He’s ‘pessimistic’ about winning Democratic support for SAVE America Act

“I’m always pessimistic that Democrats are actually going to come to their senses and do what common sense would dictate they do, and that is support this,” Thune told Fox News’s Bret Baier.

President Trump has made this bill a top legislative priority.

The measure would require voters to show documented proof of citizenship when registering to vote and display photo ID when they go to cast their ballot.

The legislation needs a total of 60 votes to pass, which would require the support of at least seven Democrats.

Thune expressed some optimism that Democratic senators could be “won over” during the lengthy debate period on the bill, which began Tuesday.

“It’s a freewheeling debate on the floor, and in the end, we’ll see if the Democrats come around and deliver some votes,” the majority leader said.

Thune has faced pressure from some Republicans to change the Senate rules to allow a talking filibuster, which would force Democrats to engage in nonstop floor debate to block the legislation.

The majority leader told Fox News on Tuesday there were several issues with this proposed change, saying, “It really favors the minority.”
“What it would force us to do in the Senate is vote on all kinds of Democrat amendments, whether it’s Epstein or blocking Trump’s tariffs, or you know, ObamaCare subsidies, you go right down the list, war powers, abortion,” Thune said.

“There are a whole bunch of votes that … we would be forced to take, not only really hard political votes, but also votes that in the end, some of which would pass and go on the bill, and once issues like that are attached to this bill, it’s a poison pill,” the majority leader continued.

Instead, Thune decided to keep the bill on the floor through the weekend and into next week, allowing both parties ample time to debate the measure.

Schumer wrote in a post on the social platform X that the legislation would remove “millions” of Americans from the voter rolls, end online voter registration and make the registration process more difficult for married women who changed their last names.

Democrats are demanding several key reforms at DHS following the Trump administration’s large-scale immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota earlier this year.

On Tuesday, the White House committed to making some changes to its immigration enforcement policies.

Thune accused Democrats of holding the agencies under DHS “hostage,” including TSA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coast Guard.

Senate Democrats had previously proposed a funding bill that would fund all DHS agencies aside from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), but the legislation was blocked by Republicans.

“There are a whole range of DHS functions that are funded by that appropriations bill that the Democrats are choosing not to open,” Thune said.

“Now, what they’ll tell you is, you know, we’re willing to fund them all except ICE and CBP, but I don’t know how you can defend a defund law enforcement, defund the police argument, which is essentially what they’re making.”
The majority leader also expressed optimism about GOP performance in the upcoming midterm elections, saying independent voter turnout will be a key factor in these elections.

Thune expressed confidence in the Republican Party’s “quality candidates” and “record of accomplishment” to win over these voters.

“I think part of that is having an economic message that connects with them,” Thune said.

“Generally, those are pocketbook voters, and I think we need to speak to the issues that they care about.”