President Donald Trump believes Republicans will lose the midterm elections if the Senate doesn’t pass the SAVE America Act.
Many Senate Republicans will tell you the opposite: That Trump’s relentless focus on the long-shot legislation is sparking internecine procedural bickering that’s pushing the GOP way off-message in an election year defined by cost-of-living concerns.
“The reason people want to vote for Republicans in the midterms is obviously going to be about the economy and making sure that we are taking the steps to make life more affordable,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told us when asked if he agrees with Trump’s assessment.
Still, Republican leaders see the core of the SAVE America Act — voter ID and proof of citizenship for federal elections — as a popular issue to highlight, and they want to use it as a cudgel against Democrats. But GOP infighting, egged on by Trump, is preventing them from capitalizing.
“We’re spending so much time talking about the procedure and the ‘how.’ And I keep wanting to bring it back to the actual policy,” a frustrated Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) told us. “We win this issue ultimately because the people want it. We need to keep that in mind — however this works out.”
To that end, most Republicans believe putting Democrats on-record against the bill is a win on its own, and that they then need to turn their attention back to issues that will actually move voters. That includes resolving differences with the House over a landmark housing bill and hammering Democrats over the ongoing DHS shutdown, now in its second month.
Yet Thune took a big risk by allowing a multi-day debate over the SAVE America Act on the Senate floor, knowing that a failed vote wasn’t likely to satisfy Trump — or that an influential group of conservatives in his conference wouldn’t easily back down.
Presidential priorities. Trump and his allies aren’t interested in a messaging effort. They’re framing the SAVE America Act’s passage as an existential fight, insisting they can pick off enough Democrats to clear the 60-vote threshold if they just hold the Senate floor long enough. Meanwhile, Trump is making it harder by demanding additional provisions restricting mail-in ballots, an issue that divides Republicans.
“At some point, obviously we’ll have to draw it to a conclusion,” Thune told us. “We’ll just play it by ear in terms of when we wind it [down]. But if it looks like there’s any headway being made with Democrats, then we’ll continue to pursue that.”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said it would be a “mistake” and politically “suicidal” for Thune to set up a doomed-to-fail procedural vote.
“We need to debate this as long as it takes to get it done,” Lee said.
