Thune Explains Republican Challenges with SAVE Act Filibuster
On Tuesday, Senate Republican Leader John Thune discussed why he believes Republicans are short of the 51 votes required to effectively pursue a filibuster for the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE).
While Republican senators largely back the SAVE Act, there’s hesitation among them about utilizing a verbal filibuster as a strategy to push it through. Thune pointed out that the arithmetic in the Senate isn’t in their favor, stating simply that they lack the necessary votes.
Typically, the filibuster necessitates 60 votes to conclude debates on most legislation, which empowers minority parties in the Senate significantly. The “talking filibuster,” originally requiring senators to speak continuously to keep discussions going, has largely been replaced by procedural methods that do not involve constant speech.
“We don’t have the votes for it. That’s really just math in the Senate. A talking filibuster would also need 51 votes, and there aren’t 51 votes for it right now,” Thune explained.
When asked by host Bret Baier why more Republican colleagues aren’t pushing this issue, Thune remarked, “I know this isn’t what people want to hear, but the talking filibuster harkens back to the 1800s. I can’t think of a single instance in the modern Senate where a bill was successfully passed using that technique.”
Thune further indicated that even if Republicans managed to gather enough support, employing a talking filibuster would only drag out the process with additional debates and multiple votes on amendments. “It’s still going to require 51 votes, and it’s been that way for some time now. With open-ended debate, every time an amendment is tabled and rejected, it resets the clock, favoring the minority,” Thune noted.
Although most Republicans support the national voter ID requirement included in the Save America Act, Democrats have expressed strong opposition to the bill, labeling it discriminatory. A segment of conservative legislators, including Sen. Mike Lee from Utah and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna from Florida, have suggested pursuing the talking filibuster as a means to overcome the Democratic opposition, even though this strategy could potentially enable minority parties to promote their own agendas.
