President Donald Trump on Sunday said he would not sign any other bills until the Senate passes the SAVE Act and sends it to his desk to be signed. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
March 8 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said on Sunday he will not sign any legislation until the U.S. Senate passes and sends the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act to his desk.
The SAVE Act would change requirements for voting ahead of the mid-term elections and while it has relatively wide support among Republicans in Congress, most Democrats have raised concerns that could actually make it more difficult for people to vote.
Trump has in recent days ratcheted up pressure on Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-Texas, to use procedural methods to force a simple majority vote — requiring just 50 yes votes, instead of 60 — and pass the bill, Barron’s and Newsweek reported.
The bill passed the House in mid-February in a close 218 to 213 vote, after which House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the bill “is not about voter identification … it is about voter suppression.”
“It must be done immediately. It supersedes everything else. MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed, AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION — GO FOR THE GOLD: MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. & PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS EXCEPT FOR MILITARY — ILLNESS, DISABILITY, TRAVEL: NO MEN IN WOMEN’S SPORTS: NO TRANSGENDER MUTILIZATION FOR CHILDREN! DO NOT FAIL!!!,” Trump said in the post.
Although the Republicans have a slight majority in the Senate, the bill will need 60 votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster, which Thune does not have the votes as even a few members of his party are concerned about the bill’s effects.
There has been talk of changing filibuster rules in the Senate, which Trump has pushed Thune on, to require Democrats employ a talking filibuster — requiring them to speak on the chamber’s floor continuously and, when they stop, the bill can be passed with a simple majority of 51 votes.
Thune has opposed changing the filibuster and the Senate’s requirement for 60 votes to pass a bill, something he committed to when he ran for Senate majority leader, The Hill reported.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Sunday called the SAVE Act “Jim Crow 2.0” in a post on X, and said that it would disenfranchise millions of people.
“Senate Democrats will not help pass the SAVE Act under any circumstances,” he said.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., speaks to the press outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Earlier today, President Donald Trump announced Mullin would replace Kristi Noem as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo