Senate votes to begin marathon debate on SAVE America Act

 The Senate voted Tuesday to begin a long and contentious debate over the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require people to show documented proof of citizenship when registering to vote and a photo ID when casting a ballot.

President Trump has called the measure his No. 1 legislative priority.

The Senate voted 51-48 to proceed to the bill, advancing the measure despite the opposition of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who said last week he would vote against proceeding to the bill, missed the vote.  Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), who has told GOP colleagues that he doesn’t support the bill, voted to begin debate as a courtesy to the Senate Republican leadership. 

The vote sets the stage for Trump’s Senate allies to hold an extensive debate over the next week in an effort to build political momentum for the House-passed legislation, which Trump says will be critical to Republicans keeping control of Congress in the midterm election.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a leading proponent of the bill, has argued that a prolonged floor debate on the measure could build political support for the bill, similar to how senators mustered support for the 1964 Civil Rights Act during a two-month Senate floor debate.

Senate aides said lawmakers are expected to discuss the legislation late into the night on Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has declined to force Democrats to wage a talking filibuster, which would require continuous floor debate, to block the legislation. But he instead will keep the measure on the floor through the weekend and into next week to highlight Democratic opposition to its voting reforms.

“The talking filibuster has different sets of rules that apply. There are no rules of germaneness on amendments,” he said.

Thune said the Senate this week will instead pursue a “hybrid approach” where Republicans and Democrats will have plenty of time to debate the bill but Republicans will try to maintain control of the floor and block votes on Democratic amendments.

“The design behind it, though, is to have that fulsome debate and make it about the merits of the bill,” he explained.

Thune said the bill would preserve the “integrity of elections” by requiring voters to show proof of citizenship when registering and photo IDs when voting.

“Polls show that the American people overwhelmingly agree,” he said. “But to hear Democrats talk, you’d think that demonstrating citizenship or showing a photo ID is an intolerable burden.

“And yet … I haven’t heard Democrats complaining about the thousand of other circumstances in which we require photo ID in this country,” he said citing examples such as renting a car or staying at a hotel where identification is required.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), speaking on the floor before the vote, called it a “pernicious” and “radical” bill.

“At a moment when war is consuming the Middle East, when job growth in America is weakening, MAGA Republicans have chosen to focus on voter suppression. We all know why Donald Trump wants this bill. He is afraid Republicans will lose in November,” Schumer said.

“Trump says pass the SAVE Act and it will ‘guarantee the midterms,’” he added.

Trump told House Republicans at an issues conference in Doral, Florida, earlier this month that passing the bill would be key to helping Republican candidates in November.

“It’ll guarantee the midterms,” he told GOP lawmakers. “If you don’t get it, big trouble.”

Thune is expected to fill the amendment tree shortly after the vote to begin debating the bill, a move that will block Democrats from getting votes on their amendments.

The Senate is expected to vote on an amendment sponsored by Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) to implement changes that Trump wants to strengthen the legislation.

Schmitt said in a social media post that his amendment would implement Trump’s call to ban mail-in ballots except for reasons of illness, disability, military duty or travel, ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports and ban gender reassignment surgery for minors.

Several Republican senators, including lawmakers from rural states such as Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), have balked at banning no-excuse absentee voting and are trying to work out a compromise with the White House on the issue.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) called the proposed ban on mail-in voting unless individuals have strong reasons to do so “problematic.”

“I think that’s problematic because a lot of people use mail-in voting and a lot of them are in rural areas,” Capito said. “I think they’re working on some sort of a compromise on that.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5788105-senate-save-america-act-debate/