James Lankford is pressing Senate Republican leadership to keep the SAVE America Act moving through the budget reconciliation process before the August recess. Shelley Moore Capito said Thursday that the effort is focused on getting as much of the bill as possible into a reconciliation package that can pass with 50 votes.
Speaking Thursday morning during a briefing with West Virginia reporters from Capitol Hill, Capito said, “The important thing here to note is we do have 50 votes for the two major elements for the SAVE America Act. That’s voter ID and that’s proof of citizenship.”
Capito on John Thune
Capito said Senate Majority Leader John Thune will bring the bill to the floor once the votes are there. She added, “We are in the process of doing that. I think we’ve seen some very positive movement. Leader Thune has said he’ll put it on the floor when we get the 50 votes.”
The latest reconciliation package is a $95 billion bill that would provide needed Pentagon funding and agriculture dollars. The House included the SAVE America Act in that package, and reconciliation would let the Senate pass it with a simple 51-vote majority instead of the 60 votes needed to end debate.
Byrd Rule limits
The route is narrower than the full bill. Senate GOP leadership has whipped votes for a standalone SAVE America Act and does not have 50 votes within the caucus, while the Senate parliamentarian could decide that parts of the bill have no fiscal effect and must be removed under the Byrd Rule.
Capito said, “What we are trying to put together now with Leader Thune and the president and others is a way to put as much of that bill as we possibly can into a reconciliation bill that would only require 50 votes.” She also said Trump called on Thune to end the upcoming recess scheduled for a week from Friday and to end the Senate’s filibuster tradition.
Her account leaves the bill tied to two tests: whether the voter ID and proof of citizenship provisions stay inside the reconciliation package, and whether Thune can hold the 50 votes Capito says are available. If those votes hold, the Senate can move the parts that survive parliamentarian review; if they do not, the standalone bill still lacks the support Capito described.
