act is coming from conservative activists on X, which he called a &#8220;paid influencer ecosystem,&#8221; not from within the Senate itself.
&#8220;We want to get to the SAVE Act,&#8221; Thune added, but he warned that a talking filibuster would make other priorities much &#8220;harder&#8221; to address.
The Senate effectively ended the talking filibuster in the 1970s and moved to the silent filibuster, which has allowed the opposition to stall votes only by stating their intent to filibuster, and thereby require 60 votes to invoke cloture. Trump, who also pushed for the Senate to abolish the filibuster, has suggested that he would take executive action to impose voter ID and citizenship requirements if Congress doesn&#8217;t pass the SAVE America Act.

One Senator’s Final Plea To Save The SAVE America Act

Mike Lee

Politics

Senate

Senate Republican leaders are signaling that the path forward for the SAVE act demanded by President Donald Trump could be far more complicated than some conservatives expect.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) suggested much of the current pressure campaign surrounding the legislation is being driven online rather than inside the Senate itself.
“A lot of that is, it&#8217;s in that kind of, you know, paid influencer ecosystem,” Thune <a href="https://x.com/brennanleach/status/2031083867503743376">said</a>, referring to growing calls from some conservative activists to force action on the bill.
The SAVE act would impose new nationwide election integrity requirements, including proof-of-citizenship documentation to register to vote and voter identification requirements for ballots cast both in person and by mail.
The House has already passed the bill, and Trump has recently increased pressure on Senate Republicans to move it forward, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/front-of-the-line-trump-says-he-wont-sign-a-thing-until-save-act-hits-his-desk">declaring</a> he would refuse to sign legislation that does not include the SAVE Act.
But Thune indicated that even many Republicans remain uncertain about how the Senate could realistically pass the measure. There&#8217;s support among GOP senators, he said, but “the process and how do you ultimately try and get a result is still unclear to me.”
Some conservatives have floated forcing the legislation through the use of a talking filibuster strategy designed to pressure Senate Democrats and move the bill forward with a simple majority. Thune, however, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/top-senate-republicans-skeptical-talking-filibuster-save-america-act-rcna260834">warned</a> that the tactic would be difficult to execute. “The talking filibuster issue is one on which there is not, certainly, a unified Republican conference, and there would have to be,” he said after a Senate GOP meeting.
Under that approach, Republicans would likely face a barrage of amendments and procedural votes, requiring near-perfect unity within the conference. “If you go down that path, you’re talking about the need to table what are going to be numerous amendments and an ability to keep 50 Republicans unified, pretty much on every single vote,” Thune said. “And there’s just not, there isn’t support for doing that at this point.”
The procedural uncertainty comes as Republicans juggle several other legislative priorities, including funding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and pursuing a housing-related bill.
“We want to get to the SAVE Act,” Thune told reporters, but cautioned that tackling other priorities becomes “harder to do once you’re in the throes of a talking filibuster.”
The debate is unfolding alongside an increasingly public dispute within the GOP over who is responsible for the bill’s slow movement. In the last few weeks, as voters become acutely aware of the stall, several House Republicans and Trump himself have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-fellow-republicans-take-shots-at-mitch-mcconnell-over-save-act-stall">publicly criticized</a> Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), accusing the longtime senator of blocking the legislation. Lawmakers including Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Tim Burchett (R-TN) have openly questioned McConnell’s motives, while Trump mocked the Kentucky Republican online over the stalled bill.
McConnell’s office has pushed back on those claims, arguing that the senator does not control whether the measure receives a vote. A spokesperson said McConnell “has not, at any point in time, prevented a floor vote on any version of the SAVE Act,” noting that the latest House-passed version of the legislation is awaiting Senate floor consideration.
The dynamic has placed McConnell at the center of conservative frustration over the issue even as Senate leadership emphasizes the procedural challenges involved. For now, Thune’s most recent comments suggest that while Republican leaders say they want to advance the bill, the strategy for actually doing so remains unsettled.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD)

The ‘Paid Influencer Ecosystem’? It Just Entered The Election Integrity Fight

Elections

Voting Bill

Senators Speak To The Press Following Policy Luncheons On Capitol Hill

Why Are Republican Senators Sabotaging Trump?

Democrats

Filibuster

Jasmine Crockett

Matt Walsh

Republicans

Texas

Thom Tillis

A growing rift inside the Republican Party burst into public view this week as President Donald Trump and several House Republicans openly blasted Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) over the stalled SAVE America Act, accusing the longtime Kentucky lawmaker of standing in the way of legislation they argue is critical to securing federal elections.
What might once have played out behind closed doors is now unfolding in plain sight — with Trump mocking McConnell online and GOP lawmakers questioning both his motives and his leadership as the bill sits idle in the Senate.
One of the most pointed comments came from Representative Ralph Norman (R-SC), who on SiriusXM blasted McConnell directly, saying “he hates Donald Trump” and argued the Kentucky senator “should be in a nursing home” rather than blocking the bill. Norman said McConnell is “beholden to the special interests” and insisted the GOP needs new leadership and term limits.
Norman’s remarks were shared on <a href="https://x.com/WilkowMajority/status/2027161540432969925?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2027161540432969925%7Ctwgr%5E3383e92a7556d2a8fb97a3079c218e9523329448%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Famericanwirenews.com%2Fhouse-republican-blasts-mcconnell-over-save-act-he-should-be-in-a-nursing-home%2F">X</a>, calling out McConnell by name and questioning his effectiveness in the Senate, a rare and unusually blunt rebuke from a Republican colleague.
That sentiment reflects wider frustration among Trump-aligned Republicans over the SAVE Act’s slow progress in the chamber. While President Donald Trump used his 2026 State of the Union to call for Senate passage of the bill — urging lawmakers to “approve the SAVE America Act” as part of his agenda to require voter ID and proof of citizenship — the Senate has yet to bring it up for a vote.
Trump escalated the pressure on social media, <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2028109709824139442">posting</a> a clip from &#8220;Weekend at Bernie’s&#8221; and captioning it: “Mitch McConnell arriving to block the SAVE Act in a last-ditch attempt to save his name.” The jab underscored growing frustration among conservatives who see the bill as a must-pass election integrity measure with overwhelming grassroots support.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) suggested McConnell’s opposition may be personal, saying on <a href="https://x.com/timburchett/status/2024875245966958916?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2024875245966958916%7Ctwgr%5E77f261b58e40fcfc14a750af0055b2b809e4fae9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewrepublic.com%2Fpost%2F206864%2Fmcconnell-trump-election-overhaul-bill-save-america-act">X</a> he believes it is “partially just out of meanness,” adding that “he doesn’t like Trump.” Burchett went further, questioning who is truly making decisions in McConnell’s office: “Is it him or a staff member? Because, as you know, he’s a lot like Joe Biden in his last days in office.”
Other Republicans have pressed Senate leadership to move the bill forward, arguing that requiring proof of citizenship is common sense and widely supported by voters. Trump has repeatedly urged the Senate to act, framing the measure as essential to election security.
Representative Andy Barr (R-KY), who will be running for McConnell’s seat after he retires, sent the senator a <a href="https://barr.house.gov/2026/2/barr-backs-voter-id-mandate-calls-on-mcconnell-to-advance-save-america-act">letter</a> last month. The letter strongly urged McConnell, “as Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, to expeditiously move the America Act through the Senate and to the President’s Desk.” He added, “This marks the second time that the U.S. House of Representatives has acted to advance common sense voter identification and proof of citizenship requirements to strengthen the integrity of our federal elections.”
For his part, McConnell and his team have not claimed responsibility for the stall. A spokesperson for the Kentucky senator <a href="https://www.kentucky.com/news/article314828972.html">wrote</a> in a statement, “Senator McConnell has not, at any point in time, prevented a floor vote on any version of the SAVE Act. The most recent version of the bill that passed the House was not referred to any committees and is currently awaiting Senate floor consideration. Senator McConnell has no role in or power to control floor consideration of this bill.”
McConnell has not publicly embraced the legislation and has resisted procedural efforts to fast-track it, fueling criticism from within his own party as tensions between Trump-aligned Republicans and the Senate’s Republican leadership once again spill into public view.
Senate Republican leadership has tried to take the scrutiny from McConnell. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), in a statement to the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/senate/4473765/senate-gop-warns-house-save-act-agitators-do-not-tell-us-what-to-do/">Washington Examiner</a>, said, “House members are going to say what they’re going to say. They aren’t going to tell us how we’re going to run the Senate.” Another Senate leader said the Senate was “going to do what we’re going to do,” regardless of outside commentary.
Thune also <a href="https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2026/2/thune-joins-america-s-newsroom-on-fox-news">addressed</a> the SAVE America Act directly in an interview with Fox, saying the chamber plans to put Democrats “on the record,” but is focused first on broader issues like reopening the government, and that a floor vote will come “in due time.”
With McConnell nearing retirement and allies jockeying to replace him, the fight carries added political weight, especially in Kentucky. As House Republicans and Trump continue to escalate public pressure, Senate leadership insists the chamber will move on its own timetable. But for many in the GOP base, the optics are clear: a bill framed as “common sense” election security is stalled, and McConnell’s critics are making sure voters know exactly who they believe is responsible.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R)

Trump, Fellow Republicans Take Shots At Mitch McConnell Over SAVE Act Stall

Mitch McConnell

Polling firm Cygnal released a new survey on Wednesday showing broad support for voter identification requirements, including a majority backing among black, Hispanic, and white voters. The poll found that 72% of white voters, 69% of Hispanic voters, and 56% of black voters support requiring identification at the polls.  
“Hakeem Jeffries seems to think voter ID is voter suppression, but when you actually ask voters, 70% of American voters overall, 75% of swing voters, 69% of hispanics, 56% of black voters, and even 46% of democrats support voter ID,” said pollster and Senior Partner John Rogers. He added that Republicans view the issue as politically advantageous heading into the midterms. “It shows Republicans have another winning issue heading into the midterms if they lean into it with confidence.”
Jeffries has <a href="https://jeffries.house.gov/2026/02/08/leader-jeffries-on-cnn-we-need-to-ensure-that-there-are-legislative-changes-enacted-as-part-of-any-dhs-spending-bill/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">opposed</a> the SAVE Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections, arguing that the GOP is attempting to discourage voter participation. &#8220;What Republicans are trying to do is to engage in clear and blatant voter suppression,&#8221; said Jeffries. &#8220;They know that if there&#8217;s a free and fair election in November, they&#8217;re going to lose.&#8221;
The House passed a version of the bill in the fall, which is now under consideration in the Senate.
The Cygnal poll was conducted from February 3-4 among 1,500 likely 2026 midterm voters and has a margin of error of 2.51%. It found 70% support for requiring voter ID for federal elections, compared with 26% opposed. Support was strongest among Republicans at 92%, while 46% of Democrats said they favor voter ID requirements.
Cygnal’s findings align with other national surveys. A Gallup poll conducted last fall found that <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/652523/americans-endorse-early-voting-voter-verification.aspx#:~:text=requiring%20photo%20identification%20to%20vote%20(84%25)">84%</a> of Americans favor voter ID requirements, while the Pew Research Center reported almost identical findings, with <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2026/02/voter-id-is-overwhelmingly-popular-with-literally-everyone-except-democrat-politicians/">83%</a> support.
The SAVE Act would mandate that states obtain documentary proof of American citizenship before registering to vote in federal elections and would require the removal of noncitizens from voter rolls. 
In order for the SAVE Act to pass the Senate, a simple majority of fifty-one votes is required. However, the bill would need 60 votes to overcome a potential filibuster. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has expressed support for voter ID requirements but acknowledged the measure might lack the votes to advance. &#8220;How we get to that vote remains to be seen,&#8221; he said.

TOPSHOT-US-VOTE-POLITICS-EARLY VOTING

Poll Undercuts Democrat ‘Voter Suppression’ Claims

Hakeem Jeffries

Poll

Voter ID

An expected Senate vote on a package to avert a government shutdown was scrapped on Thursday night after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) objected to the removal of a provision allowing senators to sue if their phone records were snooped on. 
Graham’s opposition came after the White House and Senate Democrats <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-and-senate-dems-strike-deal-ahead-of-government-shutdown?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=White+House+And+Senate+Dems+Strike+Deal+Ahead+Of+Government+Shutdown">reached a deal</a> to separate out funding for the Department of Homeland Security from five appropriation bills previously approved by the House. As senators prepared to vote, Graham met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to discuss the agreement. 
“We’re not voting tonight,” Graham said Thursday night after leaving Thune’s office, The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5714316-senate-government-funding-shutdown/">reported</a>. 
Part of Graham’s objection stemmed from the House vote to repeal a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shutdown-deal-packs-a-surprise-as-republicans-strike-back-after-phone-snooping">provision tucked</a> into the continuing resolution passed in November that allowed senators to sue for damages if the government accessed their records without their knowledge. That provision was added after it was revealed that the FBI had analyzed the metadata of phone calls from several congressional Republicans as part of the investigation into President Donald Trump following the January 6 attack. 
“What senator wouldn’t want notification that they’re looking at your phone?” Graham said. 
“I fixed the problem that people had. I’m not going to ignore what happened. If you were abused, you think you were abused, your phone records were illegally seized — you should have your day in court,” he added. “Every senator should want to make sure this never happens again.”
After the passage of the continuing resolution in November, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) promised a vote on repealing the provision, saying that it should apply to all Americans, not just senators. The House followed through earlier this month, repealing the measure as part of the appropriations package it passed. 
Graham also said he opposed separating out funding for DHS.
“The cops need us right now,” he said. “They’re being demonized. They’re being spat upon. They can’t sleep at night.“
Thune said Thursday that he was hopeful that the Senate would be able to vote on the White House-backed deal. The government will shut down at midnight on Friday without any further funding. 
“Hopefully by sometime tomorrow we’ll be in a better spot,” Thune <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/01/30/congress/shutdown-deal-lindsey-graham-dhs-00756840">said</a> on Thursday. “Tomorrow’s another day, and hopefully people will be in a spirit to try and get this done.”
Trump urged lawmakers on Thursday to support the deal with Democrats to pass the appropriations bill and a two-week extension of Homeland Security funds to allow time for negotiations.
“Republicans and Democrats in Congress have come together to get the vast majority of the Government funded until September, while at the same time providing an extension to the Department of Homeland Security (including the very important Coast Guard, which we are expanding and rebuilding like never before),” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan ‘YES’ Vote.”

Senate Works On Passage Of Government Spending Bill To Avert Longterm Government Shutdown

Senate Delays Shutdown Deal After Lindsey Graham Objects

Department of Homeland Security

Government Shutdown

Lindsey Graham

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) <a href="https://x.com/Breaking911/status/2016596630141587664">announced</a> Wednesday that Republicans intend to overhaul the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to include a mandatory photo identification requirement for federal elections. GOP leadership says the change is intended to close what they view as a significant gap in existing election integrity laws.
While the original version of the SAVE Act, which passed the House in April 2025, focused primarily on requiring documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) at the point of voter registration, Thune noted that it lacked a specific requirement for photo identification at the polling place.
&#8220;I cosponsored the SAFE Act in the past; my understanding is that they are still modifying the bill,&#8221; Thune told reporters. &#8220;It includes, right now, a requirement that you be a citizen to register to vote but it doesn’t include a requirement that to vote you be a resident. So, in other words, if you’re going to have what we call voter ID, photo ID, when somebody goes into the ballot box to vote, that’s not currently covered in the bill. So that’s being fixed and addressed, and I think the new bill that comes out will deal with that. &#8230; I’m for it; I think most of our colleagues in the Senate are.”
The SAVE Act, originally introduced by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/128/text">would amend</a> the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Its core provisions currently include:
<ul>
<li>Mandatory Proof of Citizenship: Requiring passports, birth certificates, or military records to register.</li>
<li>Roll Maintenance: Compelling states to remove non-citizens from existing voter rolls.</li>
<li>Criminal Penalties: Establishing federal charges for officials who register ineligible individuals.</li>
</ul>
The proposed amendment would establish a uniform photo ID requirement nationwide. Currently, voter ID laws vary by state, with 36 states requiring some form of identification and 14 states relying on signature matching or verbal attestation instead.
Proponents of the measure cite high public confidence in ID requirements. Recent data suggests that 80% of Americans favor photo ID laws, including 97% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 53% of Democrats. Furthermore, 77% of minority voters reportedly support such measures.
Critics, however, argue that strict ID requirements and the elimination of mail-in registration could disproportionately burden voters without easy access to government-issued documents. Despite these concerns, supporters cite a National Bureau of Economic Research study that found such laws have no statistically significant negative effect on overall voter turnout.
The bill now awaits further action in the Senate, where it is expected to face a difficult path along party lines, despite Thune’s confidence that &#8220;most&#8221; of his colleagues support the revision.

Senate Passage Of Government Spending Package In Doubt As Democrats Seek Changes To DHS Funding

Republicans Move To Mandate Photo ID In Federal Elections

The Senate could still strike a deal to avert a government shutdown, as reports indicate that Republicans are warming up to the possibility of splitting Department of Homeland Security funding from the broader spending package. As of Thursday morning, lawmakers are also considering a short-term continuing resolution to fund DHS, which would allow negotiations to proceed without triggering an immediate lapse in funding.
The House is currently out of session after passing six crucial spending bills to keep the government open last week, but the debate over DHS funding has become central to a potential shutdown. The issue was thrust into the national spotlight following the fatal Border Patrol shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Democrats are calling for restrictions on the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said “we’re getting closer” to reaching an agreement that would avert a shutdown, according to the <a href="https://x.com/DISivak/status/2016899710854836519?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington Examiner</a>.
“My hope and expectation is that if the White House and Senate Dems, they work this out, that they&#8217;ll be able to produce the votes that are necessary to get it passed,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been eager to avoid another government shutdown like last year&#8217;s, when Democrats stalled funding negotiations while pushing to extend pandemic-era Affordable Care Act subsidies, a demand that ultimately went unmet.
A White House official told The Daily Wire on background Thursday that “President Trump has been consistent – he wants the government to remain open, and the Administration has been working with both parties to ensure the American people don’t have to endure another shutdown.”
“A shutdown would risk disaster response funding and more vital resources for the American people,” the statement continued.
As of Thursday morning, details of a potential continuing resolution remain scarce, and even if an agreement is reached, a broader fight is likely to erupt in Congress over what conditions, if any, should be attached to DHS funding. The debate would give lawmakers in both parties an opportunity to advance their priorities.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) unveiled his wishlist for immigration policy reforms on Wednesday, calling for an end to masking by federal immigration officers, stopping “roving patrols,” and greater transparency of officers&#8217; identities.
“No more anonymous agents. No more secret operatives,” Schumer said, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/schumer-makes-bold-immigration-enforcement-demands-as-shutdown-odds-increase?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Schumer+Makes+Bold+Immigration+Enforcement+Demands+As+Shutdown+Odds+Increase" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> reported.
“These are common-sense reforms – ones that Americans know and expect from law enforcement,” he further added.
In the House, Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) warned Democrats on Wednesday against forcing a government shutdown, noting that the spending bills have already passed the lower chamber.
“The facts are simple. These bills were fully negotiated and sent to Democrats in both the House and Senate in the exact form they requested. That was the deal they asked for – and that was the deal they received. Do Democrats really want to shut down the government for the second time in three months? And with what result?&#8221; Cole stated.
&#8220;A partial government shutdown or continuing resolution does not achieve their objective. It actually gives Congress less authority – and resources for ICE body-worn cameras and deescalation training are lost. What this moment calls for is reason and responsibility, even if it is politically inconvenient,&#8221; he continued, noting the impact a shutdown will have on FEMA, military, and air travel, saying that &#8220;breaking a negotiated agreement is not leadership – it is abdication.&#8221;

Senators Hold Their Policy Luncheons At The Capitol

Here’s How Congress Could Avert A Shutdown Amid DHS Funding Fight

homeland security

Immigration

The partisan battle lines are being drawn as a federal government shutdown on Friday appears increasingly likely.
Democrats have said that they want the DHS funding bill separate from other spending bills, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a list of immigration-related demands on Wednesday during a press conference on Capitol Hill, including no more masking of agents, no “roving patrols,” and more accountability measures like body cameras and clearer identification of authorities.
“No more anonymous agents. No more secret operatives,” he said, claiming that Democrats are “united” behind the proposals.
“These are common-sense reforms – ones that Americans know and expect from law enforcement,” Schumer continued.
“Let me be clear: Democrats stand ready today to pass the five bipartisan bills in the Senate, but the DHS bill needs serious work,” he said. Some Democrats were invited to the White House to discuss ways to avert a shutdown, but they did not take the offer up, according to <a href="https://x.com/AlexMillerFox1/status/2016614243462713633?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>.
In addition, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) has posted on X that he will not support DHS funding until key Trump adviser Stephen Miller is fired from the White House. Many Democrats and a small number of Trump-critical Republicans, such as Sens. Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Thom Tillis (NC), have publicly stated they would like to see leadership changes made following the Alex Pretti shooting in Minneapolis amid Homeland Security&#8217;s Operation Metro Surge.
As for Republicans, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) indicated that there is some GOP support for separating the DHS funding component from the other spending bills needed to keep the federal government funded, according to <a href="https://x.com/alexanderbolton/status/2016596283197194658?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hill</a>.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said a lot of the discussion about dividing up the spending bills to isolate the DHS funds is “all hypotheticals at this point. And I would reserve optionality to consider that,” <a href="https://x.com/ChadPergram/status/2016599586626760706?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a> reported.
“But I think the best path forward, as I said, is to keep the package intact [&#8230;] if the bill goes back to the House of Representatives [&#8230;] who knows what happens with it over here,” he continued. However, the lawmaker said he wants to get the six spending bills approved without the legislation needing to go back to the House, which is out of session this week anyway.
Earlier this week, Senate Republican Conference Chair Tom Cotton (R-AR) pushed back against the possibility of a “mob veto” by Democrats, as the administration warns that a lapse in funding will harm the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Much of the funding for the president’s immigration goals was already signed into law in July under the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
If the government does close, it would be the second time in just three months — and some are still recovering from the nation’s longest government shutdown, which lasted for 43 days in the fall. That shutdown revolved around Affordable Care Act subsidies — and a solution still has not been reached on that front.

US Government Shutdown Looms With Trump, Democrats At Odds

Schumer Makes Bold Immigration Enforcement Demands As Shutdown Odds Increase

It was a busy 2025 for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who took the reins from Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell in November 2024.
The Daily Wire’s Washington Bureau Chief Tim Rice spoke with the Republican leader for Thursday&#8217;s episode of “Morning Wire” and reflected on what the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term has looked like in the upper congressional chamber. Thune also looked ahead to the big debate on Capitol Hill around health insurance, as some Affordable Care Act subsidies are set to expire on Wednesday.
As the Obamacare issue looms, Thune gave some insight into what he would be looking for in a health care plan.
“What we do believe makes sense is a model that a creates for an expansion of health savings accounts and putting the money back in the pockets of people in this country, incentivizing them to buy the insurance that makes sense for them, rather than buying the insurance the government tells &#8217;em they have to buy,” Thune said.
“And so they get a better rate, lower premium and better access to coverage. And I think those are things, those are elements of healthcare policy that we think makes sense, and none of which were included in what the Democrats voted on last week or what the Democrats in the House are trying to get done over there now,” he continued.
The health care debate focuses on whether the Obamacare subsidies should continue to keep premiums down. The lengthy federal government shutdown in the fall centered around the Obamacare debate, and it could strike Washington once <a href="https://www.livenowfox.com/news/government-could-shut-down-again-january-what-we-know">again</a> if lawmakers do not pass a bill to continue funding the government after January 30. Many conservatives argue that the program was unsustainable to begin with.
Thune said that 2025 was a &#8220;very productive&#8221; year thanks to President Donald Trump&#8217;s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,&#8221; which was passed by Congress and signed into law in July.
“In fact, the president&#8217;s agenda, for the most part, was all accomplished in that &#8216;One Big, Beautiful Bill.&#8217; Whether it&#8217;s national security or the border, energy, tax policy, school choice have been a priority for the movement for a long time, newborn accounts, childcare,” Thune said, also noting the farm bill and “the biggest spending reduction literally in history.”
However, he noted that being able to get the bill passed and to the president’s desk in July “was a Herculean task.”
“If you&#8217;d spread that out, you know, these things over a long period of time, like we would normally do, then it would look like a lot of stuff,&#8221; Thune continued. He also highlighted different Trump administration nominees making their way through the chamber, as well as cutting red tape, especially on energy.
“So it&#8217;s been busy, just in terms of volume of votes and time, and then in session and all that too. But I think also, I would argue very productive. But doing it all in one big, a lot of that one big package, then it gets the peanut gallery going, like, &#8216;Why aren&#8217;t you guys doing anything this week?&#8217;” the Republican said.
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The majority leader also addressed national security concerns, as well as threats abroad, like the recent antisemitic terrorist attack in Bondi Beach, Australia.
“His investment in securing the border, working with us, his investment in America&#8217;s national security and projecting a policy of peace through strength around the world are all things that contribute to keeping people in this country safe,” the Republican said regarding Trump’s agenda on public safety.
“But when you see things like what happened in Australia, or even things that some of these horrible incidents here in the United States, they&#8217;re really tragic,” he said.
“I think that the best thing we can do is try to put in place the things that our law enforcement needs, that our military needs to deter bad behavior. And then, of course, obviously, when it happens make sure that people are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And I think the president&#8217;s focus on law enforcement and on security is in a clear-eyed way, focused on that,” the majority leader later continued.

Thune Previews Major Hurdle To Start 2026 After Momentous First Year As Majority Leader

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