The SAVE America Act looks dead

IN THIS EDITION

Thune declares ‘talking filibuster’ dead

Virginia Dems back new map

Vault: Bank regulators crash the Senate

Stevens rolls out Black Caucus endorsements

THE TOP

Thune declares ‘talking filibuster’ dead

Happy Thursday morning.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is facing relentless pressure from all directions as he navigates a politically perilous — and MAGA-driven — fight over legislation requiring ID and proof of citizenship to vote.

The pressure is coming from MAGA influencers online, House and Senate conservatives and even President Donald Trump. It all centers around a push to use the “talking filibuster” to pass the SAVE America Act.

It’s yet another self-inflicted wound from a party that can’t seem to settle on a midterm message. Republicans are tearing themselves apart over legislation that has captivated Trump’s base but has almost no chance of becoming law. It’s also threatening to sour cross-Capitol relations among top Republicans.

Thune has long expressed skepticism of the “talking filibuster” tactic, warning it would jam up the Senate floor for weeks or even months. The procedure would allow Senate Democrats to force votes on some of the most politically treacherous issues facing vulnerable Republicans.

By Wednesday, Thune had enough. Thune declared publicly for the first time that there’s no way for Senate Republicans to maintain the procedural unity required in order to pass the SAVE America Act via a “talking filibuster.”

Republicans would need to stick together to kill every Democratic amendment, or risk allowing Democrats to hijack the Senate floor and derail the SAVE America Act. There are several reasons why GOP senators are unable to do this. More on that below.

Thune went on Fox News and framed a Senate vote on the bill as a messaging effort for Republicans, making clear he wasn’t going to engage in a futile push to pass the measure. It was an unmistakable shift in Thune’s messaging on the legislation.

“We’d have to have 50 [Republicans] to defeat every amendment,” Thune told reporters. “And that’s not where we are right now.”

There are at least four GOP senators who are a no or leaning no because of the potential procedural change, including some who co-sponsored the SAVE America Act. That’s all it would take for Thune to conclude that there’s no viable path to passing the measure.

Thune has consistently leaned on the strategy that got him elected as GOP leader: Wait for a consensus to emerge among his 53-member conference before making a decision — a stark departure from Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) style. That consensus is now clear.

This is news. One of the bill’s 51 co-sponsors says he told GOP leaders he’d oppose the initial procedural vote if they decided to use the “talking filibuster.”

Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told us he’ll vote “no” on the motion to proceed to the SAVE America Act absent a clear plan to pass it without nuking the legislative filibuster. That means the first procedural vote — and several others throughout the potentially weeks-long process — would require perfect GOP attendance and a constant presence by Vice President JD Vance to break ties. One more “no” vote and the process couldn’t even get off the ground.

Yet even if the process were to advance beyond that point, keeping Senate Republicans together to kill Democratic amendments — which could range from an Obamacare subsidy extension to limiting Trump’s tariff authority — would be next to impossible given various senators’ political demands.

There are also the filibuster absolutists. Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), another co-sponsor of the SAVE America Act, suggested he wouldn’t vote to table Democratic amendment votes if it meant changing the Senate’s rules.

“I’ve been absolutely clear,” Curtis told us when asked about voting to table Democratic amendments. “Breaking the filibuster is breaking the filibuster. So the reason or method doesn’t matter, it’s breaking the filibuster.”

On top of that, McConnell hasn’t backed the underlying bill, while Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) opposes it altogether.

More news. Thune has privately expressed frustration with Speaker Mike Johnson over House Republicans’ incessant prodding over the “talking filibuster,” according to multiple sources familiar with private conversations.

Thune watched for years as McConnell steadfastly refused to even weigh in on the House’s procedural messes. Johnson, who’s dealing with a razor-thin majority that’s constantly at risk, isn’t directly egging on the pressure campaign against Thune. Yet Johnson has met with and boosted MAGA influencers like Scott Presler, who are leading the charge.

The online vitriol has become so heated that all of Thune’s social media posts — even one congratulating a Korean War hero awarded the Medal of Honor — are regularly spammed with calls to pass the SAVE America Act, some using threatening language.

Thune has also been on the receiving end of public and private lobbying from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), both on X and during senators-only GOP Conference meetings.

“We’ve got an 85-15 issue. There’s no reason for us not to explore other mechanisms by which we can gain more support,” Lee told us. “One of the best ways to do that is to put it on the floor, have debate and not allow people to filibuster while sleeping.”

Proponents of the “talking filibuster” have been preaching “conference discipline” as a way to shut down the Democratic amendments. Rachel Bovard of the Conservative Partnership Institute, one of the leading proponents of the tactic, noted that Republicans routinely vote to kill Democratic amendments — even ones they agree with — during the vote-a-rama that accompanies the budget reconciliation process.

But several GOP senators said this assessment ignores the political realities facing vulnerable Republicans, many of whom wouldn’t want to be seen as opposing politically popular amendments so close to the midterms.

— Andrew Desiderio and Laura Weiss

LAWMAKER LINEUP: We’re excited to share our lawmaker speaker lineup for our March 10 Conference, including Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Check out more speakers here and join our interest list to be in the know about the Conference.

REDISTRICTING WARS

Virginia Dems back new map

News: All six House Democrats in Virginia’s congressional delegation are endorsing the legislature’s proposed redistricting plan ahead of the April 21 referendum.

Reps. Don Beyer, Eugene Vindman, Jennifer McClellan, James Walkinshaw, Suhas Subramanyam and Bobby Scott signed a letter urging voters in the commonwealth to support the constitutional amendment that would allow the Virginia legislature to redraw their districts.

The proposed new map could net Democrats as many as four seats in the 11-district delegation. A 10D-1R map would be a huge boon to Democrats’ chances of winning the House majority in November.

The statewide referendum is happening regardless of whether Democrats in the delegation approve of it. But their support is a big deal politically because some members were privately hesitant about a map that was aggressively gerrymandered.

“This is not a permanent change. It is a temporary response to an extraordinary national moment,” the Democrats wrote in the letter. “That is why we support a Yes vote on the upcoming Virginia referendum.”

In the letter, the members acknowledged that they support banning gerrymandering nationwide. Many strongly backed the commonwealth’s bipartisan redistricting commission when it was created. The members described their reversal as a necessary response to President Donald Trump’s attempt to gerrymander maps in red states.

The details. This proposed map is likely to elect 10 Democrats in 2026 when the environment is expected to be favorable. But we’ll note that this map has eight safe blue seats, one safe red seat and two fairly competitive districts. This isn’t a locked-in 10-1 map.

Some Virginia Democrats feared a map with 10 safe blue seats could stretch their voters too thin and be too unpalatable to pass the referendum needed to enact it.

One big caveat here: Republicans have filed a slew of lawsuits challenging the map. And a Tazewell County Circuit Court judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the referendum in response to a Republican lawsuit.

Democrats are appealing that decision to the Virginia Supreme Court and remain confident the election will proceed. The state’s highest court declined to pause the referendum as it considered a different GOP lawsuit.

Redistricting in Virginia has been anything but simple. Sparring between Democrats in the Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates delayed the release of a proposed map. Members of each chamber accused the other of trying to draw seats for their own ranks. The final proposal ultimately looked similar to the Virginia House’s proposed map.

– Ally Mutnick

OVERSIGHT WATCH

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will sit for a closed-door House Oversight Committee deposition on Thursday in Chappaqua, N.Y. Clinton is testifying as part of the panel’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

Clinton has been adamant that she has no knowledge of any of Epstein’s wrongdoing.

Former President Bill Clinton will be deposed on Friday. We’ll be tracking Bill Clinton’s testimony much closer, given his documented ties to Epstein.

“Secretary Clinton has been pretty clear, she never met Jeffrey Epstein,” Oversight Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) told us. “Former President Clinton, we have said from day one that we want to speak with.”

Both Clintons insist they knew nothing about Epstein’s crimes and resisted the Oversight subpoenas for months. But after House Republicans moved to hold the couple in criminal contempt of Congress, the Clintons agreed to be deposed.

— Max Cohen

MICHIGAN SENATE

Stevens rolls out Black Caucus endorsements

Michigan news. A group of Congressional Black Caucus members, along with former Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.), is endorsing Rep. Haley Stevens’ (D-Mich.) Senate campaign. Stevens is facing Democrats Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed in the primary.

Stevens is trying to position herself as the candidate who can win over Black voters, a critical demographic in any Michigan Democratic primary. Lawrence, who represented a Detroit-area seat for four terms, is a notable endorser.

CBC members Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), Troy Carter (D-La.), Shontel Brown (D-Ohio), Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio), Don Davis (D-N.C.), Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.), Gabe Amo (D-R.I.), Janelle Bynum (D-Ore.), Jennifer McClellan (D-Va.) and Marc Veasey (D-Texas) are all endorsing Stevens. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) endorsed Stevens earlier this week.

Joe Tate, the first Black speaker of the Michigan state House, has also endorsed Stevens.

Virginia news. Dorothy McAuliffe is likely to launch a bid for Virginia’s open 7th District, per sources familiar with her plans. McAuliffe, the wife of former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, has been calling Democrats in DC and Virginia to apprise them of her plans. This would set her on a collision course with state Rep. Dan Helmer in the Democratic primary.

Illinois Senate memo. EMILYs List, the group backing Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in Illinois, is out with a new memo arguing that Stratton is gaining ground on frontrunner Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.).

Texas ad. Defending Main Street is dropping another $100,000 in support of Eric Flores’ campaign in Texas’ 34th District. The group is a super PAC aligned with the Republican Main Street Caucus.

The ad touts that President Donald Trump has endorsed Eric Flores in his primary campaign against former Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Texas). Eric Flores, a former prosecutor and Army officer, is seeking to unseat vulnerable Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas). Defending Main Street has now spent $200,000 this cycle boosting Eric Flores.

California endorsement. BOLD PAC, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ political arm, is endorsing Ammar Campa-Najjar in California’s 48th District. Campa-Najjar is battling against Democrat Marni von Wilpert for a chance to take on Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).

— Max Cohen and Ally Mutnick

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