GOP leaders, Trump see tensions flare over Senate filibuster

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is standing his ground against President Trump’s campaign to pressure Republicans to radically reinterpret the filibuster rule to pass sweeping voting reform, a contest of wills that could paralyze the chamber for the rest of the year.

Thune on Monday dismissed the prospect of forcing Senate Democrats to use a talking filibuster to oppose the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act — something that Thune warned would cause chaos on the floor.  

“Having studied it, researched it pretty thoroughly, you have to show me how in the end it prevails and succeeds. Because I think what has been promised out there is that it would actually get an outcome and I find it very hard to see that based on actually past experience,” Thune told reporters.

“There were a couple of different occasions where the Democrats contemplated doing this both under Majority Leader Harry Reid and Majority Leader Schumer, and they opted against it,” he added.

Thune warned that requiring Democrats to hold the floor continuously to block the House-passed voting reform measure would force Republicans to vote on repeated amendments, giving Democrats chances to force vulnerable Republicans such as Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) to take tough votes ahead of the November election.

“What people don’t realize, I think, is that’s unlimited debate but it’s also unlimited amendments,” he said. “You have to have unified support not only in support of the ultimate goal, which is the SAVE America Act, but on the process to be able to defeat amendments that would undo the legislation in the first place.”

“We can’t find a piece of legislation in history that’s been passed that way,” he noted.

He pushed back on the calls to require a talking filibuster after Trump on Sunday declared he wouldn’t sign any bills into law until the Senate approves the SAVE America Act.

“I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed, AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION – GO FOR THE GOLD: MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. & PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS EXCEPT FOR MILITARY – ILLNESS, DISABILITY,” Trump posted Sunday.

Some GOP senators balked at Trump’s threat to shut down all legislative activity until the SAVE America Act passes.

Collins said Trump’s rhetoric won’t change her view that the Senate filibuster rule needs to be preserved in its current form and not subjected to the old interpretation of the rule, which required senators to continuously debate to hold up legislation.

“It does not affect how I feel about preserving the filibuster and I don’t see how a talking filibuster would work,” she said.

“We have some important bills coming along. We’re working on a housing vote right now, which is very important to the American people. We’ve got to get the Department of Homeland Security funded and I must say I don’t understand why the Democrats don’t take yes for an answer [on opening funding the department],” she said.

The Department of Homeland Security has shut down over reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection demanded by Democrats.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said Trump’s threat could have significant “impact” on Republican priorities, such as passing the bipartisan Housing for the 21st Century Act, and confirming Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to serve as the next secretary of Homeland Security.

“It would slow down the confirmation of Sen. Mullin. The housing bill would have to take a back seat and perhaps some other things,” Kennedy said.

A White House official later clarified that Trump’s threat to reject all legislation until the SAVE America Act passes wouldn’t apply to a potential deal to fund and reopen the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Transportation Security Administration and other agencies.

Trump’s threat to block all legislation coming out of Congress until the Senate moves the SAVE America Act has lit a fire under Senate Republicans to find a way to pass the bill.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who has led the push to require Democrats to hold the floor continuously to block the SAVE America Act, said Trump’s strong advocacy, including his threat to bottle up bills in Congress, is changing minds in the GOP conference.

“It’s helping, a lot,” he said of Trump’s full-throated support for the measure.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), another leading Senate conservative, said he agrees with Trump’s threat to play hardball on all other bills until the Senate acquiesces to the SAVE America Act.

“I support whatever it takes to get the SAVE America Act passed,” he said Monday. “We need to all have a real conversation about can we use the talking filibuster to get it done.”

Scott called the SAVE America Act “the most important thing to do other than the Homeland Security funding,” adding that “I agree” with Trump’s Sunday post on Truth Social.

Republicans will meet Tuesday to debate their legislative options, even though there remains strong resistance within the GOP conference to interpreting the filibuster rule to require Democrats to actively debate for hours, days and weeks on end.

“I know the leader is going to pull us altogether [Tuesday] … to find out if there’s a path forward where that could achieve that we’d all love to see and that’s to pass the SAVE Act,” said Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), a member of the Thune’s leadership team.

Daines said GOP leaders are planning to ratchet up pressure on centrist Democrats to support requirements to show documented proof of citizenship, such as passports and birth certificates, when registering to vote.

A Gallup poll of 1,023 U.S. adults before the 2024 election found that 83 percent of Americans support requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote, and a Pew Research poll of 3,554 adults last year found that 83 percent of respondents support requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification.

“It’s an 80-20 issue and I think the key is going to get Democratic support on something that 80 percent of Americans support,” Daines said.

Centrist Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), meanwhile, has pushed back on Democratic rhetoric comparing voter ID laws to Jim Crow 2.0.

“It’s not a radical idea for regular Americans to show your ID to vote and absolutely those things are not Jim Crow or anything,” Fetterman said last month.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned over the weekend that Democrats would shut down the Senate if Republicans try to force them to use a talking filibuster to resist the SAVE America Act.

“If this happens, there will be total gridlock in Congress,” Schumer warned on the Senate floor Monday.

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