WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tensions are rising between President Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., over one of the president’s top legislative priorities.
Trump is urging the Senate to put its August recess on hold until the chamber can pass the voter ID and proof-of-citizenship bill known as the “SAVE America Act.”
“Finally, we have to pass the SAVE America Act to defend American elections,” said President Trump during a recent rally in Georgia.
The House has already passed it — multiple times.
“We have got it through the House, I think three times. It stalls in the Senate. And the question is, why does it stall in the Senate,” asked Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa.
“The Senate has to pass the bill,” said Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y. “Nothing we do here will force the Senate to change the way they operate. They don’t care. The Senate functions in a completely different speed, manner, and under different rules and traditions, which I do believe they should modernize. Scrap the filibuster and get to work,” he added.
“We’re having a hard time in the Senate. The Senate, what they’re doing. It’s just, it’s just not right,” said President Trump.
But support isn’t there for the SAVE Act in the Senate — yet — according to Leader Thune.
Last week, the House attached and passed the voter ID and proof-of-citizenship bill to a budget reconciliation proposal — that would only require 50 votes to advance through the Senate, instead of the 60 votes under the Senate filibuster.
“We also know we have to have 50 votes. And at the moment, as I’ve said before, we’re probably not there,” Leader Thune said Wednesday.
President Trump has repeatedly called on Thune and Senate GOP leaders to eliminate the filibuster and clear the way for SAVE.
“The other thing I would say about that is that there aren’t going to be 50 votes to get rid of the legislative filibuster,” said Thune.
“That’s too bad for him. And too bad for the Republican Party,” said Trump on Wednesday, responding to Thune’s comments.
It’s the latest in a mounting pressure campaign by the president to pass the SAVE Act in the Senate.
“Everybody call John Thune and tell him to get this stuff approved,” Trump said at the Georgia rally.
That being said, Thune is not entirely ruling out the possibility of components of SAVE becoming law through budget reconciliation.
“All of us would love to see a solution for the SAVE America Act, to actually get some of that enacted into law. And the budget resolution presents a potential opportunity to do that,” Leader Thune said.
The push comes just days after Democratic New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced about 6,600 noncitizens were accidentally added to the state’s voter rolls, stemming from a “serious” software glitch.
“This was a vendor issue, a machine vendor issue. There was no fraud,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., last week. “The minute New Jersey discovered it, they fixed it. It has nothing to do with the SAVE Act and just the opposite of what Donald Trump does. He creates problems in our elections. He exacerbates problems in our elections. He hides problems in our elections- quite the opposite.”
But Republicans argue the incident proves the need for their top-priority legislation.
“The governor of New Jersey, a proud Democrat, had to admit that this was it, blames it on a software glitch — that’s nonsense,” said Rep. Langworthy. “The software companies come out and said there’s no glitch. This is exactly why we need the SAVE America Act.”
The SAVE America Act requires voter ID and documentary proof of citizenship, like a passport or birth certificate, to be presented in person to register to vote in federal elections.
Democrats call the SAVE Act “voter suppression legislation” that seeks to disenfranchise voters who want to hold President Trump accountable in the November midterms. Critics of the bill also warn it creates barriers for millions of eligible voters who may not have access to proof-of-citizenship documents.
