by WorldTribune Staff, February 10, 2026 Real World News
Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Tuesday rebuffed an effort by President Donald Trump and his GOP allies to amend the Senate filibuster rule to speed passing of the SAVE America Act, which would require ID and American citizenship to vote.
The legislation is slated for a vote in the House this week but now faces a steep uphill climb in the Senate.
Democrats have vowed to use the filibuster to block the legislation.
“There aren’t anywhere close to the votes, not even close, to nuking the filibuster,” Thune said at a press conference following a meeting of Senate Republicans on Tuesday. “So that idea is something, although it continues to be put out there. … That doesn’t have a future.”
Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who said he supports the bill, told reporters on Tuesday: “I think getting rid of the filibuster would lead to more acrimony, more rapid shifts from right to left, and I think wouldn’t be good for the country. I think the default position is liberty and that most legislation takes your liberty. And so I’m not a big fan of making it easier to pass legislation.”
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a GOP centrist, announced on X on Tuesday that she does not support the legislation.
The House passed earlier iterations of the SAVE Act but those also stalled in the Senate.
A separate bill, the Make Elections Great Again Act, would go even further, prohibiting universal mail voting.
Americans overwhelmingly support voter ID. Even a CNN poll earlier this month found that 85% of white voters, 82% of Latino voters, and 76% of black voters support it.
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