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Republicans Are Tearing Each Other Up About This Big Trump Priority

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WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump’s demand to nationalize elections and gut mail-in voting across the country ahead of the November midterm elections has become a huge political problem for Senate Republicans, who are struggling to explain to angry Trump supporters they lack the votes to get it done.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) ― facing weeks of intense pressure from conservatives to blow up the Senate’s filibuster ― made explicitly clear there’s not enough support among Senate Republicans to pass the bill without Democratic votes.

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“The votes aren’t there, one, to nuke the filibuster, and the votes aren’t there for a talking filibuster,” Thune told reporters at the Capitol. “I’m the person who has to deliver sometimes the not-so-good news that the math doesn’t add up…Those are the facts. There’s no getting around it.”

Outside of Congress, right-wing influencers have said failure to pass the bill will have near-apocalyptic consequences, despite voter fraud being a vanishingly rare problem.

“Democracy without secure elections is not democracy at all,” former White House aide Elon Musk said Monday on X.

“Most important thing in Congress is passing the SAVE Act. Period. Nothing else comes close,” Laura Ingraham said.

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“If we don’t pass the SAVE America Act, the GOP will lose the House and Senate,” former GOP congressman and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows chimed in.

Thune acknowledged the outside pressure on Tuesday.

“You have a lot of optimists out there, and I appreciate that a lot of passion and energy behind getting an outcome here, but getting an outcome would require Democrat votes,” Thune said.

Trump has only made Thune’s job more difficult. The president, who has repeatedly urged Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster, this week threatened not to sign any other bills into law until the Senate passes the SAVE Act. The sweeping legislation would require voters to prove their citizenship when they register to vote, show ID when they actually cast their ballots, and eliminate mail-in voting in all but rare instances. People who vote by mail would have to send in their ballots with a photocopied ID, and the legislation would require states to provide free photocopying services.

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Democrats have dubbed the SAVE Act “Jim Crow 2.0,” warning it would suppress voting. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) declared it dead on arrival in the Senate.

Still, a number of far-right Republicans have demanded that the Senate pass the bill by any means necessary, including by eliminating the filibuster.

“I don’t care what it takes,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said in a post online. “Do a talking filibuster or blow it up altogether. It’s time to put up or shut up and pass the SAVE America Act.”

“At least try. It’s not going to happen, unless you try,” he added in an interview with HuffPost.

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Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a lead sponsor of the bill, has argued that Republicans can pass the bill without technically changing the Senate’s rules by using the so-called “talking filibuster.” Under that scenario, which relies on the Senate’s “two-speech” rule, Republicans would force opponents of the SAVE Act to physically occupy the Senate floor and talk until they tire, after which, the Senate would proceed to a vote.

However, the “talking filibuster” has never been used to successfully pass legislation before. And there are all sorts of procedural reasons why doing so would be practically impossible. Democrats could theoretically stretch the floor debate on the SAVE Act for weeks or even months, causing a total gridlock, by raising unlimited amendments and points of order that would require new debate and new votes. Republicans would have to stay united to defeat each one, something that would be incredibly difficult with the current 53-seat GOP majority.

“We don’t have the votes either to proceed, to get on a talking filibuster, nor to sustain one if we got on it,” Thune acknowledged on Tuesday. “That’s just a function of math, and there isn’t anything I can do about that.”

Even if Republicans did have the votes to pursue the “talking filibuster,” it would likely take a long time for Democrats to stop talking. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who set the Senate record last year for the longest speech by talking for more than 25 hours straight, indicated on Tuesday he’d be ready for another talkathon.

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“Members have joked with me about getting ready just in case I need to give a very long speech – and I will be ready,” Booker told HuffPost. “I would confidently speak for more than 25 hours.”

Trump’s growing list of demands for Senate Republicans is only compounding the problem. This week, he insisted Republicans pass a ban on transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, and that they ban mail voting, which he had falsely claimed is a vector of fraud. But Republicans aren’t likely to get on board with the latter proposal, including those whose states allow vote-by-mail.

“Voting right now in Utah has been done very successfully, and my instinct is to support my state,” Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) told HuffPost.

Utah is one of eight states to mail ballots to all registered voters, and the only red state to do so. Nearly all Utah voters use it, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

Politico also reported Monday that Trump is holding off on endorsing Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in his hotly contested and expensive Senate runoff election against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as a way to pressure Senate Republicans to pass the SAVE Act. After Cornyn beat expectations in the initial round of voting last week, narrowly edging out Paxton, who was leading in the polls, Trump said he would “soon” endorse in the race. The endorsement has yet to materialize, however.

And in a sign the problem isn’t going away for Republicans, a leading House proponent of the SAVE Act acknowledged the Senate won’t act, but suggested House Republicans use an upcoming bill reauthorizing key intelligence agencies’ powers as a hostage. The legislation is typically seen as must-pass by leaders in both parties.

“THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET THIS PASSED,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said Tuesday on social media.