Photo: Alamy | Op-ed by Summer Lane
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate will likely begin debating the critical SAVE America Act – legislation that would require voter ID to cast a ballot – and the fate of the 2026 midterm elections may well depend on whether it passes.
The legislation would codify voter ID requirements to cast a ballot and proof-of-citizenship requirements to register to vote. It would also ban mail-in ballots, which have been a source of great debate and speculation since the 2020 presidential election.
As an additional ask, President Trump and Republicans have tacked on two other unrelated items: a potential ban on men participating in women’s sports, and a ban on gender affirming treatment for minors.
These two potential additions to the bill would make good on the president’s campaign promises on these hot-button topics, but it remains to be seen if such items can survive the U.S. Senate.
As lawmakers gear up for debate on the SAVE America Act, what is the likelihood that Republicans could possibly pierce the longstanding filibuster and push the bill to the floor for a vote?
Nuking the filibuster – what it means, how it would change things
The topic of the filibuster can be a source of confusion. According to U.S. Senate history, before 1917, the body had no formal rules for breaking endless debate and forcing a vote on legislation. That same year, the Senate adopted a rule allowing a two-thirds majority to end a filibuster – known as cloture. Today, cloture requires 60 votes.
To push the SAVE America Act to a vote, Republicans would supposedly have to “nuke” the filibuster, but many are reluctant to use that approach. According to Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, there is a more mechanical option.
In a February letter and statement, Rep. Roy argued that existing Senate rules allow a simple majority (51 percent) to seek a vote on any legislation, forcing Democrats, as the minority party, to block it by engaging in a real filibuster on the floor – that is, speaking on the floor to block it.
“There is no need to change any Senate rules (‘nuke the filibuster’) to do this,” Rep. Roy argued. “If Republicans stick together, and the minority exhaust their opportunities to speak in opposition or give up, a final vote on passage of the bill occurs automatically at a majority threshold.”
Blocking legislation by continuously speaking is more commonly known as a “talking filibuster.” It is reminiscent of a more traditional era and was popularized in films like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” where Jimmy Stewart’s character uses this approach in the U.S. Senate. Stewart’s portrayal is commonly used as an illustration of this topic.
Rep. Roy’s strategy here is to essentially wait it out until Democrats are too exhausted to block the legislation. Could it work? Maybe. Republicans wouldn’t have the votes to force the debate to end. There are only 53 Republican senators in the chamber, far fewer than the required 60. This means debate on the bill could extend for days or possibly weeks – a point that has also been highlighted by many in the media realm. There is no promise of success for Republicans if they were to choose this option, of course.
According to Fox News, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., remarked, “The talking filibuster, I think will be a goat rodeo. I mean, it could take two or three weeks. The Democrats will tee up all kinds of problematic votes,”
“I can’t guarantee an outcome on this legislation, but I can guarantee that we are going to put Democrats on the record,” Leader Thune said last week, per CBS. “They will be forced to defend their outrageous positions on these issues, and explain to the American people why common sense and the Democratic Party have parted ways.”
Thune’s perspective here is less-than-enthusiastic. While some may worry that “nuking” the filibuster or forcing the SAVE America Act to the floor for a vote using a strategy like Rep. Roy’s may establish a precedent for Democrats to do the same to Republicans in the future, the reality is that they’re probably going to do it anyway whenever they regain a majority in the future.
The question is, should Republicans push the envelope now or wait until they don’t have the votes to get the legislation through?
The state of things
The SAVE America Act is broadly popular among Americans across all walks of life. As reported by RSBN, recent polling found that 83 percent of Americans favor voter ID requirements to cast a ballot in elections – a high number reflected across most data.
Voter ID is not controversial, and it is a political catastrophe that Republicans in the Senate have failed to prioritize codifying such basic election integrity measures so far. In fact, Congress has done very little to codify President Trump’s 2024 America First agenda. With the exception of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which was a big win for the Trump administration, lawmakers have failed to move the needle on passing long-term laws that reflect the president’s agenda.
This must change if Republicans want to win the 2026 midterms.
President Donald Trump has stated that he will not sign any other legislation that comes to his desk until the SAVE America Act has passed, but realistically, there isn’t any other real legislation being passed right now. It seems obvious that Republicans have no excuse on this issue. They have no choice but to laser focus on prioritizing the SAVE America Act’s passage.
Passing such legislation would give Americans who have long felt disenfranchised by chaotic election processes a sense of security. It would also deliver the MAGA base a win amid the chaos and noise of violence in the Middle East – a rather unappetizing conflict that may have calamitous political repercussions on the 2026 midterms and beyond if Americans don’t see results on baseline America First issues.