EXCLUSIVE — Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told the Washington Examiner he opposes a vote on eliminating the filibuster, warning that putting Senate Republicans on the record would only stoke GOP divisions over President Donald Trump’s marquee election bill.
“I don’t think that serves anybody’s interest,” Thune said in a sitdown interview at his Capitol office, calling the exercise politically damaging to the party.
“I think that trying to create this intra-Republican, intra-family fight or division over an issue that clearly isn’t going anywhere seems counterproductive to me, and I’d rather focus on the substance of this issue and the differences we have with Democrats about it.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has repeatedly called for a vote on whether to end the filibuster as the Senate considers the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote and a national standard for photo IDs at the ballot box.
Senate Republicans widely support that legislation and have sought to place Democrats on defense over it with a rolling marathon of speeches, but ending the filibuster to pass the bill — a move that would require lowering the 60 votes needed on most legislation to 51 — has sharply divided the conference and created a rare rift with Trump.
Johnson, who supports ending the filibuster, has not said whether he will force the matter, but he could ask for a vote before debates conclude on the SAVE America Act and has floated a 67-vote threshold to do so. Around half of the Republican conference supports keeping the filibuster intact, according to a Washington Examiner tally from last fall, but Trump has been able to shift that vote count with the help of grassroots pressure over the legislation.
“I think the days of the minority preventing legislation from passing is over because Democrat voters — they want their members to end it. Republican voters want us to end it,” Johnson said, arguing Democrats will undo the filibuster as soon as they retake power.
“In the end, it’ll be that public pressure that I think it’ll eventually end the filibuster, and I’d just rather beat them to the punch so we can think pass things like SAVE America, things that are wildly popular,” Johnson said.
Thune, for his part, said he would rather focus on Democrats’ near-universal opposition to the legislation, rather than a GOP dispute over how to pass it. Republicans are pursuing a mock “talking filibuster” to draw attention to the SAVE America Act, but once debate ends, it is still expected to fail due to the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold.
“I don’t know what that accomplishes, really,” Thune said of Johnson’s proposal. “If it’s something he decides he wants to do at some point, by way of an amendment, I guess he probably has that prerogative.”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), the lead cosponsor of the SAVE America Act, told the Washington Examiner he is not pushing for a vote on the filibuster itself. Instead, he has embraced Thune’s strategy of holding the Senate floor for days, even though it is likely to end in defeat.
“The fact that some continue to advocate that and advocate for that in the context of this legislation — it is what it is,” Lee said. “I don’t expect, necessarily, for every Republican senator, or every Republican, or every member of the public, to approach that issue the same way. I have tended to view the talk of nuking the filibuster as beside the point because it’s not a live option.”
SAVE AMERICA ACT SHOWDOWN RELISHED BY GOP AND DEMOCRATS ALIKE
Thune had considered pursuing a genuine talking filibuster, which could allow Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act at a simple majority once Democrats give up the floor, but he announced earlier this month that there aren’t the GOP votes to pursue that strategy either.
Lee has said that he is still holding out hope that Republicans may change their minds the longer a debate lasts.
