The Senate voted Tuesday to begin debate on the SAVE America Act. Republican leaders say the fight over the bill could take days.
Senators voted 51-48 to proceed to debate on the bill, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and photo ID to cast a ballot. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voted against advancing the measure, while Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) did not vote.
The bill still faces steep odds in the Senate. Republicans hold 53 seats, but most legislation needs 60 votes to advance, meaning GOP leaders would need Democratic support.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said Republicans plan to allow an extended debate rather than try to force the bill forward through a so-called talking filibuster.
“The votes aren’t there to do a talking filibuster. And so what we are doing is we are having a fulsome debate on the floor of the United States Senate,” Thune told reporters. “We’ll have it up, everybody will have their say. At some point we’ll have votes, and we’ll see where the votes are.”
The debate is expected to stretch across multiple days and could last a week or more. Lawmakers debated the measure for several hours Tuesday before adjourning for the night.
Trump has made the legislation a major focus for Republicans. He has praised the measure as his top legislative priority and warned that he may withhold endorsements from Republican senators who oppose it. He also told House Republicans earlier this month that passing the bill would “guarantee the midterms.”
Trump has also pushed Republicans to expand the legislation with other election-related and social policy provisions, including language to sharply limit mail-in voting. He has additionally called for provisions targeting gender surgeries for minors and the participation of biological males in women’s sports.
A similar version of the legislation already passed the House last month, mostly along party lines.
Republicans have argued that the bill is a common-sense election measure meant to protect the integrity of federal elections. Supporters say requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration and photo ID at the polls would help prevent noncitizens from voting.
Noncitizens are already barred from voting in federal elections, and cases of noncitizen voting are rare. Still, polling has shown broad public support for voter ID requirements and proof of citizenship rules for new voter registration.
Democrats have strongly pushed back, arguing the bill would make voting harder for many eligible Americans, including people who do not have easy access to documents such as passports or birth certificates.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the legislation a “naked attempt to rig our elections.”
“The SAVE Act is not about protecting the vote, it’s about making it harder to vote — and easier to steal an election,” Schumer said.
Schumer has also argued that Democrats support voter ID, but says this legislation goes much further by potentially affecting voter registration and access to the rolls before Election Day.
For now, Tuesday’s vote was less a sign of imminent passage than the start of a broader political battle over voting rules ahead of the midterm election season.