WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Tuesday voted to bring up the Save America Act to overhaul election laws across the country in what is expected to be a highly contentious debate on the floor.
The vote was 51-48, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, joined the United Democrats in opposition. Sen. Thom Tillis, RN.C., did not vote.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., called for an “extensive debate” on legislation labeled President Donald Trump’s “No. 1 priority.” Promised. But it has no viable path to passage in the Senate.
The legislation requires Americans to show proof of citizenship — passports or birth certificates — in person to vote. Voters are required to show photo identification to cast ballots, including by mail. And it authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to flag suspected noncitizens to states for disqualification from voter rolls.
Because the House sent it a “message,” the Senate can begin debate with a simple-majority vote. The debate could go on for days, nights and even weekends, according to Republican leadership aides.
But the bill is subject to a 60-vote threshold to end debate and pass, and Democrats have made clear they will block it. Thune said Republicans don’t have the votes to sustain a “talking filibuster” or trigger a “nuclear option” to change Senate rules and eliminate the 60-vote hurdle.
“This is a blatant attempt to rig our elections,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DNY, told reporters. “We’re ready to be here all day and night to make sure voter suppression doesn’t win the day.”
“Senate Democrats will never let this rotten bill move through this body,” Schumer said before the vote.
Republican leaders have focused on one of the most popular provisions in the bill: the requirement to show a photo ID to vote.
“Everything you do in your daily life involves showing an ID — whether it’s opening a bank account, getting a hotel room, picking up prescription drugs,” Thune told reporters. “You need a card, in many cases, to get into a library. I mean, these are basic, fundamental aspects of our daily lives. We certainly should be able to apply them to something as important as voting in this country.”
Asked if he was open to negotiating a slimmed-down photo ID bill with Republicans, Schumer replied: “Look, I’m not going to speculate on the details. You know what our objection is — our objection as Democrats is not to photo ID. You should vote to object to it clearly and correctly and easily. The voter suppression bill.”
Trump has called for some revisions to the House-passed version of the bill now being debated by the Senate, including largely banning voting by mail and adding unrelated bans on transgender athletes and gender-affirmation surgery for minors.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., announced Tuesday that he would introduce amendments to align the bill with Trump’s priorities. But those amendments need 60 votes to advance, leaving them — and the rest of the bill — without a plausible end game.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Conn., opened floor debate Tuesday by criticizing Democratic resistance.
“No one will join us on the other side,” he said.
Hours before opening Senate debate, Senate sponsor of the Save America Act, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, challenged the primary to Republicans who oppose pursuing a “talking filibuster” to try to push through Democratic opposition.
“If your senators don’t support using the spoken filibuster to pass the Save America Act, you may need to replace them,” Lee said at X.
When NBC News asked Lee for a response, Thune warned that such tactics could endanger the Republican majority.
“I want to have our fights with Democrats,” Thune said, arguing that GOP conference members should be able to disagree on some issues given the circumstances of their states. “We may not agree on everything, but I’m more in favor of making sure we have these seats in the United States Senate than the Republicans handing them to the Democrats.”
