Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speaks at a press conference with other members of the Senate Republican leadership after the weekly policy luncheon on February 10, 2026 in Washington, DC, USA.
Nathan Posner | Anadolu | Getty Images
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.) said Thursday that he will bring the SAVE America Act to the Senate floor next week.
The voter ID bill supported by President Donald Trump would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to vote.
For months, Trump, Republican hardliners and online influencers like Elon Musk have slammed opponents of the bill and repeatedly called for changes to the Senate filibuster rules to ensure passage in the Senate. Thune supports the bill but has rejected such requests, saying changes to Senate procedures could have unintended consequences. Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, he made no mention of changing the chamber’s rules, only asserting that the proposal would not pass.
“I can’t guarantee the outcome of this bill, but I can guarantee it will put Democrats on the record,” Thune said.
The House passed the SAVE America Act on a near party-line vote last month. Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas was the only Democrat to sponsor the bill.
Most Democrats and voting rights activists argue that the SAVE America Act would disenfranchise millions of voters and make it harder for women, minorities, and young people to vote. Republicans, meanwhile, point to popular proposals to ban polls that require voter ID and non-citizens to vote, something that is already illegal and rarely done in federal elections.
“This is a package of common sense policies, the kind of common sense policies that should automatically get a yes vote from literally every member of this organization,” Thune said Thursday.
Anticipating that the bill would fail in the Senate, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, who introduced the bill, and other sponsors are mounting a pressure campaign to return to a “standing filibuster,” which requires opponents to actively control the Senate floor to block a bill, which could theoretically pass with a simple 50-vote majority.
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and Democrats have vowed to oppose the bill.
Lawmakers like Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) have suggested that the only way to pass it is to tuck it into other must-pass bills, such as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reauthorization, which Congress is expected to consider next month.
Meanwhile, President Trump is focused on elections ahead of the 2026 midterm elections that will decide the final two years of his presidential term. He suggested earlier this year that Republicans should “nationalize” elections, threatened to impose a voter ID mandate by executive order, and on Sunday said he would not sign any legislation that reaches his desk until the SAVE America Act is passed.
“It has to be done now. It takes precedence over everything else. It has to go to the front lines,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday. “As president, I will not sign any other legislation until this one passes.”
During an appearance Wednesday at a Kentucky packaging facility, he brought up the SAVE America Act, saying “every voter must present voter ID” and calling for an end to mail-in voting except in limited circumstances.
