Senate Majority Leader John Thune told The Post that Republicans may finally have a viable strategy to pass the SAVE America Act and speculated on the breakthrough Sen. Lindsey Graham told President Trump about before his death.
Trump claimed on “Meet the Press” on Sunday that during his final phone call with Graham (R-SC), the late senator told him, “We’re all set for the SAVE America Act,” but the president didn’t specify how.
Republicans have repeatedly tried to jam the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote and other election reforms, through the Senate, but have consistently failed due to a Democratic filibuster. The SAVE America Act is Trump’s top legislative priority this year.
“Perhaps what Lindsey was talking to the president about — I don’t know this for a fact — [was] whether or not there was an option for reconciliation, and there is a way in which I think you could [do that],” Thune (R-SD) explained to The Post in an interview.
Thune stressed that Republicans don’t even have “close” to the votes needed to nuke the filibuster, which requires a 60-vote threshold to overcome. And he contended there was no way of getting Democrats on board.
In the past, Republicans have skirted around the filibuster using the budget reconciliation process, which is subject to complex rules and must impact the budget, to pass legislation such as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Many senators had long cast doubt on the possibility of using reconciliation to advance the SAVE America Act because it doesn’t inherently impact the budget. But Republicans planned on attempting another reconciliation bill to beef up defense spending anyway.
“It’s got to be principally budgetary, not policy-oriented. And if the budgetary impact is incidental to the policy impact, then you know it’s usually ruled a violation,” Thune said, alluding to the Senate Parliamentarian. “I’m not denying there’s some level of subjectivity.” --->READ MORE HERE
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House GOP bets $10B election plan can rescue Trump's stalled SAVE America Act
With November's midterm elections just months away, Republicans think they have found the key to passing President Donald Trump's long-stalled top election priority.
The House on Wednesday unveiled a draft framework for a third shot at budget reconciliation, the party-line process that Republicans successfully used to ram through Trump’s "one big, beautiful bill" and a separate $72 billion package funding immigration enforcement for years to come.
The latest $95 billion package is expected to focus on defense funding, farm assistance and the SAVE America Act. While specific details are still being negotiated, several sources familiar with Republicans’ planning told Fox News Digital that it won’t actually be the SAVE America Act tucked into the package.
Instead, a $10 billion pot of money included in the budget blueprint released Wednesday is expected to incentivize states to adopt parts of the original SAVE America Act — first passed by the House earlier this year — to help cover implementation costs.
Policies under consideration include grant funding to help states enforce voter ID requirements and encouraging states to add proof-of-citizenship requirements to REAL IDs, sources told Fox News Digital.
The early deliberations come as pressure mounts from Trump and vocal proponents of the SAVE America Act, both within Congress and online, who are demanding the Senate do whatever it takes to pass the bill.
Senate Republicans have struggled for months to get the stalled election measure across the finish line, which Trump has labeled his top legislative priority.
"The pressure's gonna be on the Senate," Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., a member of the House Budget Committee, told Fox News Digital.
"Certain senators are gonna have to find a real come-to-Jesus moment to pass the strongest reconciliation package possible," he continued.
The budget blueprint’s design could help overcome hurdles in the Senate, where the strict Byrd Rule governs what can survive in budget reconciliation. Senate Republicans have acknowledged that the SAVE America Act, as written, likely wouldn’t pass muster with the Senate parliamentarian, who wields an outsize role over the process.
But adding in a grant-like component rather than shoehorning in the entire bill could be the difference maker in the upper chamber, the sources said.
"If this provision is written the right way — tied to states that already have voter ID on the books, not a new federal enforcement — I believe it can survive reconciliation's rules," Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and a member of the Senate Budget Committee, told Fox News Digital. --->READ MORE HEREFOLLOW LINK BELOW TO A RELEVANT STORY:
+++++Lindsey Graham’s Final Words Now Fueling New SAVE America Act Push+++++
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