Chip Roy Lays Out How Senate Can Vote On SAVE Act Without Nuking Filibuster:
'We can move the legislation under CURRENT rules without ‘nuking’ the filibuster,’ Roy pointed out.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) sent a letter Monday to senators laying out a simple way the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act can be brought to the floor for a vote without “nuking” the filibuster.
The SAVE Act would require both documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and voter ID to cast a ballot. The legislation passed the House, but is stalling in the Senate, despite 50 Republican senators who co-sponsor or support the SAVE America Act, according to Roy’s letter, which was exclusively obtained by The Federalist. As Roy pointed out, Senator Majority Leader John Thune can “put the bill on the floor any time.”
Roy, preempting talking points from some Republicans, lays out how Thune could successfully bring the SAVE America Act to a vote without nuking the filibuster.
Roy explains that as long as all Senate Republicans who have either co-sponsored or publicly supported the legislation show up and presents a live quorum, it would force Democrats to talk non-stop to delay a vote at just 51 votes, rather than the typical 60-threshold filibuster.
“The commonly accepted 60-vote ‘filibuster’ threshold to ‘shut off debate’ is not the ONLY way to force a vote in the Senate – the majority can force opposing Senators to speak,” Roy said.
Under current Senate rules, according to Roy, if there is a quorum, the Senate must either be voting or a member must be speaking.
“In other words, if no one is speaking and a quorum is present, the vote on the pending business happens automatically,” Roy explained.
Roy said Thune could “proceed to the SAVE America Act with a simple majority vote … as soon as he chooses. Under current practice, he would call it up, debate it for a while, and proceed to a 60-vote cloture vote to ‘shut off debate.’ It would fail, Republicans would shrug and say ‘we tried, we need to elect more Republicans.'”
“This is what we call a ‘fake’ or ‘zombie’ filibuster,” Roy said. “There’s no real speaking, just a failure to get 60 votes to ‘shut off debate’ and then default to a ‘quorum call’ (no business) rather than having 51 Senators show up to call the question at a simple majority.” --->READ MORE HERE
Sen. Mike Lee: End 'Zombie Filibuster,' Pass SAVE America Act
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is intensifying pressure on Senate colleagues to advance the SAVE America Act, a Republican-backed election integrity bill that would mandate proof of citizenship to register and a photo ID to vote in federal elections.
The bill passed the House on a party-line vote and faces a difficult path in the Senate, where Democrats can block it under existing filibuster rules requiring 60 votes to end debate.
"The longer we wait, the harder it'll get to pass the SAVE America Act," Lee wrote Sunday night on X. "Senate Republicans should rip off the Zombie Filibuster next week."
In a series of posts on X, Lee urged GOP senators to revive the talking filibuster — a traditional form of extended debate — to bring the measure to a vote without abolishing the 60-vote threshold.
"Enforce the Talking Filibuster," Lee wrote Sunday on X. "Slay the Zombie.
"Baby steps to SAVE America ... becoming giant leaps."
He doubled down in follow-ups.
"My friend @SenatorHagerty gets it: We must sideline the Zombie Filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act," Lee added on X, linking to video of a TV appearance by Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn. "We need all Republican senators on t
"If you agree, please spread the word."
Earlier this weekend, Lee hailed Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as the 50th Senate Republican co-sponsor of the bill written by Lee and Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas. The measure builds on the House-passed SAVE Act by adding a voter ID requirement.
"The SAVE America Act makes our original SAVE Act better," Lee and Roy wrote in a statement, unveiling the bill that passed the House this past week.
"President [Donald] Trump rightly believes we should include Voter ID in this bill as we make a renewed push to secure our elections and protect the rights of American voters. --->READ MORE HERE
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