Senate Majority Leader John Thune reportedly acknowledged during a closed-door Republican lunch Wednesday that some GOP senators oppose President Donald Trump so much they would never support the SAVE America Act, regardless of the legislation’s substance.
According to multiple sources familiar with the meeting who spoke to the Daily Caller, Thune made the remark during a discussion that quickly escalated into a heated exchange over the election-integrity bill and its prospects in the Senate.
“Yeah, that totally happened,” one source familiar with the meeting told the outlet.
Thune’s office denied the account.
“This is a baseless claim, and it is unequivocally untrue,” a spokesperson for the South Dakota Republican told the Daily Caller.
The reported confrontation involved Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee, the chief Senate sponsor of the SAVE America Act and one of the legislation’s most vocal advocates.
According to Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio, several Republican senators challenged Lee during the private meeting. Desiderio reported that Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy questioned Lee’s strategy and expressed concern that President Trump had been led to believe the bill could pass the Senate in its current form.
The SAVE America Act has become a major priority for election-integrity advocates and has strong backing from Trump. Supporters argue the legislation would strengthen election safeguards and increase public confidence in federal elections.
Lee has argued that Republicans should continue pushing the bill despite procedural obstacles in the Senate.
Appearing on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle on Tuesday, Lee disputed Thune’s assessment that the legislation lacks a viable path forward.
“Yes, there is…and I respectfully but very strongly disagree with my colleague from South Dakota on that,” Lee said when asked whether the bill could still advance.
Lee noted that the legislation has already passed the House and commands majority support among Senate Republicans. While acknowledging that the bill currently lacks the 60 votes normally needed to invoke cloture and overcome a filibuster, he argued there are alternative procedural paths available.
“We don’t have 60 votes, just 10 votes short of achieving cloture,” Lee said. “But there are other ways of achieving cloture — you don’t actually have to have 60 votes to pass a bill.”
The Utah senator suggested Senate leadership could force the issue by keeping the legislation on the floor until a resolution is reached.
“My preferred means would be to put the bill on the floor today,” Lee said. “If the majority leader were to announce we are going to debate this till we pass it, we would get to the point of passage.”
The dispute highlights a growing divide within the Republican conference over both Senate procedure and Trump’s legislative priorities.
During an appearance on Fox News’ Special Report earlier this week, Thune emphasized the practical challenges facing the bill. He noted that Republicans recently held a vote on the legislation’s five major components but secured only 48 votes.
“The only way you can obviously get this done is to nuke the legislative filibuster,” Thune told host Bret Baier. “And that is not something that we have anywhere close to the votes to do.”
Trump has recently increased pressure on Senate Republicans to advance the legislation, including calling for portions of the bill to be attached to other must-pass legislation. The president has also publicly criticized Senate leadership and urged Republicans to find a way to move the measure forward.
The reported comments from Thune, if accurate, suggest some Senate Republicans’ opposition may extend beyond procedural concerns and reflect broader tensions over Trump’s influence within the party.
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