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.
