Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Monday reiterated that there would not be changes to Senate rules in order to pass a Republican-led election reform bill that President Donald Trump has demanded be sent to his desk.
"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Thune said when asked by ABC News about whether Senate rules requiring 60 votes to advance most legislative matters could be altered in light of Trump's new pressure campaign to pass theSAVE America Act, which would change voter ID requirements ahead of November's midterm elections.
"The president clearly is very interested in getting the SAVE America bill up and voted on, although he wants a modified version of it, and so we'll do our best to do that," Thune said. "But 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. If the result is only achieved by nuking the legislative filibuster, we don't have the votes to do that and so that's not a -- that's just not a realistic option."
Thune's comments come after Trump on Sunday threatened to withhold his signature on all legislation until the SAVE America Act is delivered to his desk.
What is the Trump-backed SAVE America Act requiring voter ID, proof of citizenship to register?
"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 in a post on his social media platform.
In his post, Trump mentioned the possibility of utilizing the so-called "talking filibuster" to pass the SAVE America Act. The "talking filibuster" would be a change to Senate operating procedure that would allow senators to side-step the current rules requiring 60 votes to advance most legislation. It could see lawmakers making tireless speeches on endless numbers of amendments on the floor.
Absent a rules change to modify how it would work, Thune warned, a "talking filibuster" like the one being floated could quickly become a "monthslong" process that eats up valuable Senate floor time with no guaranteed outcome. There's not enough support, he said, to change the rules.
"Our time in the Senate is a finite resource and it's something that we need to use wisely and well to get as much done as we can," Thune said.
What is the SAVE America Act?
The SAVE America Act is a Republican-sponsored election reform bill. It would restrict mail-in ballots, require photo ID at polling places and mandate that states obtain proof of citizenship before registering a person to vote in a federal election.
TheHouse narrowly passed the billin February with the support of a singular Democrat. But the measure faces a harder battle in the Senate, where Democrats have vowed to block it from advancing.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a post on X on Sunday evening, said Trump's threat does not change Democrats' commitment to stonewall the bill.
"The SAVE Act 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 posted. "Senate Democrats will not help pass the SAVE Act under any circumstances."
What Trump has said about SAVE America Act amid his push for passage
Advertisement
On Monday, Thune suggested he could bring the SAVE America Act up for a floor vote as soon as the Senate completes its work on a housing measure that is currently making its way through the chamber and absent an agreement on funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
But a vote on that bill is unlikely to pass under the current Senate rules, and therefore may not meet the president's demands to send it to his desk.
What does Trump's threat mean for congressional business?
Congress may need to act on a number of important pieces of legislation that could be stalled by Trump's refusal to sign bills.
A White House official told ABC News on Monday that Trump's threat to withhold his signature on legislation does not apply to any potential funding solution that lawmakers reach to fund the DHS, parts of which have been shut down since Feb. 14 amid afunding fight over Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
If Congress reached an agreement on funding for the department, Trump's signature would be needed to enact that bill into law.
"The president was referring to other bills, not DHS funding," the official said. "If the Democrats do the right thing and pass funding for DHS, the president will, of course, fund the agency."
But there are other bills that could potentially come up that might be stalled due to Trump's threat.
If Congress were to approve any additional supplemental funding for the conflict in Iran, that would also require Trump's signature. So too would a key piece of bipartisan affordable housing legislation that is making its way through the Senate right now.
Thune said on Monday that he hopes Trump may still ultimately support some key pieces of legislation despite his threat.
"I know he is passionate about the SAVE America Act and his statement was an expression of that, but I hope at the end of the day that if we can move things across the floor here and actually put legislation on his desk, that he will find a way to sign it," Thune said.
Legislation can still be enacted without the president's signature, but it would be delayed.
If the president takes no action on a bill delivered to his desk for 10 days, excluding Sundays, while Congress is in session, a bill automatically becomes law.
If Trump vetoed legislation instead of simply refusing to sign it, lawmakers would have to present bills with veto-proof majorities, which requires 2/3 majorities in both chambers. It's not clear from Trump's post whether he's threatening to veto legislation.
When asked about whether Trump is threatening to veto legislation, the White House referred ABC News back to the president's post, which makes no specific reference to vetoes.
ABC News' John Parkinson and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Monday reiterated that there would not be changes to Senate rules in order to pass a...
