By Emmanuel Bobby
Republicans are nearing an internal showdown over the SAVE Act, a top priority for President Donald Trump that would rewrite election laws nationwide and require proof of citizenship to vote.
The bill has already passed the House, but it faces a steep hurdle in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. With Republicans holding just 53 seats and Democrats united in opposition, that threshold is out of reach.
That reality has prompted some Republicans to urge Senate leaders to explore ways around the filibuster — without formally abolishing it, something they acknowledge they do not have the votes to do despite Trump’s repeated demands. Their proposed alternative: use existing Senate rules to force Democrats into a “talking filibuster,” keeping them on the floor until they wear down and allow the bill to advance with a simple majority.
“Return to Senate tradition. Require filibustering senators to (gasp) actually speak,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, the bill’s chief sponsor, wrote on X. “Using existing Senate rules. Pass the SAVE America Act.”
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has cautioned that the strategy is far from straightforward — and could paralyze the chamber.
Asked Tuesday whether the tactic could work, Thune warned it would consume massive amounts of floor time and stall other legislative priorities. Those include a housing bill, a market structure bill, potential permitting reform, a farm bill, a highway bill, and sanctions targeting Russia.
“There’s no guarantee of success,” Thune said.
While he pledged that the Senate will vote on the SAVE Act, Thune emphasized that triggering a talking filibuster comes with serious consequences.
“It ties the floor up for an indefinite amount of time,” he said, noting that unlimited debate and unlimited amendments could repeatedly reset the clock. “Those are ramifications and implications everybody needs to be aware of.”
Previous Senate majorities have considered reviving the talking filibuster and ultimately rejected it, concluding that it was unlikely to succeed and too disruptive to the chamber’s broader work.
“It’s going to take a tremendous amount of effort, work and cooperation — at the expense of other things we might be doing,” Thune added, saying he would discuss the idea with Republican senators to gauge support.
Historically, senators had to physically hold the floor to block legislation. But rule changes in the 1970s lowered the cloture threshold to 60 votes and enabled today’s “silent filibuster,” allowing the minority to halt bills without extended debate. The result is a system heavily tilted in favor of the minority party.
Democrats have made clear they intend to use that leverage to block the SAVE Act. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has denounced the bill as voter suppression, accusing Trump of trying to “nationalize” elections while promoting false claims of widespread fraud.
“The SAVE Act is an abomination,” Schumer said Tuesday. “It’s Jim Crow 2.0 across the country. We are going to do everything we can to stop it.”
The legislation would require voters to show proof of citizenship when registering and voting in federal elections. Democrats argue that non-citizen voting is already illegal and exceedingly rare, and that existing laws already require voters to attest to citizenship under penalty of criminal prosecution. They contend the bill would disenfranchise eligible U.S. citizens who lack updated documentation.
Republicans counter that voter ID requirements are a necessary safeguard against election fraud.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who briefly threatened to force a government shutdown this week unless the Senate passed the SAVE Act, said Republicans must use every procedural tool available.
“If you don’t try, I think you’re part of the problem,” she said. “MAGA is definitely alive. You’re seeing a very aggressive House — maybe not so much an aggressive Senate.”
Luna suggested attaching the SAVE Act to must-pass legislation in the future. “At a certain point, when we stick it on certain vehicles, they won’t be able to stop it forever,” she said.
Trump has been blunt in his demands, repeatedly calling on Republicans to eliminate the filibuster altogether.
“The Republicans must ‘blow up’ the filibuster,” he wrote in a recent all-caps social media post, claiming progress toward that goal. Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, he again urged lawmakers to scrap the 60-vote rule. “Get rid of the filibuster and start voting,” he said.
Many Republicans remain firmly opposed, arguing the filibuster protects conservatives when they eventually return to the minority. Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said this week that he opposes any attempt to sidestep it.
“We need to pass our conservative agenda, but not at the expense of our institutions,” Curtis said.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who is retiring at the end of the year, has gone even further, saying he would resign immediately if the Senate abolished the filibuster.
Thune has occasionally relied on procedural workarounds and new precedents to advance Republican priorities without invoking the so-called nuclear option. Democrats unsuccessfully tried to eliminate the silent filibuster in 2022, and since becoming majority leader in November 2024, Thune has repeatedly vowed to keep the legislative filibuster intact.
“With respect to the filibuster, I think we all know where the votes are,” he said this week.
Responding to Thune’s comments, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said President Trump “cares deeply about the safety and security of our elections” and is pressing Congress to pass the SAVE Act along with other proposals that would establish uniform photo ID requirements, ban no-excuse mail-in voting, and end ballot harvesting.
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