Vice President JD Vance was on hand to cast a tiebreaker in case two other Republicans defected, but a second wild card, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), voted “yes,” and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a centrist opposed to the legislation, was absent for the vote.

Republicans can now launch into what is expected to be a week or more of floor speeches meant to draw a contrast with Democrats. The legislation will not ultimately pass after that period of debate due to the Senate filibuster, which requires 60 votes on the next procedural hurdle, but Republicans are treating the floor time as an elaborate messaging exercise meant to placate Trump’s demand that it reach his desk.

On Tuesday morning, Trump warned that he would not endorse any Republican who opposes the SAVE America Act and previously vowed not to sign bills into law until it passes.

WHAT TO EXPECT AS SENATE REPUBLICANS LAUNCH SAVE AMERICA ACT DEBATE

Conservatives had asked Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to dust off an old-school version of the filibuster that forces Democrats to hold the floor and speak if they want to prevent a bill from passing at a simple 50 votes.

Instead, Thune decided to pursue a hybrid approach that emulates a talking filibuster without actually sidestepping the 60-vote threshold. He promised a “fulsome debate” on the SAVE America Act on Tuesday morning but reiterated that there was not enough support among Senate Republicans to meet Trump’s request.

In recent days, Tillis had declined to co-sponsor the bill over concerns about weakening the 60-vote filibuster. Murkowski told reporters Tuesday that she supports it in principle but worried about the difficulty of implementing proof-of-citizenship requirements in a rural state such as Alaska.

“I’m not prepared to go down this uncertain and ill-defined path that we’re looking at,” Murkowski said.

McConnell, despite voting yes on debating the measure, has previously argued that the legislation lays the “groundwork for a left-wing election takeover” once Democrats win back a Senate majority.

From a messaging standpoint, Republicans are virtually united on the SAVE America Act and hope to paint Democrats as unwilling to prevent illegal immigrants from voting. Earlier on Tuesday, Thune also emphasized the popularity of voter ID to argue Democrats were opposing a “common-sense” measure the public supports.

“You’re going to hear me use the adjective ‘common-sense’ a lot in this debate,” he said in a floor speech.

Democrats, meanwhile, say the legislation is a ruse for voter suppression and have vowed to fight it “tooth and nail.” They will have limited tools as the minority party and will need to keep a constant presence on the Senate floor to prevent its passage. But there are tactics Democrats can try to use to knock Republicans off balance, and they have begun ramping up their countermessaging.

In a Tuesday press conference, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) accused Republicans of enabling a president who wants to “steal” the 2026 elections.

“MAGA Republicans would rather take down our democracy than back away from their own ideological policies that have killed jobs, started wars, and exploited working people to benefit the ultra-rich,” he said.

“We must fight it, and we will, in every way that we can,” Schumer added.

THUNE BECOMES MAGA’S MIDTERM ‘FALL GUY’ WITH VOTING BILL CRUSADE

As part of the debate, Republicans are likely to force votes on the various components of the SAVE America Act, plus multiple provisions Trump has asked Congress to add. In particular, he wants to expand the legislation to crack down on mail voting and to restrict transgender surgeries and participation in women’s sports.

Limiting mail ballots is controversial among Republicans, who are weighing alternative language that more narrowly targets the practice of ballot harvesting.