GOP Senate leader: SAVE Act vote coming, ‘I’m for it’

By Jim Saksa

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 28: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune (R-SD) speaks as (L-R) Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Senate Majority Whip Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) (L) listen during a news briefing after the weekly Senate Republican Policy Luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on January 28, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 28: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune (R-SD) speaks as (L-R) Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Senate Majority Whip Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) (L) listen during a news briefing after the weekly Senate Republican Policy Luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on January 28, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Wednesday that he will eventually bring an even more restrictive version of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to the floor.

Speaking at a Republican leadership press conference, Thune said the SAVE Act, which the House passed in April, was in the process of being amended. But once a new version is introduced and advances out of committee, he’d schedule a vote. 

“At some point, we’ll have that vote,” Thune said. “I’m for it.” 

Thune said the legislation, which currently would require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) when they register, would be amended to require photo identification also when ballots are cast. 

It’s unclear how that would work for mail-in ballots, though some states do require photo ID when people first apply to vote by mail.

Thune was previously one of nine Senate Republicans who had not signed on as a SAVE Act cosponsor or publicly endorsed the proposal this year. 

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has been mounting a pressure campaign on his Republican colleagues to back the measure in recent weeks, with President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, as well as prominent ant-voting activists, offering voluble support. 

Still, passage seems unlikely. Even if every Republican voted for it, they would need seven additional votes to break a filibuster. The less-strict House version that passed last spring only received four Democratic votes in support. 

Given that, some SAVE Act backers have urged the GOP to scrap the filibuster. Trump has repeatedly demanded Senate Republicans “TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER.”