The Senate is starting to talk about the Trump-backed SAVE America Act, but it’s unlikely to pass

WASHINGTON — Members of the Senate Republicans voted on Tuesday to establish the SAVE America Act to reform election laws across the country, starting what is expected to be a major debate.

The votes were 51-48, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, joined Democrats united in opposition. Sen. Thom Tillis, RN.C., did not vote.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., promised “extended debate” on the legislation, which President Donald Trump called “Priority No. But it has no viable way to pass the Senate.”

The law would require Americans to show proof of citizenship — passports or birth certificates — in person to register to vote. It will require voters to show photo identification to vote, including by mail. It would also empower the Department of Homeland Security to flag suspected non-citizens in states to be removed from voter rolls.

Because the House sent it as a “message,” the Senate can begin debate with a majority vote. The debate could go on for days, into the night and possibly into the weekend, according to a Republican leadership aide.

But the bill remains short of the 60-vote threshold to end debate and move for passage, and Democrats have made it clear they will block it. Thune said Republicans don’t have the votes to support a “talking filibuster” or trigger a “nuclear option” to change the Senate’s rules and remove the 60-vote barrier.

“It’s a blatant attempt to rig our election,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters. “We’re ready to be here all day, all night, as long as it takes to ensure that voter suppression forces don’t win the day.”

“Senate Democrats will never let this rotten bill pass this chamber,” Schumer said before the vote.

Republican leaders focused on the bill’s most popular provision: the requirement to show a photo ID to vote.

“Pretty much everything you do in your daily life involves showing an ID – whether it’s opening a bank account, getting a hotel room, taking a prescription,” Thune told reporters. “You need a card, in most cases, just to get into a library. I mean, these are just basic things, basic aspects of our daily lives. Surely we should be able to use them for something as important as voting in this country.”

Asked if he would be open to negotiating a watered-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’re going to have to explain it clearly and fairly and simply, but not to oppose photo ID. The bill.”

Trump has called for some revisions to the House-passed version of the bill, which the Senate is now debating, including heavily banning mail-in voting and adding unrelated restrictions on transgender athletes and gender-affirming surgeries on minors.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., announced Tuesday that he would introduce amendments to make the bill more in line with Trump’s preferences. But those amendments would need 60 votes to move forward, leaving them — and the rest of the bill — out of the game.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., kicked off Tuesday’s debate by criticizing the Democratic opposition.

“No one from the other side will join us,” he said.

A few hours before the Senate opened the debate, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, the Senate sponsor of the SAVE America Act, floated major rivals in Republicans who oppose pursuing a “talking filibuster” to try to overcome Democratic opposition.

“If your senators don’t support using a filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, you may need to change them,” Lee told X.

Asked by NBC News to respond to Lee, Thune warned that such tactics could endanger the majority of Republicans.

“I’d rather have our battles with the Democrats,” Thune said, arguing that GOP congressmen should be able to disagree on some issues given the circumstances of their states. “We may not agree on everything, but I’m more interested in making sure we have Republicans holding these seats in the United States Senate than giving them to Democrats.”