Senate GOP memo reveals SAVE Act talking points
By: Zachary Schermele
USA Today
WASHINGTON - Senate Republican leadership was privately urging rank-and-file lawmakers and their staffers to throw cold water on the prospect of passing President Donald Trump's voting restitutions bill anytime soon, according to an internal strategy memo obtained by USA Today
..... The message document, which was circulated in late July [2026] by the Senate Republican Conference, advised senators' officers to tell reporters there isn't enough support in chamber to pass the Safeguard American Vote Eligibility or SAVE America Act. It also urged them to rebuff the president's demand hat Republicans abolish the legislative filibuster, the 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
..... "I want to pass the SAVE America Act just as much as the President, but we don't have the votes to pass the SAVE America Act or eliminate the filibuster," one of the proposed talking points for GOP senators said. "If Staying in session will somehow change that outcome, them I'm all for it."
..... The memo goes on to encourage Republicans to point to this fall's [2026] elections to contradict the president's new suggestion hat the Senate cancel tis upcoming August recess. In a July 27 [2026] social media post, Trump said Senate Majority Leader John Thune R-South Dakota, "should not allow the United States Senate to 'leave town'" until SAVE is passed or the filibuster is terminated.
..... "We are not going to get a single Democrat to vote for the SAVE America Act no matter how long we are in session," another suggested GOP talking point said. "And we have work to do at home to make sure that we beat the Democrats in November." [2026]
..... The document offered a clearer look at how leaders in the Senate GOP are trying to thread several tricky political needles just three months before the midterm elections. It also highlighted the urgency Republicans are feeling to stay unified as divisions between the White House and Senate leadership grow more pronounced.
.....
"We could stay here until the cows come home. It's not going to change a thing," said Santor John Cornyn, R-Texas, on the potential for passing the SAVE Act. "We keep over promising and underachieving, which is not a recipe for good morale or high over participation in the midterm elections."
..... When Trump again implored Senate Republicans on July 27 [2026] to abolish the filibuster, he predicted doing so would allow them to "quickly pass everything the ever dreamed of."
..... Many senators including some of the president's stalwart GOP allies, disagree. They say the 60-vote threshold forces Republicans and Democrats to work together to pass legislation that could actually affect Americans' lives. Ending in their view, would have major implications for the country, allowing any party with a simple majority ion the 100-member chamber to avoid bi-partisanship.
..... Speaking to reporters July 27, [2026] Thune said White House staffers sat down at one point with about 20 Senate Republicans to gauge support for a number of hot-button issues, including ending the filibuster and nixing the Senate's "blue slip" process, which gives lawmakers virtual veto power over judicial nominations in their states. Fifteen senators signed they'd be no votes, according to Thune.
..... "If we eliminated the filibuster, the next Democrat majority would repeal SAVE America and state a complete federal takeover of state elections," the memo said. "They will make DC and Puerto Rico the 51st and 52nd states and pack the Supreme Court. They will cerate a permanent legislative majority and pass their radical agenda."