Senate Republicans are gearing up for a floor battle over Trump-backed voter ID legislation, but another GOP senator plans to oppose it.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., wont support the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, a decision that could throw a wrench into the GOPs plan to force Senate Democrats into tough vote after tough vote next week.
“I’m a no,” Tillis said. “I’m going to do everything I can to prevent it from even moving forward.”
He did offer an alternative, arguing that if Republicans were “serious” about voter ID, theyd consider legislation that incentivized states to use the practice in exchange for federal funding. If not, the money would go toward ensuring “election integrity” oversight.
“Who could be against that? You know, and then rock on, California, if you want to enable Tillis said. “Make sure you do it on your nickels, because we’re going to spend the money to oversee the elections to make sure you did it legally.”
His resistance to the bill comes after President demanded that Republicans ram the bill through Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats blockade with a talking filibuster.
Senate Majority Leader R-S.D., and Republicans landed on a plan to put the bill on the floor that doesnt take the route of a talking filibuster, given that there isnt enough unity among Republicans to block Democrats amendments that could drastically change the bill.
However, that process is in the spirit of the talking filibuster and will allow Republicans to load up amendments on the floor for a Still, it wont lower the threshold to pass the bill with just a simple majority â something the talking filibuster would have done.
Republicans know its destined to fail and are trying to shift blame to Schumer and Democrats with their floor strategy.
But Tillis, who was a co-sponsor of the bills predecessor called the SAVE Act, disagreed with the changes Trump proposed to the legislation, which included banning mail-in ballots with limited exceptions, halting men in womens sports, and stopping transgender surgeries for minors.
“You know, taking the language from the White House without understanding the politically and procedurally, just doesn’t sound like we’re letting the people at the tip of the spear â that’s these people running for re-election â define what we should be voting on next week,” Tillis said.
Tillis joins Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, in opposing the bill. Their defection, coupled with Sen. D-Pa., announcing on CBS “The Takeout with Major Garrett” that he wouldnt support the legislation in its “current state” over Trumps criticism of mail-in balloting, gives the GOP a razor-thin margin of error in trying to even open debate on the bill.
