Donald Trump has been pushing Senate leadership to put the SAVE Act on the floor, and he is finally going to get his wish, but it has a caveat in that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is doing this as a “message from the House.”
Democrats have misrepresented this bill from the outset, claiming that it is voter oppression, focusing on individual forms of ID required to vote rather than the entire text of the bill.
Thune has agreed to open the bill for debate, but it may be a struggle to get it even that far with anti-Trumpers in the Senate already insisting on blocking the legislation.
There has been considerable misinformation blasted by Democrats on this bill, so I wanted to clarify one of their main sticking points.
The bill does require proof of citizenship in the form of: Qualified REAL ID, valid US passport, military ID or proof of military service, or a valid government-issued ID “issued by a Federal, State, or Tribal government showing that the applicant’s place of birth was in the United States.”
If you do not have any of those, you can still use a valid government-issued ID without the applicant's place of birth, but it must be accompanied by a “certified birth certificate issued by a State, a unit of local government in a State, or a Tribal government,” which has several qualifiers. You can also use a “Record of Birth,” “final adoption decree,” “Consular Report of Birth Abroad,” “Naturalization Certificate or Certificate of Citizenship issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security,” or an “American Indian Card issued by the Department of Homeland Security,” again, all with qualifiers (to read the full text of the bill, click here).
As you can see, this is not the horror story that Democrats are making it out to be. Not even close. Not only that, but they are also contending that it is virtually impossible to get a birth certificate when every state site has a link, as well as being able to use VitalChek, which is approved by about 450 agencies.
As noted above, Democrat leadership has decided that this legislation is a complete and utter horror story.
To that point, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) stated that this is “one of the most despicable pieces of legislation I’ve come across in the many years I’ve been a legislator,” reported Breitbart.
He then added, “Nothing is more important than defeating this dagger to the heart of our democracy.”
You really have to start asking why Democrats are so intent on not having Americans prove they are American citizens to pull the lever in an election.
Sadly, there are even Republicans pushing back, specifically on no-excuse mail-in ballots, and I completely disagree with them. With so much early voting, unless you are militarily, seriously ill, or debilitated, or out of the country, there is more than enough time to get to the polls to vote.
Yet, Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) are pushing back on this to the point that they will not support the legislation. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has also said no, according to The Hill.
We are now at the point that simply to get the bill on the floor for debate, Vice President Vance will need to break the tie. Additionally, because it is being presented as a “message from the House,” the debate can be interrupted for other pieces of business.
This is where the burned bridges and alienation by Trump come into play. People like Tillis are doing this simply to block Trump. Trump went after Tillis, and now Tillis blocks everything he does because he has already decided he has had enough and is not running for re-election. No Republican should oppose this bill, but instead of needing only six or seven votes, we are now going to need 10. Everyone just needs to grow up and do their jobs. This legislation should be a no-brainer for any Republican in office.
