Thune says Mike Lee needs to ‘come to grips’ with SAVE Act math
Senate Majority Leader john Thune criticized Senator Mike Lee for overlooking the realistic political challenges surrounding the passage of the SAVE America act, highlighting that Lee’s social media advocacy does not align with the current legislative realities, especially the lack of sufficient votes too bypass the filibuster. Lee has been outspoken in pushing for the bill,which aims to require voter ID and proof of citizenship,but faces meaningful opposition within the Senate,including from republican leaders like Thune,who believes the bill cannot pass without eliminating the filibuster-a move unlikely to garner enough votes. The legislation has mostly Republican support but is hindered by disagreements over additional provisions on mail-in voting. Thune emphasized that the political landscape makes passing the bill infeasible and indicated that further Senate discussions, including a meeting with President Trump, would focus on this and other issues like the Iran conflict and funding for ICE. meanwhile, Lee continues to push for the bill’s advancement, calling on Thune to bring it to a vote, although Thune remains pragmatic about its prospects.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters Tuesday that Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) is ignoring the “hard realities” surrounding the SAVE America Act and that his advocacy for it on social media “doesn’t reflect the facts on the ground.”
His comments come hours after Lee took a rare swipe at Thune on X and a day before President Donald Trump comes to the Capitol for a Senate GOP lunch. The president has joined Lee in pressuring Thune, who maintains there aren’t the Republican or Democratic votes to skirt the filibuster and pass the voter ID bill.
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“The facts on the ground are very clear,” Thune said. “There are not the votes to nuke the filibuster, and there aren’t going to be 10 Democrat votes to all of a sudden support the SAVE America Act. Those are just hard realities, and I think people at some point have to come to grips with that.”
Thune has become increasingly blunt about the SAVE America Act’s prospects in the Senate, at first entertaining Lee’s attempts to pass it with a messaging exercise meant to replicate a “talking filibuster.” He moved on to other priorities in the spring and calls a return to that debate futile, given that some of the Republicans who have voted for the bill are unwilling to sidestep the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold.
The legislation, which requires voter ID and proof of citizenship when registering to vote, has 50 sponsors, or a simple majority, but there is Republican opposition to add-ons Trump wants for mail-in voting. A broader version of the bill only attracted 48 votes earlier this month.
Lee, for his part, argues that Thune must find a way to overcome that opposition and mocked a floor speech Thune gave Monday evening on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“Cool,” Lee said. “Let’s pass the SAVE America Act now. As I’ve been asking you to do for months, please bring it up now and announce that we will debate it until it passes.”
When asked about that post, Thune acknowledged that Lee “feels strongly about it” but downplayed the virality of X posts calling for its passage.
“I appreciate that, and it’s his prerogative to communicate how he wants to communicate,” Thune said. “But at the end of the day, I have to deal with reality, and sometimes, the alternative universe that is X doesn’t reflect the facts on the ground.”
Thune said to expect a “robust” conversation on Wednesday, when Trump comes to face-to-face with Senate Republicans at a conference for the first time in months.
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The SAVE America Act is one topic expected to be discussed, and Thune would prefer that Republicans help dissuade him from harping on the bill. The president has threatened to veto unrelated legislation over the lack of movement.
Republicans also want to hear from Trump on the Iran war amid concerns that he is negotiating an Obama-style nuclear deal to end the three-month conflict. Thune teased a “question and answer” format for the lunch, which is being hosted by one of Lee’s allies, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).
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