{"id":345,"date":"2026-06-08T10:04:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T10:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=345"},"modified":"2026-06-08T10:04:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T10:04:25","slug":"us-senate-blocks-trumps-save-america-act-thwarting-restrictions-on-voting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=345","title":{"rendered":"US Senate blocks Trump\u2019s SAVE America Act, thwarting restrictions on voting"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The U.S. Senate rejected the SAVE America Act on Thursday, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump\u2019s efforts to impose voting restrictions ahead of the November midterm elections.<\/p>\n

Read more Republicans push $70B for immigration enforcement through US Senate, with no limits on ICE<\/a><\/p>\n

Senators voted\u00a048-50 against advancing an amendment that would have incorporated Trump\u2019s top legislative priority into an\u00a0immigration-focused spending bill. The vote offered the clearest sign yet that despite pressure from the president, a handful of Republican senators continue to resist advancing the bill, which critics say would unleash immense chaos ahead of elections this fall.<\/p>\n

The SAVE America Act would require voters to offer documents, such as a birth certificate or passport, proving their citizenship when registering to vote. It would also mandate voters show photo ID when casting a ballot and restrict where voters can register, effectively eliminating voter registration drives.<\/p>\n

Democrats and voting rights groups have assailed the bill, saying it would\u00a0disenfranchise voters and upend the midterms because the new rules would take effect immediately. Trump and the bill\u2019s GOP supporters say it\u2019s needed to combat noncitizen voting, an extremely rare phenomenon.<\/p>\n

Since taking office last year, Trump has made a series of attempts to shape how elections are run. An executive order that would limit voting by mail remains in effect for now as opponents challenge it in federal court, and the Department of Justice\u00a0continues to seek to force states to hand over sensitive voter data, so far unsuccessfully.<\/p>\n

The Senate amendment, offered by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, also included restrictions on sports participation by transgender athletes. On social media after the vote, Graham called the SAVE America Act \u201cone of the most consequential\u201d pieces of legislation developed by Trump and his team.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll Democrats voted no, and they will eventually pay a price,\u201d Graham\u00a0wrote.<\/p>\n

Republicans also vote no<\/h4>\n

But the proposal fell short among a small group of Republicans, too. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina joined Democrats in voting no.<\/p>\n

Collins is seeking reelection in what is one of the most competitive Senate races in the country. McConnell and Tillis have both opted against seeking reelection, while Murkowski has said the bill would set up barriers for voters in her large, rural state.<\/p>\n

Sixty votes would have been needed to advance the amendment \u2014 the same threshold to overcome a filibuster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The vote came after the Senate spent weeks debating the SAVE America Act earlier this year before moving on to other business without a vote. Trump has urged Republicans to abandon the filibuster to pass the bill,\u00a0without success.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will squash this blatant attempt at voter suppression,\u201d Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat,\u00a0wrote on social media after the vote.<\/p>\n

Read more NC House Democrats call for changes to protect judicial independence, balance of powers<\/a><\/p>\n

The Senate also rejected, 50-49, a separate amendment offered by Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, that included a different version of the SAVE America Act. According to Lee, the amendment was the version of the bill passed by the House, which didn\u2019t include provisions on transgender athletes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Collins voted in favor of the amendment after earlier opposing Graham\u2019s amendment.<\/p>\n

California<\/h4>\n

Both amendments failed hours after Trump asserted, without evidence, that Democrats were stealing \u201cthe vote\u201d in California. The state held primary elections earlier this week, but vote counting is often slow in the state, meaning vote totals reported on election night don\u2019t always reflect the final outcome of a race.<\/p>\n

Trump\u00a0linked California\u2019s elections to his push for the SAVE America Act, writing on social media that \u201cI hope Republicans are watching\u201d so they could pass the legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey found a lot of mail-in ballots last night, shockingly,\u201d Trump said at an unrelated Oval Office event on Thursday. \u201cSo we don\u2019t want that.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Senate unwilling to advance the SAVE America Act, some GOP lawmakers have begun offering alternative election-related bills.<\/p>\n

Republican Reps. Julie Fedorchak of North Dakota and Laurel Lee of Florida on Thursday introduced the SAVE America Through REAL ID Act, which would create a grant program to help states provide REAL ID-compliant driver\u2019s license and identification cards to residents for free to low-income Americans.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, and Graham introduced the Election Security Partnership Act, designed to encourage states to submit their voter rolls to\u00a0a computer program operated by the Department of Homeland Security that can identify possible noncitizens.\u00a0<\/p>\n

States can already upload voter data to the program, called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements or SAVE, but the legislation would provide $20 million in grants for states to offset any costs related to using SAVE.<\/p>\n

Read more NC lawmakers hammer state, county officials following \u2018horrific\u2019 abuse death of six-year-old<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The SAVE America Act would require voters to offer documents, such as a birth certificate or passport, proving their citizenship when registering to vote. 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