President Donald Trump and MAGA allies around the nation are hell-bent on strong-arming Senate Republicans into passing the SAVE America Act — even if it means torching Senate rules to do it.
But with Senate Majority Leader John Thune making it clear he doesn’t have the votes, the party needs to ask itself: At what point is the circular firing squad strategy counterproductive?
Even many Hill Republicans supportive of the legislation say we hit that wall a while ago. The past two weeks of GOP-on-GOP warfare over SAVE have distracted from the entire purpose of this exercise, which is to put Democrats on record blocking an 80-20 issue.
Polls, after all, show that voters overwhelmingly support the idea of requiring an ID or proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. Democrats, in that regard, are standing in the way of what many see as a no-brainer: only Americans get to vote.
But thanks to the right’s breathless and ferocious pressure campaign, Democrats have escaped scrutiny on this issue entirely. Instead, the narrative has zeroed in on Republican infighting: Conservative influencers haranguing GOP lawmakers on social media. Power players like Elon Musk, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and others dropping opponents’ names or phone numbers to unleash angry voters on their offices. Threats to oust Thune as leader (not happening — and just pisses off even sympathetic Senate Republicans). A push for a “talking filibuster,” which Republicans warn won’t do jack to advance the bill but may endanger centrists like Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).
Frankly, a lot of Republicans are sick of it.
“I’m talked out on the SAVE Act,” Trump ally Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told Semafor’s Burgess Everett last Friday.
One senior Republican was blunter to me on background: “We’re all fucking fed up with this — it’s just legitimately stupid. And while we all support the policies, the votes aren’t there. That is just the reality.”
The intraparty war is already imperiling Republicans’ legislative agenda. Trump is vowing not to sign anything until SAVE reaches his desk. This means even bills that bolster Republican messaging are now floundering.
Take, for example, the bipartisan housing bill Republicans want to pass to show they’re tackling affordability — something that’ll be front and center this November. That legislation won’t solve everything, but it’s a win the party could brag about on the trail — if it wasn’t stuck in limbo now in the House…
Meanwhile, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) last week threatened to tank the FISA reauthorization unless SAVE passes or is included. Yes, even at a time of war — with national security on the line — Republicans may end up bogging down must-pass legislation over this.
And out on the campaign trail, the president is leveraging his much-needed endorsement of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) for passage of what he insists is the nation’s “No. 1 Priority.” This means Republican dreams of ending a costly primary with rival Ken Paxon — and saving cash for the general — are dashed.
“It’s probably not a linkage that is in anybody’s best interest because voting on the SAVE America Act, passage is not guaranteed,” Thune told Punchbowl’s Laura Weiss last week of the president holding Cornyn’s endorsement hostage.
All this drama is also pulling attention from other, more pressing matters, like the ongoing DHS shutdown. TSA lines in Houston were so bad on Friday that they extended out the door. With spring break travel season looming, those waits are only going to worsen — terrible timing given rising domestic terrorism threats.
And let’s not forget those TSA workers now missing paychecks. Many of these employees make under $50,000 and live paycheck to paycheck. I’m honestly shocked more Republicans aren’t hammering Dems for this — but how can they be when they’re playing defense against their own?
It’s pretty telling that even House Republicans — who’ve passed versions of this bill a few times — are not planning to take it up again. The president recently moved the goalposts, demanding Republicans add provisions banning mail-in voting and other transgender-related text. Republicans are straight-up ignoring him.
On top of that, some Republicans apparently don’t even like the current legislative text as it’s written. Some have privately squawked that the drafted should have been authored by people who work on elections issues.
This week, Republicans will have a chance to pivot — and if they’re smart, they will. Thune will try to bring SAVE America to the chamber floor, and while we all know it’s doomed in the end, the leader has to put up a fight to show the base they’re not giving up without a battle.
But when SAVE inevitably fails to garner the 60 votes needed to advance, Trump and his MAGA allies would be wise to blame the left and move on.
Otherwise, the only contrast voters will remember is the one Republicans are drawing amongst themselves. And in the end, the end result won’t change.
Rachael Bade is a contributor for The Washington Reporter and the author of the newsletter “The Inner Circle,” where she chronicles the buzz in Washington. Bade also co-hosts the morning political talk show “The Huddle” alongside Republican Sean Spicer and Democrat Dan Turrentine. Click the links to subscribe to both today.
