Sen. Collins supports the GOP’s (SAVE) America legislation requiring voter ID — under one condition
Senate Republicans have found a key ally in their effort to enact voter ID, but the lawmaker’s support comes with a caveat.
A team of three lawmakers, headed by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has campaigned to convince his colleagues to support the Save America Vote (SAVE) America Act, working on social media and holding closed-door meetings to protect votes.
The campaign was successful, as the team received a key vote from Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who announced her support for the SAVE America Act, which recently passed the House.
With Collins, Senate Republicans have at least a small majority in favor of the act.
“I support the version of the SAVE America Act that just passed the House,” Collins said in a statement first reported by Maine Wire.
“The law is clear that in this country only American citizens are eligible to vote in federal elections.”
“Furthermore, having people provide identification at the polls, as they must do before boarding a plane, checking into a hotel, or purchasing an alcoholic beverage, is a simple change that will improve the security of our state elections and will help give people more confidence in the results,” he continued.
Collins noted that he was opposed to the previous version of the bill, known simply as the SAVE Act, because it “would have required people to show proof of citizenship every time they voted.”
His decision gives Lee and Senate Republicans the votes needed to clear a key procedural hurdle in the Senate.
“We now have enough votes to pass a motion to proceed to the House-passed bill – even without additional votes – where Vice President JD Vance is breaking,” Lee said in X’s song.
That crisis can only manifest itself if Republicans resort to a standing, or talking, filibuster. It’s a move Lee has been pushing his colleagues to take, and one that would require a real, physical debate on the bill.
It is a precursor to the current version of the filibuster, where only lawmakers have to raise 60 votes.
Lee and other conservatives believe that if they turn to a standing filibuster, instead of a “zombie filibuster,” they can punch through the Democratic opposition.
But some fear that turning to that tool could paralyze the Senate for weeks or months, depending on the decision of Senate Democrats.
And Collins’ support is not enough to break 60 votes in the Senate.
Complicating matters, Collins has made it clear that he does not support repealing the filibuster, as do many other Senate Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., who reiterated earlier this week that the GOP does not have the votes to end the legislative tool.
“I am opposed to the abolition of the legislative filibuster,” Collins said.
“The filibuster is an important protection of caucus rights that requires senators to work together for the common good.”
“Removing that protection, for example, would allow a future Congress controlled by Democrats to pass provisions on whatever they want — DC statehood, open borders, or packing the Supreme Court — with just a majority of Senators,” he continued.
GOP Leaders Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, remain the only Republicans who have not pledged to support the SAVE Act.
