John Thune admits Trump’s SAVE America Act cannot pass Senate: ‘We don’t have the votes’

WASHINGTON, DC: Senate Majority Leader John Thune publicly acknowledged that Republicans do not have the votes to pass President Donald Trump’s preferred election reforms, exposing the limits of Trump’s influence in the Senate.

The admission came as Trump continues pressing Republicans to advance the SAVE America Act. Thune openly ruled out the procedural path Trump has advocated to get the bill across the finish line.

John Thune says SAVE Act lacks votes

Speaking to reporters, Thune made clear that support for the policy is not enough to overcome the Senate’s voting rules. “We don’t have the votes,” Thune said. He noted that the SAVE America Act “didn’t even get 50 votes on the floor.”

Thune argued that even if Republicans narrowed the legislation to issues such as photo identification and proof of citizenship for voter registration, Senate rules would still block its passage.

“But even just on photo voter ID and citizenship, it takes 60 votes,” he said. “The only way to do it is get rid of the filibuster. There aren’t even CLOSE to the votes to get rid of it.”

His remarks underscored a key reality facing Republicans: broad agreement within the party has not translated into enough Senate support to move Trump’s election agenda forward.

Trump’s SAVE Act push hits Senate roadblock

A reporter asked Thune whether he was concerned that Trump could criticize his leadership if he refused to pursue measures such as removing procedural obstacles to force the bill through.

“That could happen,” Thune replied with a laugh before returning to the vote count.

He said senators who closely follow the process understand the challenge. “Anybody who follows this process closely knows that we don’t have the votes,” Thune said.

The South Dakota Republican repeated that even proposals focused solely on voter ID and citizenship requirements would still need 60 votes in the Senate.

“The only way you could get there is to undo or get rid of the legislative filibuster,” he said. “There aren’t even close to the votes here in the United States Senate in order to achieve that.”

SAVE Act stalls in the Senate

The House of Representatives has already passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, known as the SAVE Act. A revised version backed by Donald Trump is now before the Senate.

The legislation would require Americans to provide proof of US citizenship when registering to vote and would mandate valid photo identification for voting.

Trump has urged Republicans to pass the measure and has previously pushed lawmakers to eliminate the filibuster when it stands in the way of legislative priorities.

Thune, however, signaled that there is little appetite among Senate Republicans to take that step.

“It’s an issue we all agree on. We’re all for it, and we all voted that way,” he said. “But it’s not something that we’re going to be able to get done absent having an election and electing some more Republicans.”

For now, Thune’s comments leave Trump’s preferred election overhaul stuck between Republican support for the policy and a Senate math problem that GOP leaders say they cannot solve.