For the first time, the SAVE America Act reached 50 votes in the Senate. That's huge, but it still wasn't enough. During a late-night vote-a-rama tied to a $70 billion GOP immigration enforcement package, Republicans made two separate runs at attaching the SAVE America Act as an amendment. The bill, which requires proof of U.S. citizenship to register for federal elections, has been a top priority for President Donald Trump and a source of frustration for conservatives who believe the filibuster has turned the Senate into a legislative graveyard.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) took the first shot with a modified version of the bill that included additions Trump had demanded, among them a provision barring men from women's sports. Four Republicans killed it before it could even reach 50 votes: Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).
The usual suspects.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) came back with the original House-passed version, and this time Collins switched her vote to yes.
Fifty votes. A milestone. Still blocked by the filibuster.
Lee and others have pushed Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to deploy a talking filibuster, which would drop the threshold to a simple majority. Thune has hesitated, worried Republicans won't hold together against a flood of Democrat amendments. Republicans staged a floor pushback in March to force a debate on the bill. That momentum has mostly evaporated.
Will having the votes to pass the SAVE America Act change things?
I'll be honest. I want to be cautiously optimistic here, but mostly I'm trying not to expect much. We've been told before that progress was happening. We've had floor moments that built energy and then faded. The filibuster is still standing, and it's still the biggest obstacle in the room.
As PJ Media readers know, I used to oppose nuking the filibuster. But the stakes are too high right now, and as much as I get the argument for preserving it, it’s clear that the argument for keeping it at this point assumes good faith on both sides, and Democrats have given us no reason to trust them.
They have told us repeatedly they'll eliminate the filibuster the moment they hold the House, Senate, and White House again. And we don’t even have to take them at their word for it because they already tried it under Biden.
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Had they succeeded, they would have passed the Freedom to Vote Act, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the For the People Act. These were a trifecta that would have mandated universal mail-in voting, accepted ballots long after Election Day, implemented automatic voter registration, enfranchised felons, and abolished the Electoral College.
If you don’t think they’ll try again, you’re deluding yourself.
If we don’t get the SAVE America Act passed, we risk Democrats getting the opportunity to create a California-style election system nationwide. A system engineered for chaos and built to keep one party in power indefinitely. If Democrats retake Congress and gut the filibuster first, Republicans will have handed them the keys to Californicate our nation’s elections.
The SAVE America Act has enormous public support. Requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections is common sense, and the filibuster is being weaponized to stop it. Republicans have no good reason to let Democrats beat them to the trigger.
So yeah, 50 votes is progress. Real progress. But progress without follow-through has become the norm lately, so it’s entirely on Senate Republicans to decide whether they have the spine to finish this. Here's hoping they do.
