'Foreseeable future': Senate begins debate on SAVE

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday afternoon voted to begin what could become a long and extended debate on the SAVE America Act, the GOP’s marquee voter ID and election overhaul bill, following increased pressure from President Donald Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill.

But the debate is not the same thing as a “talking filibuster,” something many on the Hill and in the White House have been pushing for, and few believe the floor time will lead to passage of the legislation. That leaves all eyes on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue for the president’s response.

The chamber voted 51-48 to move onto the bill; since it was raised as a message from the House, it only needed a simple majority to get on the floor. The legislation requires proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID at the polls.

Now is when the math problem for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., truly begins. Ending debate on the legislation would require 60 votes, and with a 53-47 majority and no Democrats in favor — none voted Tuesday to begin debate — that becomes a herculean hurdle to overcome.

“The SAVE America Act will be the subject of Senate consideration for the foreseeable future,” Thune told reporters on Tuesday. “We are having a wholesome debate on the floor of the United States Senate, which is something (the) Senate has done in the past, and probably should do a lot more of.”

What exactly the debate itself will look like on the floor, and how long it goes, remain questions. Leadership aides have stressed the conversation will be “member driven,” though there is already speculation about overnight sessions and rare weekend action. Thune on Tuesday began “filling the amendment tree,” meaning Republicans will control the amendment process.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said his “vision of this thing would literally be a dozen amendments, maybe two dozen, over the course of a number of weeks where we just really flesh out this issue.”

Democrats are ready to play ball if so, senators said on Tuesday.

“If MAGA Republicans want to bog down the Senate over a debate on voter suppression, Democrats are ready,” Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said.

“We’re here to say we will do what it takes to kill this bill: all day, all night, days on end and into the weekend, weeks, if they want,” said Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif.

Thune has been fielding a pressure campaign from Trump and online-MAGA-world to resort to what’s known as a talking filibuster on the issue until the legislation eventually passes, or even to force a vote on a rules change around the legislative filibuster.

“The votes aren’t there to do a talking filibuster,” Thune said again on Tuesday. Nonetheless, Trump’s allies are insisting Thune stay with the measure on the floor for as long as he can.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted the chamber should “stay on it until it’s passed into law.” Lee has been leading the charge from the Senate, adding if senators “don’t support using the talking filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, you might need to replace them.”

Trump on Tuesday further complicated the equation for Thune, saying he will “NEVER (EVER!) ENDORSE ANYONE WHO VOTES AGAINST ‘SAVE AMERICA!!!’”

“I prefer to have our fights with Democrats, and I’m always someone who believes that it’s far better for us to have a majority in the United States Senate,” Thune said. “It’s an important debate to have. So how it ends, remains to be seen.”

Not every Republican supports the legislation, meaning that Trump’s demands to add bans on mail-in ballots and transgender rights have further complicated the bill’s already long shot at passage.

“Lively as hell,” is how Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., described his conference’s policy luncheon on Tuesday, which included conversations surrounding voting by mail.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., announced a substitute amendment to address Trump’s demands, including ending mail-in voting “with exceptions for military, illness, travel, and disability” as well as banning transgender women from participating in women’s sports and barring youth gender reassignment surgery.

GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined Democrats in voting against proceeding to the bill on Tuesday. She has expressed concerns on implementing the ID requirements in rural communities. Also, Republican Thom Tillis of North Carolina missed Tuesday’s vote, but was an anticipated “nay” over his concerns of conversations over weakening the filibuster.

Johnson, who supports changing the filibuster rules, said, “My guess is when we’re all said and done, this approach will never get to the question. We’ll never have a simple majority vote on this.”

“Unless we’re so convincing and there’s so much public pressure where Democrats join us and provide cloture and pass the bill, (which is) not totally outside the realm of possibility, but it is,” it will not succeed, Johnson said — and “if this fails, there’ll be a lot of pressure to end the filibuster.”

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