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Senate Democrats blocked a move by Senate Republicans to modify a Trump-backed voter ID bill with a provision that would prohibit men in women’s sports.
The amendment to the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act from Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., was one of several tweaks to the legislation requested by President Donald Trump.
Tuberville’s amendment could have codified Trump’s earlier executive order from last year to ban transgender women from participating in women’s sports, a culture war flashpoint between Republicans and Democrats that, unless turned into law, will likely be reversed should a Democratic administration take over in 2028.
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But, as expected, the add-on failed on a party-line vote in the upper chamber.
The amendment was the first of several expected to hit the floor as Republicans continue their takeover strategy to debate the bill. Saturday marked the fifth day the SAVE America Act dominated the floor.
“I would do whatever it took to get this passed,” Tuberville told Fox News Digital. “This is probably one of the most important bills that’s come through here in a long, long time. It’s just pitting Americans versus non-Americans.”
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Others on the docket include a ban on transgender surgeries on minors and halting unsolicited mail-in ballots, add-ons that Trump requested Republicans tack onto the voter ID and citizen verification bill.
And the ongoing floor takeover likely won’t result in the SAVE America Act passing, given that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats are unified in their rejection of the legislation.
“So, I’m like, ‘President Trump, we need to get it done,’” Tuberville continued. “But I don’t know whether we’ve got enough support, even on the Republican side, much less Democrats.”
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The unlimited debate on the legislation is meant to mimic the talking filibuster, a strategy that would lower the threshold to pass the legislation to a simple 50-vote majority at the cost of deadlocking the Senate floor.
And Senate Democrats would be able to offer an unlimited number of amendments that could drastically change the bill, which Republicans have acknowledged they don’t have the numbers to block.
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The floor takeover they’re undertaking is largely meant to shift blame from Republicans to Schumer and Democrats for the bill’s expected failure, given that, in order to pass conventionally, the GOP would need 60 votes.
But others, like Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who is the lead sponsor of the SAVE America Act in the Senate, hopes the constant debate will grind down Democratic resistance and flip some over to support the bill.
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