A top GOP senator Sunday urged Republican leaders to get the party’s “free-range chickens” to push through a proof-of-citizenship voting bill — which President Trump vowed to thwart because it is too “watered-down.”
Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy — who co-sponsored the proposed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act– said that while Republicans are currently short of the 60-vote threshold in the Senate to pass it, he believes it can still be moved along with the help of the budget reconciliation process.
“I would do it [through] reconciliation.” Kennedy told “Fox News Sunday,” referring to the onerous workaround process reserved for pressing issues tied to the budget, and which the GOP used to pass their marquee One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“We can short-circuit all of this. But I’m in a minority,” he acknowledged.
“I have chased … [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune, my good friend, like he’d stole Thanksgiving to try to get him to do a reconciliation. This would be perfect for reconciliation,” Kennedy insisted.
Unlike normal Senate legislation, which is subject to the 60-vote filibuster, a reconciliation bill could pass with a simple majority of 51.
It’s not clear whether the Senate parliamentarian will allow Republicans to pass the SAVE Act through reconciliation because it’s not a budgetary item. The SAVE Act already cleared the House.
But Trump threatened Sunday to put a blockade on legislation from Congress until a beefed-up version of the bill, known as the SAVE America Act, gets to his desk.
The SAVE America Act goes further than the original SAVE Act bill by requiring states to send their voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security in addition to requiring proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, to register to vote.
“It must be done immediately. It supersedes everything else,” Trump posted on Truth Social about passing the SAVE America Act.
“I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed, AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION – GO FOR THE GOLD: MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. & PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS EXCEPT FOR MILITARY – ILLNESS, DISABILITY, TRAVEL.”
As with the SAVE Act, the souped-up SAVE America Act has also cleared the House. The Senate is the hang-up.
While it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, Republicans have argued that such legislation is necessary for enforcement.
States aren’t able to implement proof-of-citizenship requirements on their own thanks to the Supreme Court’s 2013 Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona decision.
Democrats have railed against the push for iterations of the SAVE Act, especially the SAVE America Act, arguing that it would make it harder for newly married women to vote because of their last name change.
