If there’s one thing senators don’t take kindly, it’s outsiders telling them how to run their chamber.
It’s in that spirit that the resistance among Senate Republicans to skirt the traditional 60-vote filibuster threshold and advance the SAVE America Act for national voter ID with a simple majority talking filibuster has hardened into an unmistakable message: Don’t tell us what to do.
“House members are going to say what they’re going to say. They aren’t going to tell us how we’re going to run the Senate,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told the Washington Examiner.
“It’s a product and a function of the social media world we live in, and there’s an ecosystem out there… that creates an echo chamber,” he later added to reporters.
Leadership member Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), herself a former House member, said the pressure isn’t “having any kind of an impact” on their plans and that the upper chamber is “going to do what we’re going to do.”
“I prefer that they’ll handle their crew, and we’ll handle the Senate business,” added Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD).
President Donald Trump reignited conservative anger over the Senate’s failure to act on the SAVE Act by calling for its immediate passage during his State of the Union address this week. The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to cast a ballot.
“We have to stop it, John,” Trump said of alleged voter fraud, making a subtle jab at Thune.
Republicans are unanimous in their belief that the proposal would bolster election security. Yet, they are unwilling to skirt the filibuster, which only requires a lawmaker to express opposition to a bill before 60 votes are required to advance the legislation.
A talking filibuster, in comparison, requires lawmakers opposing a bill to speak on the Senate floor for as long as possible. Once all lawmakers yield and amendments are voted on, a simple-majority vote is needed to advance legislation.
Republicans, who currently have a 53-47 majority, say a talking filibuster could be weaponized against them if Democrats seize power. Thune has also noted his members are not “unified” around the strategy, which would also require at least 50 Republicans to vote in lockstep against an unlimited number of Democratic amendments.
Still, the concerns over logistics haven’t stopped Republican rebels in the House, like Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), and Senate hardliners such as Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rick Scott (R-FL), from demanding Thune take action. Thune has not asked House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to tamp down SAVE Act criticism among his members.
“The outside voices — we welcome them, we appreciate the, as I said, all the advice and encouragement we’re getting,” Thune said. “We have to try and execute here in a way that gets us results.”
MAGA RIGHT SOURS ON THUNE OVER SAVE ACT FIGHT
Even the mere prospect of a talking filibuster has caused retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who supports the SAVE Act, to be one of the few Republicans to leave his name off as a co-sponsor. He compared those advocating in support of the talking filibuster to Democrats who pushed to nuke the 60-vote threshold for Biden-era federal voting legislation.
“They can’t criticize the Democrats, and they should retract any criticism they made if they think that’s the way we get this voting bill done,” Tillis told the Washington Examiner.
