Donald Trump has been pushing Republican senators to do whatever it takes to get the SAVE Act passed, and with Democrats continuing to block DHS funding over the legislation and the funding of ICE, Trump allies are now planning a coup to take over the Senate and force the legislation through.
Trump has done everything he can to convince Republicans they need to be the ones to break the filibuster before Dems take over again.
It now appears as though his message has finally gotten through.
Trump has been encouraging voter ID laws since his first term, but he laid down the gauntlet about a week ago.
Trump called the SAVE Act his #1 priority, adding, "I'm not going to sign anything until this is approved. It'll guarantee the midterms. If you don't get it, big trouble,” according to NBC News.
Trump’s vow not to sign any legislation passed in Congress put Democrats on both offense and defense at the same time.
They were forced to defend their stance on not funding DHS during Operation Epic Fury, while at the same time making it seem like Trump wanted to rig the elections by daring to demand voters prove they are citizens before registering to vote.
Trump’s main adversary in this fight to break the filibuster has been Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who has insisted the votes are not there for the filibuster to be broken.
Not only that, he is hesitant to break it regardless, as he does not want to hand Democrats unfettered access to pass legislation once they take back control of the Senate.
Thune has been trying to get Trump to endorse Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the primary race, and Cornyn, who once stated he would not break the filibuster, has now switched, but still no Trump endorsement. Thune also explained that Dems can literally drag this out forever, debating endlessly, and adding amendments to wear down the Republicans.
He then, according to The Hill, added, “We don’t have the votes either to proceed, get on a talking filibuster nor sustain one if we got on it, but that’s just a function of math, and there isn’t anything I can do about that.”
The Hill is now reporting that Trump allies in the Senate are ready and willing to take on the endless debate with Democrats, with one strategist stating, “How long it goes is going to be instructive because the point of this is exhausting Democrats, the point of it is pain, the point of it is forcing a public and political process and seeing what comes out of it.”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), a known Trump ally, stated, “What I want to do is try to maximize the period of time in which we debate it.” Lee likened this to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which was debated for 60 days, stating, “They faced a 32-vote cloture deficit at the time it came over from the House in March of 64. They were able to close a 32-vote cloture deficit. It took them 60 days, but they got there.”
He added, “Debating a bill that continues to get more popular even as people are trying to slow it down and stop it and obstruct it sometimes sharpens the minds of individual lawmakers and makes them more amenable in the end to negotiation. That’s what we’re looking at here.”
This is about dedication, and if Thune has that from his members, he should put the bill on the floor and let the fireworks begin. At the very least, it gets Democrats on the record and allows the American people to hear both sides of the argument. Thune, however, continues to insist he does not have the support, even for a talking filibuster, adding, “I’m the person who has to deliver sometimes the not-so-good news that the math doesn’t add up, but those are the facts and there’s no getting around it.”
