Former Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC), who previously had a controversial tenure as governor of South Carolina and challenged President Donald Trump for the 2020 presidential nomination, announced his comeback congressional bid on Tuesday.
Sanford continues to face political pushback over his June 2009 decision to leave the state for roughly a week to see his mistress in Argentina, which he lied about and instead said that he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. He did successfully return to Congress from 2013 to 2019, but lost the 2018 primary to Republican Katie Arrington.
“I’m running for Congress because I believe our country is at a tipping point,” he said, saying if the national debt is “left unaddressed, that debt will crush our economy.”
“If you believe as I do, I’m asking you join us in this fight,” he added.
He most recently made major headlines with unverified accusations that he had a relationship with journalist Olivia Nuzzi while she was covering his 2020 presidential bid, as she later left Vanity Fair as a result of that and possible improper ties with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The seat is currently held by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who is running for governor of South Carolina in a crowded Republican primary. The congressional district is rated “Solid Republican” by the <a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cook Political Report</a>.
Although it was known that he would enter the race since late last month, his announcement triggered some negative reactions on X.
“Appalachian Trail is a thing because of you,” conservative commentator <a href="https://x.com/DLoesch/status/2044258447898665377?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dana Loesch</a> wrote.
“Launching today of all days?” CBS News Political Correspondent <a href="https://x.com/CHueyBurns/status/2044250334025941094?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caitlin Huey-Burns</a> tweeted, presumably a nod to Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-CA) resignation on Tuesday over multiple sexual misconduct allegations, including two individuals accusing the Democrat of sexual assault. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) also resigned on Tuesday following an affair scandal involving a female staffer who later ended up committing suicide.
However, some individuals on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reel/949018910832865/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a> were more complimentary.
“People look at the bad mistakes made not what the Governor has done for the state. This man can cut a budget in half. He will always always have my vote and I will always always have Marks back. Vote for the future people not the past,” one user wrote.
“If I still lived SC I would certainly vote for you. I lived in SC when you were Governor and thought you did an absolutely wonderful job,” another individual posted.
His decision to challenge Trump in 2020, although he suspended his campaign before any primaries, centered around the national debt.
“I’m suspending my race for the Presidency because impeachment has made my goal of making the debt, deficit, and spending issue a part of this presidential debate impossible right now,” Sanford stated at the time, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/mark-sanford-ends-longshot-republican-presidential-campaign-n1080791#:~:text=Mark%20Sanford%20ends%20long%2Dshot%20Republican%20presidential%20campaign" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News</a>.
The primary is on June 9.

Republican Mark Sanford Announces Run Against Trump, Gets Grilled About Past Scandal

A Well-Known Republican Is Making A Comeback And His Past Is Part Of The Story

Congress

House of Representatives

Mark Sanford

Republicans

South Carolina

A law that became the subject of scrutiny following surveillance on 2016 Trump campaign aide Carter Page is up for renewal with an April 20 deadline, and the debate is creating unusual battle lines.
The debate centers on whether reforms should be made to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Section 702, or if there should be a “clean” extension of the law. FISA allows for the federal government to gather foreign intelligence, but some critics have warned that it opens the door for Americans to be spied on in the process.
President Donald Trump is asking for a “clean 18-month” extension of the law, saying that it is an “effective tool to keep Americans safe” when “used properly.” He noted that “whether you like FISA or not, it is extremely important to our Military,” noting it could be useful during the ongoing military operation in Iran.
“HOWEVER, the Critical and Common Sense Reforms that were made in the last Reauthorization of FISA must remain intact to protect the American People from abuses,” Trump posted to <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2036848808705814789" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Truth Social</a> on March 25.
The president said he “was a victim of the worst and most illegal abuse of FISA in our Nation’s History, by Radical Left Lunatics who lied to the FISA Court to spy on my 2016 Presidential Campaign in their attempt to RIG the Election in favor of Crooked Hillary Clinton.”
In 2024 when President Joe Biden was in office, Trump asked Congress to “KILL FISA” in a <a href="https://reason.com/2026/03/27/trump-backs-section-702-reauthorization-after-once-calling-to-kill-fisa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Truth Social</a> post, saying “IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS.” The FBI ended up issuing an apology in 2020 for how it pursued FISA warrants against Page over alleged Russian connections, as he was never prosecuted.
The House has been in recess, but returns to work this week, when Speaker Mike Johnson plans to raise the renewal.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has said that she wants the SAVE America Act, an election security bill, to be tacked onto the FISA vote, which was a point of contention between her and Johnson, according to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/27/mike-johnson-house-intelligence-fisa-extension-luna-fight" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Axios</a>. Even though the SAVE America Act has passed the House, it has struggled to gain the momentum necessary to pass in the Senate.
Meanwhile, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has declared “warrants or bust” in order to get her vote on the legislation, as she wants more barriers in place to review American communications gathered under FISA, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/18/house-section-702-vote-00835291?nid=00000197-a74d-da70-a9ff-a75da4350000&amp;nname=inside-congress&amp;nrid=0000015a-ce98-daa2-a1fa-fefa0dc30000" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Politico</a>.
Some congressional Democrats have joined in on the calls for reforms, but their concerns relate to weaponization by the Trump administration.
“Any attempt to push forward a ‘clean’ reauthorization of Section 702 will put our private, sensitive data at risk,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said in a March 19 <a href="https://jayapal.house.gov/2026/03/19/jayapal-statement-on-upcoming-fisa-reauthorization/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.
“This Trump administration has been particularly brazen in its use of domestic surveillance to suppress our Constitutional rights and dissent,” she added.
However, some Democrats, like Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), have faced left-wing backlash for their decision to support a FISA renewal.
“It is our most important intelligence collection tool … every day it stops terrorist attacks somewhere in the world,” Himes said, according to <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2026-03-31/protesters-call-on-rep-jim-himes-to-withdraw-support-for-a-federal-surveillance-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Connecticut Public Radio</a> on March 31.
Matthew R.A. Heiman, Chairman of the Cyber &amp; Privacy Working Group of the Regulatory Transparency Project, told The Daily Wire that “to the extent that [FISA] picks up Americans communications, it’s incidental.&#8221;
“Members of both sides, multiple boards and committees, have looked at this tool now for almost 20 years that it has been used, and they consistently find that the tool is really effective in terms of delivering important intelligence, and the misuses of the tool have been largely accidental,” Heiman said.
“And so it&#8217;s not a tool that&#8217;s been heavily abused, or there&#8217;s been malicious intent when there&#8217;s a mistake made,” he said.
“I think the Americans should support renewal of this tool, because it&#8217;s really important for all of our safety,” he continued.

Carter Page

Republicans Set For Major Showdown On Law That Haunted Trump’s First Admin

Anna Paulina Luna

FISA

Lauren Boebert

Bipartisan Lawmakers Launch The Dignity Coalition In Support Of DIGNIDAD

I Dug Into Plan To Let Millions Of Illegals Stay And It’s Even Worse Than I Thought

This Republican Sponsored Amnesty Bill Is So Much Worse Than I Thought

amnesty

Democrats

Florida

illegal immigrants

Immigration

Matt Walsh

Opinion

An immigration reform proposal from Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) triggered a social media eruption this week, as many Republicans are pushing back against the proposal they view as too soft on the issue.
The &#8220;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4393" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DIGNIDAD Act</a>,&#8221; which is co-sponsored by 39 Republicans and Democrats, would provide legal status without a way to get citizenship for those in the country illegally before 2021 for a renewable seven-year period for individuals who are working, offer “<a href="https://salazar.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/salazar.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/the-dignity-act-2025.pdf">protection</a>” for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and codifies certain elements of border security law.
The bill was introduced in July 2025, with little movement in Congress since then, according to the congressional website. However, Salazar and other lawmakers are doing a “Dignity Tour” to make the case for the legislation, she <a href="https://salazar.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-maria-elvira-salazar-joins-bipartisan-leaders-launch-national-dignity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> last month.
Salazar has said that the legislation is not a form of amnesty, whereas other members of her caucus have argued otherwise.
“The DIGNITY Act removes ALL criminal illegal aliens and recent arrivals, and it shuts down future illegal immigration once and for all,” <a href="https://x.com/RepMariaSalazar/status/2041688739101946254?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Salazar</a> posted to X on Tuesday, arguing that there would be economic issues created by mass deportations of “long-time, contributing immigrants.”
“But here’s the truth: most Americans do NOT support deporting every long-term immigrant who has spent years working here, contributing to our economy, who have American kids and are part of our communities,” she added.
The thread posted by the Florida lawmaker was in response to comments from Rep. <a href="https://x.com/RepBrandonGill/status/2041649435587866911?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brandon Gill</a>, who said that the proposal is “rank amnesty and everybody knows it.”
“I want dignity for Americans — the people whose interests we represent — not illegal aliens. That means doing what we said we’d do: mass deportations,” he added. The various posts from Gill, Salazar, and others have gone viral, leading to a major discourse on X over the policies outlined in the bill.
He told The Daily Wire’s &#8220;<a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire/status/2041987678481117459?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wired In Live</a>&#8221; that the proposal “effectively stops the president from carrying out his deportation agenda,” adding that it is “a massive betrayal of everything Republicans ran on last election cycle.&#8221;
Republicans heavily campaigned on immigration and border security in the last election, with President Donald Trump’s campaign even touting signs with the slogan “Mass Deportation Now.”
Another clip of Salazar resurfaced on social media this week from a July 2025 interview with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKWBQ5kIvVQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WPLG Local 10 News</a>.
&#8220;At some point in the future, another legislator will write another law to give them a path to citizenship. Right now, what we need to do is buy peace for these people, allow them to stay,” she said in the interview.
Salazar’s South Florida district has a high immigrant population, and she and many <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4393/cosponsors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">other backers</a> of the bill represent swing districts, according to the <a href="https://www.cookpolitical.com/ratings/house-race-ratings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cook Political Report</a>.
Thirteen percent of likely voters said that immigration is the main issue facing the United States, as of March, according to an Emerson College <a href="https://emersoncollegepolling.com/march-2026-national-poll-47-oppose-us-military-action-in-iran-40-support/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> of likely voters. As one of the highest rated issues behind the economy and “threats to democracy” in the survey, it will likely be a key point of contention on the campaign trail.

Maria Salazar

Push For Immigration Reform Forces Reckoning Among Republicans As Midterms Approach

around the table

Meet The Billionaires Who Are Secretly Sabotaging The Country

Billionaire

Chicago

Greg Abbott

Leftists

Rahm Emanuel

Texas

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-DEMONSTRATION

The ‘No Kings’ Protests Released New Levels Of Absurd

China

Democratic Socialism

Donald Trump

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Minneapolis

New York City

You know, I’m old enough to remember a kinder, gentler America, with safe suburban streets of well-kept houses where a kid could go out on his bike after school and not return until sunset around six years later after which he would just sit silently in a corner of the house staring into the middle distance and occasionally pulling the legs off a spider or a mouse or maybe his kid sister while dreaming of the day he’d be free to hunt and kill at will… or maybe that was just me.
But in any case, today’s America is so hostile and so divided, that I just wish we could find a way to build bridges of communication and even friendship between conservatives and the flaming dirtbags trying to destroy everything that good people hold dear.
It’s not that all progressives are sinister Communist authoritarian perverts looking to bring the nation to its knees by allying themselves with Islamist terrorists and illegal immigrant gangsters in order to reduce our civilization to ashes then seize power in the ensuing chaos so they can enchain us in yet another of their drab utopias where everyone is equally miserable except for the small cadre of bitter lowlifes who derive some small pleasure from imposing their own unhappiness on everyone else — well, okay it is that, but it’s also the smug look on the faces of these schmucks that just makes you want to squeeze their noses between the knuckles of your first two fingers and twist them like Moe used to do to Curly on “The Three Stooges,” except not playing around this time.
But as Christians, we have to remember that Jesus told us to love our enemies and, sure, a lot of good that did him, but still, it’s up to us to try to understand those of our fellow citizens whose deeply-held principles lead them to oppose anything that even smells remotely like common decency.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1272-the-andrew-klavan-show?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974735 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
For instance, take Ilhan Omar. Here’s a woman who escaped the violence of civil war in the primitive hellhole called Somalia, an African word that means “please get me out of this primitive hellhole.” By the grace of a loving God who clearly just wasn’t paying attention that day, Omar’s family was granted asylum here in the United States, where she then rose to become a congresswoman in the corruption-riddled filth-pit of Minnesota, an Indian word that means, “Please get me out of this corruption-riddled filth-pit.”
Surely, such a woman must feel deep gratitude to a country so welcoming and generous and self-destructive.
And yet the other day, Congresswoman Omar said she was “incredibly proud” of her daughter Isra for traveling with other assorted snot-faced idiots to the Communist cesspool called Cuba, a Spanish word meaning, “Please get me out of this Communist cesspool.” The luxurious Cuban junket was intended, Omar said, to show solidarity with Cuba against the United States because the U.S. is cruelly attempting to free the Cubans from Communist cess-poolery. Omar went on to call her daughter a “brilliant young leader,” presumably referring to Isra’s arrest for demonstrating at Columbia University in support of the Iranian-funded rapist-murderers called Hamas, and also to the t-shirt Isra wore to Cuba celebrating the George Floyd-inspired burning of Minneapolis, an Indian word that means, “Please get me out of Minneapolis.”
So, in an attempt to build bridges of friendship with the congresswoman, I wrote her a polite email, saying, “Dear Communist terrorist witch-demon, shouldn’t you show more gratitude to the country that rescued you from a hellhole and elected you to Congress in a filth-pit?”
To give credit where credit is due, Congresswoman Omar did reply promptly, writing, “Your Islamophobia is not who we are as Americans. Who we are as Americans are people who allow a Somalian grifter to play us for suckers while she’s simultaneously plotting to crush us under the iron heel of Islamist Communism. That’s who we are as Americans, if by ‘we’ I mean you.”
So there it is, my friends, we really can learn to communicate with those on the other side of the political aisle. Just remember to wear a steel-tipped boot and aim for the ass.
* * *
This excerpt is taken from the opening satirical monologue of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>.”
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. Klavan is the bestselling author of numerous books, including the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fifth installment, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/After-That-Cameron-Winter-Mysteries/dp/1613166869/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3EGZUC370LG46&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Y_NI0mDOKeowShheDQTVx5NH-fAeimJoCD56_T0Acpl8C0mup7uJf-nGGSRLEItaaekoDnvS2vWLMa4Zd2UBXQ8Y-g-P502jOWz-Y8IX3ZQsdlO7WMLrg1xIhNoKmjCorSWUR4C2l_RbiZ7apJ1MfPzGOrrEf7AdAXX6xwnJRVP_XqUfWuMuVthTWscaU3P4vgmS86-96n-721enHfX12CFQWTajqFbVnrsDkexfUf4.6_gTH6h1Bb9Pn375QdF_VAVZSayDvjQBBKGXE-MTiFo&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=klavan&amp;qid=1754049918&amp;sprefix=%2Caps%2C80&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">After That, The Dark,</a> is NOW AVAILABLE. Follow him on X: <a href="https://x.com/andrewklavan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@andrewklavan</a>.
The views expressed in this satirical piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

President Trump Delivers The State Of The Union Address

Yes, We Can Learn To Communicate Across The Political Aisle. Here’s How.

Andrew Klavan

Cuba

Humor

Ilhan Omar

Satire

After weeks of airport meltdowns and unpaid security agents, the Senate finally blinked.
In a late-night vote that stretched into the early hours of Friday morning, lawmakers passed a funding bill to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security, a move aimed squarely at ending the travel nightmare and getting TSA agents paid again.
The deal comes after a brutal 42-day partial shutdown that left travelers stuck in massive lines, airports understaffed, and TSA officers working without pay. Some quit. Others called out. The result was exactly what you would expect. Chaos.
Now, relief may be on the way.
The bill funds most DHS operations and is expected to restore pay for TSA workers, easing pressure on airports that have been pushed to the brink.
The deal on the table still needs to clear the House before heading to President Donald Trump’s desk, but momentum is clearly there after the overnight breakthrough.
There is a catch.
The legislation leaves out funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and parts of Border Patrol, setting up the next fight in Washington. That battle is not going away. It is just been delayed.
Democrats were quick to claim they “held the line” on immigration provisions. Republicans, meanwhile, moved to act as airport conditions deteriorated and the need to get TSA agents paid grew more urgent.
In a Truth Social post just hours earlier, Trump mocked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer,” saying Democrats had made it clear they stand “on the side of criminal illegal aliens, and not the American people,” while accusing them of refusing to fund immigration enforcement unless Republicans agreed to “Open Border Policies.”
In that same post, Trump signaled he was ready to step in to make sure TSA agents could receive paychecks again and provide for their families, with or without Congress, raising the stakes on lawmakers to get something done.
They finally did. At 2 a.m.

Empty_Congress_Money_TSA

Senate Strikes Overnight Deal To Pay TSA Agents In Bid To End Airport Chaos

Airports

President Trump

President Donald Trump urged Republicans to abolish the filibuster and push through his top legislative priorities, suggesting that GOP senators have been too patient as Democrats block legislation.
Trump took to Truth Social early Thursday morning and <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116295094711655881">asked</a>, &#8220;When is &#8216;enough, enough&#8217; for our Republican Senators[?]&#8221;
&#8220;There comes a time when you must do what should have been done a long time ago, and something which the Lunatic Democrats will do on day one, if they ever get the chance. TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, and get our airports, and everything else, moving again,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;Also, add the complete, all five items, SAVE AMERICA ACT items. Go for the Gold!!!&#8221;
The GOP-led Senate remains deadlocked in a fight over funding for the Department of Homeland Security and the passage of the SAVE America Act, which Trump has said is the most important legislation before Congress. Democrats have remained mostly united in their demands for any Homeland Security funding bill to include reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and every Democratic senator has come out in opposition to the SAVE America Act.
With 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster, the Democratic unity has derailed Republicans&#8217; recent efforts to pass the SAVE America Act and to approve a spending bill that would get the Homeland Security Department back on track.
As the latest Senate fight plays out, Trump is once again urging Republicans to abolish the filibuster. The president also recently endorsed a proposal from some conservative senators to impose a talking filibuster, which would force Democrats to speak nonstop on the Senate floor to block a vote.
So far, Republican leadership has pushed back against calls to change Senate rules to either eliminate the filibuster or adopt a talking filibuster. A large group of Republicans argues that touching the filibuster in any way would come back to bite the party in the long run, as Democrats would cram through their leftist agenda the next time they took control of the upper chamber.
Other Republicans, including Trump, argue that Republicans should abolish the filibuster to pass important legislation now while they control the White House and both chambers of Congress, claiming that Democrats would push to get rid of the filibuster whenever they resume control.
Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116295216341236902">suggested</a> on Thursday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), whom he called &#8220;a desperate, crippled politician,&#8221; would soon make a deal with Republicans to pass legislation &#8220;because he thinks that if he doesn’t, Republicans will TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER.&#8221;
Trump added that Republicans should ditch the filibuster &#8220;whether he makes a deal or not!!!&#8221;
Democratic lawmakers have been blasted by the White House for blocking a funding extension for the Department of Homeland Security. The DHS funding fight has led to a major strain on airports as hundreds of TSA employees have opted to quit instead of working without receiving a paycheck.

Trump Pushes Republicans Toward More Aggressive Play Up Their Sleeve In Senate Fight

Department of Homeland Security

Filibuster

SAVE America Act

When I arrived in the United States Senate in 2011, the Republican Leader would often paraphrase George Washington who referred to the Senate as the saucer beneath a cup of tea. Just like a saucer cools the tea, the “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body” was uniquely designed to cool the political passions of the time.
From the viewpoint of a limited government conservative, slowing down the passage of legislation that generally tends to grow government and reduce our freedom, the saucer analogy seemed very appealing. But now that I’ve served within this highly partisan and dysfunctional body for 15 years, I would say a better analogy is the Senate is more like the plaque clogging an artery leading to a heart attack.
There are two basic forms of debate in the Senate: speechmaking and the offering of legislation, motions and amendments for a vote. Senators love engaging in the former, but only the latter results in law. Once debate on a particular bill ends, passage requires only a simple majority, currently 51 votes. That has never changed. What has changed is the method for ending debate and “calling the question” or voting on final passage.
Prior to 1917, when Senate Rule 22 was passed establishing the cloture vote, there was no formal way of ending debate — a filibuster — in the Senate. Because unlimited debate was the tradition of the Senate, cloture was invoked only five times in the first approximately 50 years of its existence. That’s because the cloture vote was intended to end a debate that two-thirds (now three-fifths) of senators believed had gone on too long. For example, a cloture vote succeeded in ending debate on the Civil Rights Act but only after a 57-day filibuster — 57 days of debate. It was never intended to prevent all debate, however, that is exactly how it is now being used.
Rather than requiring a simple majority to get on a bill and start debate, now a supermajority of 60 votes is routinely required. This is a huge difference. Ideally, a bill addressing an important issue would be put on the floor and then further honed through a process of discussion and the adoption of amendments. Prior to 1917, as long as any Senator wanted to keep talking or offering motions and amendments (engaged in a filibuster), the question was not called.
Eventually, exhaustion set in and the Senate moved to vote on final passage — with a simple majority required for passage. This was how a deliberative body actually lived up to its name.
Now, instead of reserving the cloture vote for the very end of an extended filibuster as a last resort measure to end debate and vote on passage, the minority uses it at the very start of the process to prevent even getting on a bill, thereby blocking all debate. The resulting record of failure speaks for itself.
Total federal government debt is approaching $39 trillion. Since I entered Congress in 2011, we should have passed 180 appropriations bills prior to the start of the fiscal year they were funding. We have passed a whopping total of six on time. That’s a 96.7% failure rate. Because of that dysfunction, we have had five shutdowns, had to rely on 57 continuing resolutions to fund government on an interim basis, and increased or suspended the debt ceiling 12 times to allow the government to incur an additional $24 trillion in debt. We had a record 42-day shutdown at the start of this fiscal year, and now Democrats are holding TSA and other DHS employees hostage over their quest to defund ICE and CBP.
Both sides want to maintain the 60-vote cloture threshold to block each other’s legislative agenda when they are in the minority. But after Democrats fell only two votes short of ending the filibuster in 2022, the odds are extremely high that they will end it as soon as they regain the majority and it’s advantageous for them to do so. The Republican conference is divided between those of us who believe Democrats will end the filibuster and are therefore willing to beat them to the punch, and those who think we should risk waiting, hoping Democrats will preserve the filibuster. There are good faith arguments supporting both positions.
In light of the profound dysfunction described above, I’m not sure how things could get much worse by ending the filibuster. The status quo certainly isn’t working. I think it’s obvious things must change — we need a paradigm shift.
If the filibuster does end, we all might be surprised to find senators attempting to find common ground on more issues to help ensure bills pass with bipartisan support, thereby reducing the chance of being overturned when the other side regains power. At this point, I’m willing to make that change.
* * *
Sen. Ron Johnson represents Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate and is serving his third term. He serves as Chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and is a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Budget, Finance, and Aging committees.

Trump Funding Deal Passes Senate As Short US Shutdown Looms

I’ve Seen Enough: The Senate Is Broken, And It’s Time To Change The Rules

Ron Johnson

U.S. Senate

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan on Wednesday that President Donald Trump is urging Republican and Democratic lawmakers to move at &#8220;Trump speed&#8221; and send the SAVE America Act to his desk.
Leavitt&#8217;s comment was in response to Olohan&#8217;s question during a press briefing on whether the White House has been satisfied with the effort from Republican leadership to pass the SAVE America Act.
&#8220;I think the president has made it very clear that he wants everyone on Capitol Hill to move as quickly as possible to get the SAVE America Act passed,&#8221; Leavitt said. &#8220;And he wants to see that legislation on his desk as soon as Republicans and Democrats can move to pass it.&#8221;
Olohan pressed, &#8220;But are there any lawmakers in Congress that the president is frustrated with on this matter and feels could be doing a better job?&#8221;
&#8220;I think the president wants to see everybody on Capitol Hill move faster all the time,&#8221; Leavitt replied. &#8220;He wants everyone in this town to work at Trump speed like we do here at the White House.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨<a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> tells <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MaryMargOlohan</a> that President Trump wants everyone on Capitol Hill to move &#8220;as quickly as possible&#8221; to pass the SAVE America Act:
&#8220;He wants everyone in this town to work at &#8216;Trump Speed&#8217; like we do here at the White House.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/c747W2wtiM">pic.twitter.com/c747W2wtiM</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/2036868027912724840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The legislation, which passed the House last month, has been caught up in the Senate as Democrats remain united in their opposition to the bill, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, mandate voter ID, and impose restrictions on mail-in voting. On Tuesday night, the SAVE America Act <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-save-america-act-just-cleared-a-huge-legislative-hurdle-despite-full-dem-opposition?author=Cameron+Arcand&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump%E2%80%99s+SAVE+America+Act+Just+Cleared+A+Huge+Legislative+Hurdle+Despite+Full+Dem+Opposition">cleared</a> a legislative hurdle and advanced to debate, but the 60-vote filibuster threshold remains in the way of the bill&#8217;s final passage.
Earlier this month, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/be-a-leader-trump-challenges-john-thune-as-save-america-act-faces-uncertainty?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98Be+A+Leader%E2%80%99%3A+Trump+Challenges+John+Thune+As+Save+America+Act+Faces+Uncertainty">called</a> on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to &#8220;be a leader&#8221; and &#8220;get [the votes].”
“It’s the most popular bill put before Congress,” Trump added.
Democrats appear unwilling to compromise on their opposition to the SAVE America Act as it currently stands, and at least one Republican senator — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — has come out against the bill. Around half of Republican senators have said they would support a talking filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, which would force Democrats to speak nonstop on the Senate floor if they want to block a vote.
A large group of Republican senators, however, oppose changing filibuster rules to use the talking filibuster, and Thune argues that the move would be &#8220;complicated and risky&#8221; as 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.
President Trump has said that he will not sign any legislation until the SAVE America Act is sent to his desk, adding on Sunday night that he does not want Republicans to make a deal with Democrats to fund the Department of Homeland Security unless Democrats &#8220;Vote with Republicans to pass ‘THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.'&#8221;

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Karoline Leavitt

Senate

Democrats would never win another majority in Congress if Americans knew where they stood on the issues. The Democratic Party supports and promotes positions opposite the views held by a large majority of Americans.
Democrats are against any form of verifiable voter identification or common-sense changes to promote honest elections. They promote gender surgeries on children, boys in girls’ bathrooms, and men in women’s sports. They support abortion until the day of birth. They celebrate aberrant lifestyles with parades and Pride Month. They are soft on crime and oppose adequate policing for safe communities. They support open borders and promote amnesty, citizenship, voting rights, and welfare benefits for illegal immigrants. They oppose school choice and support government-run healthcare. They support bigger government and higher taxes. And few Americans know that Democrats are the party of slavery, segregation, the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow laws, and they led the longest filibuster in Senate history to block the Civil Rights Act.
How do Democrats continue to get elected? Americans don’t know the truth because no one tells them the truth.
The most important part of any political campaign is to drive up the negatives of your opponent. The second most important part is to drive up your own positives. Republicans are counseled by their pollsters to campaign on issues voters agree with, so they run all around their districts and states criticizing their opponent and talking about border control, safe communities, voter identification, and the like. The problem is they rarely associate the wrong side of these issues with their real opponent — the Democratic Party.
Elections are between Republicans and Democrats. Over 95% of the voting decisions for the 2026 midterms have already been made based on perceptions of the two political parties. Even independents will vote based on whether they want Republicans or Democrats in power. Candidates and issues are secondary — they may change the perception of the parties, but the final decisions will be based on voter preferences for one of the two political parties. Trump changed the perception of both parties among some Black Americans when he challenged them with “what have you got to lose?” This question was a permission slip for a few Black voters to change their vote from Democrat to Republican. 
“Brand” is an odd term to use in politics, but it is the most important aspect of any election. There are only two relevant brands on the ballot: Republican and Democrat. For decades, Democrats have been denigrating the Republican brand with cries of racism, hate, bigotry, opposition to Social Security and Medicare, and support for the rich and big corporations. They’ve done a good job. Voters often agree with Republicans on almost every issue but still vote Democrat because they have been convinced Republicans are essentially evil.
Republicans and Republican-aligned organizations and media have been … well … stupid. You’ll hear them blame the Biden border, woke corporations, biased media, DEI hiring, Somali fraud, the Schumer shutdown, liberal politicians, and, far, far too often, they blame the Left. None of these will be on the ballot in November. Just listen to Republican leaders or any Republican aligned media, and you’ll likely hear them blame just about everything on the Left. They might as well blame everything on the boogeyman.
Trump’s recent State of the Union address should give all Republicans and Republican-aligned organizations a tutorial. He understands branding better than anyone in the world. Trump used most of his speech to set up and bash “crazy” Democrats while thanking Republicans for assisting his success.
Republicans only have a few months to drive up the negatives of the Democratic Party, but they have plenty of ammunition. Just remember it’s the Democrat open border, Democrat daycare fraud, Democrat shutdown, Democrat child mutilation, and all the rest. The Republican messaging strategy should not be to convince Democratic voters they have been wrong in the past, but to convince them the Democratic Party has changed: it is now controlled by radical progressive Democrats or crazy Democrat Socialists. Republicans should always put a negative word or phrase in front of Democrats to remind voters the Democratic party has left them — because it has.
* * *
Jim DeMint is a former Senator from South Carolina and a best-selling author. His latest book is &#8220;What the Bible Really Says about Creation, End Times, Politics and You.”
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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