Senate Begins Marathon Debate on Trump’s SAVE America Act, Despite Nearly Guaranteed Failure

The Senate has begun debating the SAVE America Act, a bill which would require Americans to prove citizenship before they register to vote and to provide photo identification before casting a ballot. The bill, which is almost certain to fail, is likely to be debated on the floor for the better part of a week. President Trump has pushed for the bill to be passed for months, going so far as to say that he will not sign any other legislation until the SAVE America Act comes to his desk. Despite telling Senator John Thune to invoke what is known as the “talking filibuster,” lawmakers have simply opened the floor for a lengthy debate that will only end when 60 senators vote to do so — something Democrats say will never happen. “We are resolute,” Senator Chuck Schumer said at a press conference at the Capitol Tuesday, insisting that Democrats would be on the floor for as long as it takes in order to defeat the bill. The first hurdle was cleared by GOP lawmakers on Tuesday when they voted to proceed to debate, with only one member, Senator Lisa Murkowski, voting against that motion. All other Republicans voted yes. Senator Thom Tillis, who opposes the bill, did not vote. Debate is expected to last through the weekend, though it could bleed into early next week, depending on what kind of amendments Republicans put up and how long Democrats take to debate them. Mr. Trump has asked Republicans to add a severe restriction on mail-in voting, a ban on transgender athletes participating in leagues designated for the opposite sex, and making it illegal to perform surgeries on or give hormone therapies to minors who identify as transgender. Senator Eric Schmitt says he plans to introduce amendments which would add all of those demands to the bill, though they will require 60 votes, meaning they also are doomed to fail. Once debate comes to an end and the bill dies — which is nearly guaranteed to happen by next week — pressure will mount again on House leadership to try to use procedural maneuvers to put senators in a bind. One of the biggest concerns for congressional leaders is an effort by hardline conservative House members threatening to attach the SAVE America Act to what is known as a “must-pass” piece of legislation — a clean extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s section 702. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna has said for weeks that the Senate’s decision to not take up a talking filibuster is failure theater designed to take some heat off of Republicans in the upper chamber. Now that the legislation is set to die in the Senate, Ms. Luna says she will try to add the SAVE America Act as an amendment to the FISA reauthorization. With a majority of just three seats, Republican leaders may be at the mercy of the House Freedom Caucus if Democrats do not give them a hand. The House majority leader, Congressman Steve Scalise, tells the New York Sun that he has begun talking to his Republican colleagues who are considering a revolt on FISA. He says he expects the bill to pass without the SAVE America Act being attached, considering national security concerns and potential support from Democrats. “We know there’s a deadline coming up and we’re going to move it soon,” Mr. Scalise said. “We started talking to the members about it. You know, it’s always been controversial, but the national security importance has never been more critical.”Speaker Mike Johnson expressed similar optimism at a press conference on Tuesday, saying that the clean extension will pass. “FISA … is responsible for the large measure of intelligence that we use to protect and keep Americans safe. It expires in April and we’re looking at that deadline,” Mr. Johnson told reporters.Ms. Luna tells the New York Sun that she expects a significant number of House Republicans to side with her during her attempt to add the SAVE America Act to the FISA reauthorization. Multiple lawmakers have said they will not vote for a single Senate-passed bill until the voting reform bill is passed. She says those lawmakers are set to stick by her in the coming weeks. “There are about 50 members,” Ms. Luna told the Sun.

Senate Begins Marathon Debate on Trump’s SAVE America Act, Despite Nearly Guaranteed Failure

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