Trump, Thune clash on voter ID ultimatum as GOP remains divided on path forward
President Donald Trump's declaration that he won’t sign any new bills until the Senate passes voter ID legislation threatens to derail his own legislative priorities and sideline confirmation of the newest addition to his Cabinet.
Trump wants Senate Republicans to ram the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act through the upper chamber with the talking filibuster, even at the cost of the Senate's most valuable commodity: floor time.
"It must be done immediately. It supersedes everything else. MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE. I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed," Trump said on Truth Social.
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But that comes as the Senate is wrestling with reopening the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which entered its fourth week of being shut down. A White House official told Fox News Digital that Trump was "referring to other bills, not DHS funding."
"If the Democrats do the right thing and pass funding for DHS, the president will, of course, fund the agency," the official said.
Trump's edict and push for the Senate to turn to the talking filibuster has intensified the pressure on Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who has vowed to have a vote on the bill, but could not guarantee it would pass.
When asked about the growing campaign from both Trump and social media to use the talking filibuster, Thune said, "A lot of that is, it's in that kind of, you know, paid influencer ecosystem."
"But there's a lot of support for it," Thune said. "Like I said, we're, I think, for the most part, not everybody, but there's a lot of really strong support among Republican senators for the policy. But the process and how do you ultimately try and get a result is still unclear to me."
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Republicans are also working to advance a massive affordable housing package that Trump backs, to consider a likely supplemental spending package to resupply munitions for the conflict with Iran, and go through the confirmation process for Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., the president’s latest pick to lead DHS.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., noted that the top priority for the GOP right now is funding DHS.
"The Democrats have blocked that right now," Barrasso told Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures." "And the greatest threat to the American people today is terrorism."
And while the SAVE America Act is supported by most Senate Republicans, it’s not an easy bill to pass in the upper chamber, given the hardline stance Senate Democrats have taken against it.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reiterated that the bill is "Jim Crow 2.0. It would disenfranchise tens of millions of people."
"If Trump is saying he won’t sign any bills until the SAVE Act is passed, then so be it: there will be total gridlock in the Senate," Schumer said on X. "Senate Democrats will not help pass the SAVE Act under any circumstances."
Turning to the talking filibuster is unlikely, too, because of a major fear among Republicans it would dominate floor time for hundreds of hours of debate. But another factor is that there may not be unity among Republicans to kill amendments put forth by Senate Democrats.
Further complicating matters is which version of the SAVE America Act Trump wants.
House Republicans advanced the SAVE America Act last month, which would require voter ID to vote, proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, mandate states to actively verify and remove noncitizens from voter rolls, expand information sharing with federal agencies, including DHS, to verify citizenship and create new criminal penalties for registering noncitizens to vote.
But Trump asked Republicans to "GO FOR THE GOLD" with a bill to show voter ID and proof of citizenship, nix mail-in ballots except for military service members or people with illnesses, disabilities or travel issues, no men in women’s sports and "NO TRANSGENDER [MUTILATION] FOR CHILDREN!"
That version of the bill would again have to go through the House before making its way to the Senate. Whether it could survive either chamber is an open question. Thune acknowledged that Trump wanted a modified iteration of the bill, but still remained firm that the talking filibuster, or nuking the current filibuster, likely weren't going to happen.
"The one thing I've said all along is, and I've told him and others that I can't guarantee an outcome. I can't guarantee a result," Thune said. "If the result is only achieved by nuking the legislative filibuster, we don't have the votes to do that. And so that's just not a realistic option. And I've made that clear to anybody who's asked."