patrick.net

The filibuster should always be standing. If there are less than 60 votes, a senator can keep talking to delay passage. Once the old man collapses that's it. And none of this anonymous hold shit.

Annnnnddd just reading this morning that Johnson is not including the SAVE act in the budget vote this week.

Every state should adopt Florida’s laws. I worked the polls. Show up with a valid ID or GTFO!

For 250 years we didn’t need it, suddenly it’s life or death republican media screams.

On so many fronts, they kill you with convenience.

In a squeaker vote (218-213), the House narrowly passed the SAVE Act, which requires citizenship and ID to vote in federal elections. All Republicans and one Democrat, Henry Cuellar (TX), voted for it. Let the filibuster showdown begin.

It was odd that the vote was so close. Remarkably, voter ID is a classic 80/20 issue. Check out the latest polls:

Gallup: 84% of ALL Americans support requiring photo ID to vote. Including 98% of Republicans, 84% of independents, and 67% of Democrats.

Rasmussen (Jan. 2026): 74% favor voter ID requirements.

Trump knows it, too. Two days ago, the White House blog said, “Voter ID is overwhelmingly popular with literally everyone — except Democrat politicians.” There is an obvious disconnect between Democrat voters and Democrat lawmakers. They are all for requiring ID for driving, flying, vape pens, cold medicine that works, concert tickets, entry into the Democrat convention, Somalian voter registration, and buying crypto— but not for electing the government of the most powerful nation in the world, donating to ActBlue, crossing the border on foot, or opening a Minnesota daycare center.

If I didn’t know better, I might start getting suspicious.

... So far, 45 intrepid Senators —and possibly soon including Democrat John Fetterman— have agreed to co-sponsor the bill. ...

Under the current rules, the Senate requires 60 votes to beat the silent filibuster, and Senate Democrats would rather eat their own shoes than let voter ID become law before November’s midterms. Texas Representative Chip Roy, among others, laid out the game plan, which we’ve discussed many times: force Democrats into a real talking filibuster.

Under existing Senate rules, they would have to physically stay on the floor, on live streaming, gibbering continuously and trying to defend the indefensible— why proving you’re American is too much to ask when voting in America.

Given the 80/20 issue, the optics of a real standing filibuster would be insanely helpful to Republicans, only getting better the longer it continued, which makes one wonder whether this whole thing could have been a rope-a-dope from the jump.

It was odd that the vote was so close.

ICE was already funded with $75-billion in last year’s Big Beautiful Bill. The shutdown will only defund the Coast Guard and airport security. (Does that sound smart?)

Second, senators will be leaving the DC swamp and going home to their states where, it turns out, polls show that voters of both parties combined overwhelmingly favor election reform by 84-percent. The House has passed the SAVE Act onto the Senate for action, up or down. For at least ten days of the shutdown, the senators will have to explain why proving that you are a citizen to vote is a bad idea — or conversely, why allowing non-citizens to vote is a good idea. So, thanks, Democrats, for sending the senators home to face their voters.

Eventually, senators will have to return to the US Capitol and take up the SAVE Act. The act will require proof of citizenship to register, photo ID to vote in person and for requesting an absentee ballot. The bill would prohibit universal mail-in voting, require absentee ballots be received by election day, impose a five-year prison sentence for helping anyone to register without correct documents, and provisions to clean up the states’ voter rolls.

Additional legislation still in the House, introduced by Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI), would provide for Election Day only in-person voting by paper ballots, and yet other bills awaiting action would eliminate electronic vote-tallying machines. All the provisions above are common in most other civilized nations (and even a few that are not, such as Afghanistan). The Democratic Party is against all of it because they can only win national elections by deceit and chicanery. ...

It’s an astonishing sign of cultural decay that we are even arguing over election reform at this point. The measures introduced during the dastardly Covid-19 trip — unlimited mail-in balloting, organized “ballot harvesting,” counting ballots for weeks after Election Day, doing so with Dominion / Smartmatic machines connectable to the Internet, and ignoring chain-of-custody requirements — these operations were patently and obviously dishonest. That’s what got you four years of “Joe Biden,” a walking-talking lie.

Word is Senator Collins signed on, so looking like 51 with Vance.

https://www.newsweek.com/susan-collins-save-act-filibuster-11523411

That's only if Thune makes the filibuster actual speaking.

All that’s needed to finish them off, really, is passage of the SAVE Act so that voters will be required to prove their identity and citizenship, and absentee ballots will be restricted to the old rules about being too sick to get to the polling place, or else out of the country. Last week, staffers behind the walking mummy, Mitch McConnell, prevented the bill from reaching the Senate floor with some procedural rigmarole. Mr. Trump must call them out, and call out Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), too, for dragging his feet on whatever’s necessary to pass the SAVE Act. The country demands honest elections, and one way or another they’ll get them.

Trump Vows Voter ID for Midterms by Executive Order If Congress Fails to Act ...

Posting on Truth Social, President Trump left little ambiguity about his intent:

“There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!”

In a separate post, the president said he had “searched the depths” of the legal arguments and would be “presenting an irrefutable one in the very near future” in the form of an executive order.

President Trump’s announcement comes just days after the House passed the SAVE America Act in a narrow 218–213 vote.

The legislation would:

• Require proof of citizenship to register to vote

• Mandate photo identification for in-person voting

• Direct states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls

Every Republican voted in favor, while all Democrats, except Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), voted against it.

Supporters argue the measure reflects baseline election safeguards already common in other democracies and in everyday American life.

Public polling has consistently shown broad support for voter ID requirements, including among independent and minority voters.

The challenge now lies in the Senate, where the bill faces an uncertain path.

President Trump signaled that if the Senate stalls, he is prepared to act unilaterally within what he believes to be existing executive authority.

“If we can’t get it through Congress, there are Legal reasons why this SCAM is not permitted.”

The president did not elaborate on the constitutional or statutory framework he plans to invoke.

However, his posture suggests a strategy to force lawmakers to confront the issue directly rather than allow it to die in committee quietly.

The prospect of executive action raises immediate legal questions, and any order would almost certainly face court challenges.

Still, the political pressure has shifted squarely onto the Senate.

Trump Vows Voter ID for Midterms by Executive Order If Congress Fails to Act ...

However, his posture suggests a strategy to force lawmakers to confront the issue directly rather than allow it to die in committee quietly.

“With SAVE America Act stalled, Florida House passes its own version.” ...

Under the bill, residents cannot register to vote unless the state DMV database verifies their citizenship or they provide proof of citizenship. The bill would also require the state to verify the citizenship status of all existing voters and eliminate some forms of I.D. that voters can currently use to verify their identity at the polls (if you can believe this). Floridians, for instance, could no longer use debit or credit cards, student IDs, or retirement center, neighborhood association, or _public assistance identification._

Oh, no! It is literally the worst, most racist and sexist thing ever. ...

Florida isn’t alone. Other red states have enacted similar state-level proof-of-citizenship laws, including Arizona, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Wyoming, Indiana, and Ohio. Other states are currently considering similar legislation, including Utah, South Dakota, and Missouri. (Texas tried and failed to pass a citizenship bill last June. Maybe Texans should try again.)

The Florida House’s version of the bill would become effective in January 2027. But the companion bill pending in the Florida Senate would take effect this July, before the November midterm elections.

Ladies, guess who’ll be hardest hit? “Married women who have changed their last names could be among the most impacted by the legislation,” the Docket warned breathlessly. Whatever will they do? The problem is just too difficult for girls to solve. It’s hopeless.

Late last night, the New York Times ran a silly story headlined, “Trump Leans on Congress to Address His False Claims of Voter Fraud.” No bias there! The subheadline explained, “The president used his State of the Union speech to call for action on election security legislation, pressuring the G.O.P. to push it through over Democratic opposition.”

Like Florida’s bill, but on a national level, the SAVE America Act would require Americans to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote, require voters to show real photo ID to cast ballots in federal elections, and grant DHS access to states’ voter rolls for compliance checks.

Trump also pressed Congress to end the use of mail-in ballots “except for illness, disability, military, or travel.” The House passed its version of the bill two weeks ago, including the ID and citizenship requirements, but without new restrictions on mail-in ballots.

“They want to cheat,” President Trump said during the State of the Union, looking straight at the Democrats. “They have cheated. And their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat.” ...

The rubber is about to meet the road. Irresistible pressure is building on the Senate to act. What nobody knows is whether Senate Majority Leader John Thune will require a ‘talking filibuster,’ which is the only realistic way that the SAVE Act could pass. It has a constitutional majority of 51 Senators, but a relatively recent Senate rule allows any Democrat to permanently stall any bill with fewer than 60 votes.

The vote is not yet scheduled. If Thune does require a talking filibuster —something he probably and wisely won’t announce until that precise moment— all Hades will break loose. Everyone seems to think the midterms depend on this vote. Either way, the temperature is about to get incandescent, and I, for one, am here for it, with microwave popcorn ready at hand.

Even as a skeptic of this Iran operation, I will still say it's wildly unfair to claim (as some right wing critics have claimed) that the Trump Admin hasn't achieved anything of substance to this point in its term. Shutting down the border alone is a massive victory, and not the only one. However, it is fair to say that Republicans in congress have done very little that can be considered meaningful. Tax cuts and releasing the Epstein files is not nearly enough for a year's worth of work when so much needs to be done. All of that can be forgiven, as far as I'm concerned, if they get the SAVE Act passed. If they don't -- if they fail to accomplish the basic task of securing our elections -- then this will go down as the most disappointing and useless Republican congress in modern history, which is really saying something.

4:59 AM · Mar 3, 2026

https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/2028817426834395176

Even as a skeptic of this Iran operation, I will still say it's wildly unfair to claim (as some right wing critics have claimed) that the Trump Admin hasn't achieved anything of substance to this point in its term. Shutting down the border alone is a massive victory, and not the only one. However, it is fair to say that Republicans in congress have done very little that can be considered meaningful. Tax cuts and releasing the Epstein files is not nearly enough for a year's worth of work when so much needs to be done. All of that can be forgiven, as far as I'm concerned, if they get the SAVE Act passed. If they don't -- if they fail to accomplish the basic task of securing our elections -- then this will go down as the most disappointing and useless Republican congress in modern history, which is really saying something.

4:59 AM · Mar 3, 2026