Reporter’s Notebook: Senate Republicans lack votes to pass SAVE America Act amid filibuster

You’ll be hearing a lot from congressional Republicans about the importance of passing the SAVE America Act in the coming days. The bill requires proof of citizenship to vote.

“We need to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat in America,” said Sen. Jon Husted, Republican of Ohio.

“The SAVE America Act is an important bill,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said on Fox News. “So we have to find a way to get it adopted.”

Trump-backed voter ID bill faces GOP resistance as TILLIS vows to stop it

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said Senate Democrats won’t take the shutdown seriously until flight delays and cancellations start piling up. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

And that’s the dilemma Senate Republicans face: figuring out how to pass it.

The SAVE America Act is the cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda. In fact, the president has warned that he won’t sign any other bills — except perhaps a DHS funding measure — until Congress aligns with his demands.

Republicans agree on the importance of the SAVE America Act, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. promises everything except passage.

“I will introduce the SAVE America Act and we will have a deep and thorough debate,” Thune said.

That’s because Republicans can’t break the Democrats’ filibuster.

“This is one of the worst things we’ve seen in America in a very long time,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

SCHUMER BACKS TO HEGSETH ON KING CRAB MEALS FOR TROOPS, BUT BIDEN-ERA RECEIPT SHOWS SIMILAR TAB

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives for a news conference in front of the U.S. Capitol on March 5, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

“The real reason this president wants this bill to pass is to reduce the number of people voting in the November election,” said Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

It takes 60 votes to break a filibuster. The Republicans only have 53 votes in the Senate. Some Republicans therefore advocate parliamentary ballistics to eliminate the systematic obstruction.

“I would override the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan.

Cold War rhetoric permeates this entire debate. In fact, conservatives have implored Thune to launch a preemptive first strike to end the filibuster before Democrats regain control of the Senate — whether that’s this fall or ten years from now.

“It’s really the only way I see to stop them from overriding the filibuster once they have a majority in the Senate,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin.

Other Republicans want to force Democrats into filibustering the old-fashioned way — until they’re exhausted.

“They should have to hold the floor like it used to be the case in the old days. They can talk as much as they want. But sooner or later they’ll run out of time,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.

If everyone finally clears out after days or weeks of debate, then the Senate doesn’t need a test vote to break a filibuster — it needs 60 yeses. This means they can pass the bill with a simple majority: 51.

Many Republican senators are now invoking Frank Capra’s 1930s classic, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” This is where Jimmy Stewart plays an idealistic senator who filibusters until he collapses in the Senate chamber.

“They should be forced to go there for hours, like a Jimmy Stewart moment,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.

But most Republicans reject Jimmy Stewart’s approach. They are not so much concerned about unlimited debate during a filibuster as they are about the unlimited amendment process.

“The filibuster, I think, will be a goat rodeo. I mean, it could take two or three weeks. The Democrats will trigger all kinds of problematic votes,” predicted skeptical Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. “No one described the plan of the project to me. This is the number of days. This is how we thwart people. We cover all our political flanks. And this is how we will succeed in the end.”

But there will not be an unlimited amendment process. Even though Thune will allow the debate to continue for a while (Fox is told perhaps a week or more, perhaps around the clock), he will retain “control of the ball.” Thune won’t immediately initiate a test vote to end the debate because he will need 60 yes votes. But Thune will immediately block all amendments from both sides.

Like everything on Capitol Hill, it’s a question of math. And while there will be plenty of discussion about the SAVE Act and the filibuster, there is not enough support on the Republican side to undo Senate rules and precedent on the filibuster.

“Many of us don’t believe we should undo the filibuster because it takes away the rights of the majority. And one day we will be in the minority again,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. “It’s a real division here.”

Capito added that there was a “will” to take on the SAVE America Act. But the parliamentary machinations necessary to blow up the filibuster needed to pass the bill do not exist.

“There aren’t enough numbers to do that,” Capito observed.

Trump and other conservatives are beginning to step up pressure on Thune.

THUNE GUARANTEES VOTER ID BILL WILL HIT Senate Despite Schumer, Dems’ Opposition: ‘WE WILL HAVE A VOTE’

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., argued that Democrats were continuing their efforts to keep DHS closed because it was “politically advantageous.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

“I think he’s a wonderful person. He is,” the president said of the South Dakota Republican on Fox News Radio. “But it’s not that he doesn’t want to do it. He doesn’t think he can do it. And that’s bad.”

Despite the criticism leveled at Thune, some Republicans are defending him.

“It’s not John Thune who’s killing it. It’s members of the Republican Party who aren’t convinced that a filibuster can be used to pass this bill,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo. “This will cause enormous delays on other matters before the U.S. Senate without the positive results of passing the SAVE Act.”

Significantly, the president did not call out Thune for his reluctance to end the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act. However, Trump regularly demanded that former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., do just that during his first term. The president has often lambasted McConnell’s handling of the Senate, although the Kentucky Republican set a new precedent for preventing filibusters for Supreme Court nominees. McConnell’s filibuster maneuver secured the confirmations of Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.

But so far, no harsh criticism of Thune.

Still, some Republicans think Senate magic could save the SAVE America Act.

“I’ve seen John Thune pull rabbits out of his hat before,” Lummis said. “And I hope there’s a rabbit in his hat about that.”

The Senate is taking a test vote just to begin debate on the bill Tuesday afternoon. This requires a simple majority. Vice President JD Vance may have to break the tie to begin debate on the bill.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Vice President JD Vance speaks on the phone as he walks toward the West Wing of the White House, March 6, 2026, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

But the Senate doesn’t have the votes to blow up precedent like McConnell did with the Supreme Court to pass the SAVE America Act, nor does it have the votes to execute a true “talking filibuster,” circumventing the need for 60 yeses.

Consider the storm that could descend on Senate Republicans from their base if the GOP fails to pass the SAVE America Act. Trump has held his tongue so far, but it’s possible there will be recriminations from him as well.