Trump calls on divided GOP to pass SAVE America Act ‘at the expense of everything else’

Amid increasingly vocal intraparty dissension, President Donald Trump again called on Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act, “at the expense of everything else,” calling the bill “a Country Defining fight for the Soul of our Nation!”

As the MAGA base fractures over the decision to attack Iran, GOP Senators excoriate some cabinet officials in hearings, and House Republicans subpoena others, Trump and his allies appear increasingly desperate to pass the SAVE America Act. Trump again took to Truth Social Thursday to press his party to enact the bill, which would require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship — like a U.S. passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers — when registering and show voter ID at the polls. 

On X, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reposted Trump’s message along with an unnamed poll claiming broad support for the proposal. The White House X account also posted in support of the bill — an apparent violation of federal ethics laws prohibiting the use of government offices for partisan lobbying.

Shortly thereafter, Trump posted again, this time seeming to suggest the SAVE America Act includes a number of provisions that are not in the proposal and mistakenly describing those that are. “THE SAVE AMERICA ACT! 1. ALL VOTERS MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. (IDENTIFICATION!). 2. ALL VOTERS MUST SHOW PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP IN ORDER TO VOTE,” Trump wrote.

The bill requires proof of citizenship to register — not to vote. But that mistake is trivial compared to the remainder of Trump’s all-caps statement.

“3. NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS (EXCEPT FOR ILLNESS, DISABILITY, MILITARY, OR TRAVEL!). 4. NO MEN IN WOMEN’S SPORTS. 5. NO TRANSGENDER MUTILATION SURGERY FOR CHILDREN, WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN APPROVAL OF THE PARENTS.”

Even though Trump has repeatedly suggested the bill would limit universal mail-in voting, the bill’s authors left that out for fear of losing Republican support. And it says absolutely nothing about sports, surgeries, or transgender issues.

After passing the House in February, the SAVE America Act has stalled in the Senate. With 50 Republican cosponsors but no Democratic or Independent support — after suggesting he supports voter ID, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) clarified his opposition to this bill — there’s no realistic path to clearing the 60-vote threshold to end a filibuster. 

Not even all Republicans are on board. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) penned an op-ed in the Anchorage Daily Mail opposing the measure that highlighted the difficulties it would present to voters strewn across Alaska’s vast wilderness. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also opposes the bill, fearing it would lay the groundwork for Democrats to later impose sweeping progressive changes on elections. 

Still, SAVE America Act backers, led by bill sponsor Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), have urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to end the Senate’s current filibuster practices and return to the “talking” filibuster. That would let Republicans eventually vote on the bill without needing 60 votes to invoke cloture, but only after every opponent had a chance to speak out against it, twice, for as long as they could stand. 

Thune has tried to quell those demands, noting it would let Democrats occupy the Senate floor for months — perhaps even until the November elections, which would prevent votes on any more of Trump’s executive and judicial nominees — and require 51 Republican Senators to be on hand at all times to vote down Democratic amendments. 

But Lee’s crusade against the “zombie” filibuster has been picked up by far right’s online firmament. On Wednesday, online influencer Gunther Eagleman called for Thune’s removal over his obstinacy, as did Rogan O’Handley. “If you’re willing to accept the “filibuster” excuse for Republicans not passing the SAVE act, or any other significant piece of actual conservative legislation, then what you’re saying is that you’re okay with Republicans in congress never passing any conservative legislation ever again,” wrote Matt Walsh, a right wing political commentator. 

Thune’s headaches grew Wednesday, as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) offered to “consider dropping out” of a run-off primary contest against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R) on the condition that “Senate Leadership agrees to lift the filibuster and passes the SAVE America Act.”

Thune has been urging Trump to endorse Cornyn, who polls better than Paxton against the Democratic nominee, state representative James Talarico. Paxton’s gambit might make it harder for Trump to back Cornyn — and thus risk offending his base — while heaping that much more pressure on Thune to concede on the filibuster. 

As Trump’s popularity continues to crash to historic lows —a recent YouGov/Economist poll found that 51% of Americans strongly disapprove of the president’s performance, while another 8% merely somewhat disapprove — conservatives seem to be casting about for some kind of political win to turn around the prevailing narrative. 

Jenny Beth Martin, honorary chair of Tea Party Patriots Action, recently urged Thune to adopt Lee’s talking filibuster strategy in an essay on Townhall, a conservative news outlet, arguing the floor debate would force Democrats to defend an unpopular position. 

And the political wing of the far-right Heritage Foundation released a push poll Thursday seemingly aimed at Murkowski and party officials worried about control of the Senate after the upcoming midterm elections. The poll, which showed broad support for the bill, surveyed voters in Alaska, Georgia, Maine, North Carolina, and Ohio — all states with hotly-contested senate races this year.

There is no evidence of the problem the SAVE America Act sets out to solve: Noncitizens intentionally casting ballots in significant numbers. The bill would, however, risk preventing millions of eligible voters from casting their ballots. A recent analysis by theBipartisan Policy Institute noted that 9% of registered voters lack documentary proof of citizenship, with roughly half of Americans without a passport and 11% unable to access their birth certificate.  

While it’s clear that Trump believes the SAVE America Act would help Republicans in the midterms — he said the GOP wouldn’t lose another race for 50 years if it were enacted — some political observers think the bill might backfire. Democratic voters, who are more likely to have a passport, are more motivated right now, meaning they’d be more likely to take the extra steps to ensure they can vote.