After months of Republican hype, conservative pressure campaigns and promises that election integrity was “priority number one,” the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act appears to be headed for the legislative graveyard.
The bill, backed heavily by President Donald Trump, would have required proof of citizenship to register for federal elections. It passed the House earlier this year but stalled in the Senate, where Republicans lacked the votes to bulldoze past a filibuster. Why? Because there are a bunch of RINOs in the Senate with no spines to do anything.
In March, the polling numbers showed 71% support for the SAVE America Act , 81% support for requiring voter ID, 75% support for proof of citizenship to vote. It’s all a non- brainer. But even a non-brainer can’t get passed by the Senate Republicans even as voter fraud issues [1] keep popping up.
Conservatives are turning their fire toward Senate Majority Leader John Thune (supposedly a Republican) accusing him of running a political shell game instead of forcing a real showdown. Even The Federalist – which spent months cheerleading the bill – is now effectively calling the bill dead and calling Thune the star of the “deliberative” farce.
Leader Thune says there’s nothing more he can do to pass the Save America Act: “We don’t have the votes to get rid of the filibuster. We had a very spirited debate. I made more speeches on the floor in support of the SAVE Act than any other senator.” pic.twitter.com/xBu11sFDDN [2]
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) May 12, 2026 [3]
In Washington terms, the SAVE Act didn’t exactly go down swinging. It got trapped in procedural quicksand, buried under Senate rules, and quietly escorted toward the exit while Republican politicians issued strongly worded statements for social media that meant absolutely nothing.