Senate Majority Leader John Thune Refuses to Use Talking Filibuster to Pass SAVE America ActOlivia Rondeau 1 Mar 2026
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is still dragging his feet on using the “talking filibuster” tactic to get the SAVE America Act passed, arguing that there is not a “unified Republican conference” to do so and that it would be “very hard” to end the ongoing partial government shutdown.
Even after President Donald Trump directly called on him to enact the filibuster to get the voter ID bill, also called the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, through the Senate during last Tuesday’s State of the Union address, Thune has resisted doing so.
When asked by reporters on Thursday if he was going to force a “talking filibuster” to make Senate Democrats debate the voter ID bill on the floor so Republicans can bypass the 60-vote cloture threshold and pass it, Thune said, “If we were to go down that path, it’s very hard to pivot and get back to open up the government.”
https://twitter.com/Manhattva/status/2026913230992429237“I frankly think we ought to — we need to make sure that DHS, TSA, Coast Guard, FEMA, all those agencies, are funded,” he explained, listing off agencies under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that remain unfunded while Democrats fight to restrict Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“And so I’m hopeful there will be a breakthrough… that’s going to require some, you know, obviously cooperation from the Democrats, who we haven’t seen a lot of so far,” Thune continued.
There is also a bipartisan housing bill awaiting Senate approval.
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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/03/01/senate-majority-leader-john-thune-refuses-to-use-talking-filibuster-to-pass-save-america-act/
