Thune Says ‘Votes Currently Aren’t There’ to Pass SAVE America Act After Trump Demand

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said on Tuesday that Republicans lack the votes to remove the legislative filibuster to pass a President Donald Trump-backed bill that would require people to show photo IDs and proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.

“The only way you can get … this done is to nuke the legislative filibuster, and that is not something that we have anywhere close to the votes to do,” Thune told Fox News on June 16, referring to the Senate passing the Save America Act.

Thune added that Republicans have “done everything we can to date” to pass the SAVE America Act and that Democrats should be held accountable for obstructing the voting bill, which would mandate individuals to provide documentary proof of American citizenship such as a passport or birth certificate when registering to vote, require voters to present a valid ID when casting ballots, and ban universal mail-in voting.

Although Thune said that Trump is “passionate” about the voting measure, the GOP is “bound by arithmetic” in the Senate. “The votes currently aren’t there,” he said, referring to removing the filibuster.

Over the weekend, Trump said in a Truth Social post that he wants the SAVE America Act, or SAVE Act, attached to a bill extending Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the government to use warrantless surveillance of foreign nationals outside the United States. He would only back the passage of Section 702 if the Save America Act is attached, the June 14 post said.

In a Truth Social post on June 17, Trump reiterated his call to attach the bills together, writing: “I will not approve FISA without THE SAVE AMERICA ACT going along with it. Not complicated, actually, the Republicans fell into a trap.”

Pulte to Stay for Now

Trump then said that his choice for acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, will remain in position. He added that he won’t be moving ahead with nominating Jay Clayton to serve as permanent acting intelligence director until another official, Jamie McDonald, is approved by the Senate to be the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Currently, Clayton holds the U.S. attorney role.

Previously, the president said that Pulte, a federal housing official, would serve as his temporary intelligence chief after outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced in May that she would be stepping down after her husband was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Earlier this month, Trump told The Wall Street Journal that he wants Pulte to terminate employees in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and also suggested that the agency shouldn’t exist.

Pulte being named by Trump in the acting role drew criticism from Democratic leaders and some Republicans in Congress, who said he wasn’t qualified.

Democrats also said they would withhold votes to renew Section 702 while Pulte was acting intelligence chief. This set up the conflict that emerged this past week with both Trump and Democrats seeking to use the job nomination and Section 702 votes to exert leverage.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also denounced Trump’s statements about FISA and the Save America Act in comments on the Senate floor this week.

“The SAVE Act is perhaps the most vicious piece of anti-voting rights legislation Trump has ever come up with. It has absolutely nothing—nothing—to do with FISA whatsoever,” he said.

Reuters contributed to this report.