WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Republicans launched an unprecedented effort on Tuesday to hold the Senate floor and talk for days about that they know won’t pass 鈥� an attempt to capture public attention on legislation requiring as President Donald Trump pressures Congress to act before November鈥檚 midterm elections.
could last a week or longer, potentially through the weekend, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune tries to navigate and Democrats鈥� united opposition. Trump has urged Thune to scrap , which triggers a 60-vote threshold in the 100-member Senate, or find another workaround to pass the bill, but Thune has repeatedly said he doesn鈥檛 have the votes to do that.
Instead, Republicans intend to make a long, noisy show of support for the legislation, which would require Americans to prove they are U.S. citizens before they register to vote and to show identification at the polls, among other things. It’s a risky strategy, with no guarantee it will be enough for Trump, who has said he won鈥檛 sign other bills until 鈥� also known as the SAVE America Act or the SAVE Act 鈥� is passed.
The floor debate is expected to eventually end with a failed vote. Republicans need 60 votes to advance the bill to a final vote, but they hold 53 seats, and all 45 Democrats and both independents, who caucus with the Democrats, oppose it.
The debate will 鈥減ut Democrats on the record,鈥� Thune said. He added that 鈥渉ow it ends remains to be seen.”
The Senate voted 51-48 Tuesday to begin the debate, with Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski the only Republican voting against moving forward on the bill.
In a social media post on Tuesday morning, Trump issued a warning to any Republican who doesn鈥檛 support the bill: 鈥淚 WILL NEVER (EVER!) ENDORSE ANYONE WHO VOTES AGAINST 鈥楽AVE AMERICA!!!鈥欌��
Creating strict voter registration rules
Trump says, without evidence, that Democrats can only win in the midterms if they cheat and explicitly said Republicans need the SAVE America Act to win in November. The House passed the legislation earlier this year, but the Senate turned to other issues as it became clear that Republicans didn鈥檛 have the votes to pass it.
But Trump made clear he wasn’t satisfied and pushed the Senate to act. The Republican president has said he won’t sign other legislation, including a bipartisan housing bill backed by the White House, until the voting bill passes.
The bill contains a slew of provisions that Trump and his most loyal supporters have pushed as part of a broad effort to assert federal control over elections. It would require voters nationwide to provide proof of citizenship when they register and to show accepted voter identification when casting a ballot.
It would also create new penalties for election workers who register voters without proof of citizenship and require states to hand voter data over to the Department of Homeland Security so federal officials could screen for voters who are in the country illegally.
Trump also wants new provisions added to the bill, including a ban on most mail-in ballots.
鈥淚t鈥檒l guarantee the midterms,鈥� Trump said of the bill last week. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 get it, big trouble.鈥�
Democratic opposition to the bill is firm
Democrats and many groups that champion voter access say there is little evidence of noncitizens voting and say the bill would disenfranchise millions of voters 鈥� including Republicans 鈥� by creating new burdens to prove citizenship.
It is already illegal to vote if you are not a U.S. citizen, but the bill would lay out strict new rules for paperwork that most people would have to present in person to register to vote. Opponents of the measure say those documents are not always readily available for many people and argue that it would kill voter registration efforts and unfairly penalize young people who are registering to vote for the first time, married women who change their name and people who cannot travel to present their documents, among other groups.
While Republicans have focused on the bill’s new requirements to show identification when they show up to vote, Democrats say they are most concerned that the legislation would allow the federal government to take voters off the rolls.
Schumer said that Democrats are not opposed to voter identification but 鈥渢his is about purging the voter rolls in a massive way, so you never even get the chance to show a voter ID when you showed up to vote.”
Expect a show on the Senate floor
Trump, backed by Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, has pushed for a talking filibuster, which would force Democrats to talk for days or weeks to delay passage of the bill. But Thune and the larger GOP conference rejected that idea, arguing that it would end in failure after giving Democrats a stage and the opportunity to offer endless amendments, potentially adding their priorities to the bill.
Republicans are instead taking over the floor with their own speeches, proceeding under regular order but operating outside the normal time limits that are customary when debating legislation. Democrats are expected to answer with their own procedural hijinks, potentially forcing Republicans to come to the floor at all hours for votes, meaning they will need to stay close to the Senate for the duration.
Lee said last week that it鈥檚 unclear how it will all play out. He said he thinks Trump 鈥渦nderstands that we need to put in an aggressive effort here.鈥�
鈥淎nd a lot of that,鈥� he said, “is going to have to be determined in real time as we go about it.鈥�
The extent of Trump鈥檚 satisfaction with the process, Lee said, 鈥渨ill depend on whether, in his view, we gave it everything we have.鈥�
On Monday night, Lee was rallying Trump鈥檚 base voters on X.
鈥淥nce we鈥檙e on this bill,” he wrote, 鈥渨e must stay on it until it鈥檚 passed into law.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
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