With Their Voter Bill Stymied, G.O.P. Leaders Ponder a Plan B
G.O.P. leaders now say they may try to dodge a Democratic filibuster by trying to squeeze the legislation through Congress using a special budget process, in what would amount to a procedural bank shot facing nearly impossible odds.
The detour is alarming hard-right champions of the bill, who view it as a surrender to Democrats. They see little chance of success if Republicans resort to using complex filibuster-proof rules known as budget reconciliation to try to get the measure over the finish line.
Those rules allow legislation to be pushed through on a majority vote but also require that any provisions meet specific budget goals, not policy objectives like those in what Republicans have dubbed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act.
“There are many things the Senate could pass with a simple majority using the procedure known as ‘budget reconciliation,’” Senator Mike Lee, the Utah Republican and chief proponent of the legislation, wrote on social media. “The SAVE America Act is *not* one of them.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/us/politics/republicans-voter-bill-plan-b.html
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