WASHINGTON (AP) — Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday that the Senate will consider a bill to impose strict new proof-of-citizenship requirements in elections, but says “the votes aren’t there” to pass it through a marathon talking filibuster sought by President Donald Trump.
Trump has said he won’t sign any other legislation until the bill — known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility or SAVE America Act — is passed. But it faces unified opposition from Democrats, meaning that the Senate can’t pass it unless Republicans change the rules and eliminate the filibuster.
Thune has said there aren’t enough votes to do that, or to launch a talking filibuster that would force Democrats to hold the floor indefinitely to block the bill.
“That is just a function of math,” Thune told reporters on Tuesday, making his strongest statements yet after weeks of discussions among GOP senators. “For better or worse, I’m the one who has to be a clear-eyed realist about what we can achieve here.”
Republican senators are discussing, instead, voting on the legislation as soon as next week under regular procedure — meaning it will likely fail. Thune said that Republicans are “going to have a fight on the floor” and will force Democrats to vote on “whether they think noncitizens should vote in American elections.”