With Congress juggling government funding, the farm bill, government surveillance reauthorization and more, a Republican election security bill has taken a backseat, much to the chagrin of President Donald Trump.
As U.S. lawmakers take a week-long recess, Trump and a vocal minority of Republican senators are ramping up calls to terminate the Senate filibuster so that the SAVE America Act has a chance of passing the chamber.
Those lawmakers – a group that includes Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky.; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; and Roger Marshall, R-Kan.; – argue that if Republicans don’t eliminate or weaken the 60-vote threshold, Democrats will once they regain the majority.
Once that happens, they argue, the election reforms within the SAVE America Act that almost all Democrats oppose will never pass.
“When the Democrats have the chance, they will end the filibuster. They want to turn America into a one-party nation – pack the Supreme Court, turn D.C. and Puerto Rico into states,” Johnson told Fox News on Monday. “So we need to stop them, and the only way we can stop them is to end the filibuster now, pass election integrity reforms, so that only American citizens can vote.”
He added, “I’m just being practical. They’re going to do it. We ought to do it before that for the benefit of the American people.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has resisted his colleagues’ calls to nuke the filibuster, saying there is not enough support in the Republican caucus.
As an olive branch, Thune kicked off a marathon debate in March, which allowed senators to hold the floor to speak either for or against the House-passed SAVE America Act for as long as they are able.
But the 60-vote threshold for passage still applies, and in the midst of April’s whirlwind of legislative activity, the marathon debate effectively died with Republicans having failed to bring any Democratic senators to their side.
Democrats view the SAVE America Act as a voter suppression bill. The legislation would require Americans to present proof of citizenship when registering to vote, necessitate in-person voter registration for federal elections, and require states to remove all noncitizens from their voter rolls.
Republicans argue that the bill implements “commonsense” election reforms. Many also believe it is crucial for congressional Republicans to maintain their majority in the midterm elections.
“Two years ago, I was for keeping [the filibuster],” Marshall said in a recent Fox News interview. “But I just want to remind everybody… [Democrats are] going to end it next chance they get. And I think if that’s the case, then there are some things worth ending the filibuster over. I think voting rights, voting integrity would be one of those types of things that I’d be willing to end it for.”
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