For months, conservatives have heard the same message: Wait. Wait for a miracle vote count. Wait for a loophole in Senate rules. Wait for Democrats to suddenly develop a conscience on election integrity. Okay, no one expects that to happen. But one thing that can’t be denied is that we’ve been told there was a path to passing the SAVE America Act, yet we’ve been repeatedly disappointed because nothing has changed. We are no closer today to passing the SAVE America Act than we were six months ago.
The SAVE America Act would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and a valid ID to actually vote, along with other election reform provisions. Republicans have tried repeatedly to pass it, only to watch a Democrat filibuster kill it in the Senate every time. Trump has called it his top legislative priority this year, yet Senate Republicans can’t figure out how to get it done.
Now Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) says there may finally be a workable path forward, and it runs through budget reconciliation. Thune laid it out in an interview with the New York Post, tracing the momentum back to what Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) reportedly told Trump before he died.
"We're all set for the SAVE America Act," Trump said Graham told him during their last phone call, recounting the exchange on Meet the Press Sunday. Trump didn't specify what exactly Graham meant by that.
Thune has a theory.
"Perhaps what Lindsey was talking to the president about — I don't know this for a fact — [was] whether or not there was an option for reconciliation, and there is a way in which I think you could [do that]," Thune said. Graham's involvement in what House Republicans call "Reconciliation 3.0" is a big reason the bill has new life at all.
Reconciliation lets legislation pass the Senate with a simple majority instead of clearing the 60-vote filibuster threshold. There’s a catch, though: it only applies to budgetary matters, not general policy. Because of this, many have doubted that reconciliation is a viable means to get the SAVE America Act through the Senate. Republicans are already planning a separate reconciliation bill this year for defense spending, proof that the process remains active regardless of the SAVE America Act's fate.
We’ve been down this road before. So what’s different this time?
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"It's got to be principally budgetary, not policy-oriented," Thune said, describing the standard the Senate Parliamentarian applies. "And if the budgetary impact is incidental to the policy impact, then you know it's usually ruled a violation." He added, "I'm not denying there's some level of subjectivity."
That subjectivity is where the opening lies. "Figuring out a way to incentivize states to pass or to implement photo ID in their states through financial incentives is something that's been talked about as a possible reconciliation option," Thune said. "How you design or structure it matters a lot." The plan would use funds to push states toward voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements rather than a binding federal mandate.
Even if such a plan were to succeed, a financial-incentive approach falls short of a comprehensive law, and with midterms approaching, states may not have time to overhaul election practices even if incentives are implemented immediately. On Wednesday, the House Budget Committee released a budget resolution for the measure, the step needed to unlock reconciliation once lawmakers adopt it. The blueprint totals $95 billion: $60 billion for defense, $13 billion for intelligence, $12 billion in farm aid, and $10 billion in grants to advance SAVE America Act provisions.
A fiscal incentive would be real progress over the current stalemate. It still isn't the finish line. The SAVE America Act still needs full passage as standalone legislation to become permanent law in every state, and there's no guarantee that a future Congress will ever revisit it if this one doesn't finish the job. Something may be better than nothing in the short term, but make no mistake, this is bigger than any one bill. I’m sick of the excuses.
If Republicans won't do it for the country, do it for Lindsey Graham.
