President Donald Trump on Tuesday continued to ramp up pressure on Republicans after Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said he doesn't believe there are enough votes to pass bipartisan voting legislation known as the SAVE America Act.
Trump weighed in on the status of votes ahead of his meeting with Thune and other Republicans on Wednesday.
The president has been pushing Republicans and Democrats to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require a valid ID before registering to vote in a federal election. It would also implement other measures that Trump said protect federal elections from fraud and abuse.
Trump has repeatedly said if anyone wants to register to vote in the United States, they must be an American citizen. He has also publicly stated that he would not support any Republican who doesn’t support the bill.
Trump and many Senate Republicans grew divided over whether Thune should bypass Democratic opposition to the SAVE America Act by ending the filibuster, changing its interpretation, or removing the Senate parliamentarian.
Thune has so far declined to pursue any of those tactics.
On Tuesday, Thune acknowledged the president's efforts to advance the bipartisan measure through Congress, including the idea of attaching it to legislation reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Democrats have opposed that bill in part because of Trump's controversial decision to appoint loyalist Bill Pulte as acting U.S. spy chief.
"I think the president wants to add SAVE America to pretty much everything," Thune told reporters after Trump first called for the package of voting restrictions to be added to the surveillance bill. "But that, obviously, is not realistic to get the FISA bill done. And we want to get the FISA bill done."
Responding to Luna, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said he plans to oppose the measure because it's a "bad bill" and "more Senate failure theater."
“I will also oppose other bills AND rules until we fight for SAVE, HR2 (border codification), ban in congressional stock trading, & a reconciliation 3 that isn’t a fake pay-for approps bill," Roy said.
Trump's closed-door meeting with senators is set for June 24 at 12 p.m. ET and will focus on the SAVE Act and other legislative priorities.