Senate Republicans just crossed a major threshold on the SAVE Act. This week, the House passed the bill in a 218-213 vote. In the Senate, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) revealed she will support it as well, giving Republicans the votes needed to pass this popular, commonsense legislation to secure our elections. We don’t have the 60 votes to break the filibuster. But thanks to Barack Obama, we can still get the SAVE Act if we can’t get the bill passed.
It was great news when Collins revealed her support for the SAVE Act, because it means Vice President JD Vance can break a 50-50 tie on procedural votes, giving the bill a real shot at reaching President Trump’s desk. The SAVE Act does two things: it requires documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and an approved photo ID when casting a ballot.
Easy stuff. Popular and noncontroversial… except with Democrats in Congress, who will block the bill in the Senate.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is pushing hard for a "talking filibuster" to force Democrats to actually work to obstruct the bill, rather than just vote against cloture to end debate. Lee acknowledged the uncertainty, telling reporters that "there are no guarantees here. But the only shot we've got at this is through the talking filibuster.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune hasn’t committed to the strategy, citing concerns that it could eat up weeks of floor time. That leaves Republicans in a bit of a pickle and a potential dead end.
But thanks to Barack Obama, there is a way.
After Congress failed to pass the DREAM Act in 2011, Obama issued an executive order creating DACA — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. That order protected hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant youth from deportation and gave them work permits, renewable driver's licenses, and access to certain government benefits.
Related: I Want the MEGA Act, but I’ll Take the SAVE Act
Obama justified DACA as "prosecutorial discretion," claiming he was simply choosing not to enforce existing law. Critics called it what it was — an unconstitutional end run around Congress. Even Obama himself had previously acknowledged he didn't have the power to unilaterally rewrite immigration law, but he did it anyway. As of today, the program still exists, though it continues to face challenges in the courts.
President Trump made it clear Friday that if the Senate fails to pass the SAVE Act, he will act. In a post on Truth Social, he declared, "There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!" He followed up by promising an executive order. "If we can't push it through Congress, there are legal grounds indicating why this SCAM should not be allowed.”
Trump's strategy pulls directly from Barack Obama's playbook on immigration. Yes, the move would almost certainly trigger immediate legal challenges, but it’s something. Make no mistake about it, an executive order isn't the ideal solution — it's not permanent, it's not as strong as legislation, and it would face courtroom battles from day one. But if DACA can still exist today despite having been created via executive fiat, tell me why Trump can do the same thing to secure our elections.
This actually puts Democrats in an uncomfortable position. If they block the SAVE Act and Trump issues an executive order on Voter ID, they'll have a hard time explaining why DACA was legitimate but Voter ID isn't. Democrats celebrated Obama's DACA order as bold leadership when Congress wouldn't act. Applying that same logic to election security cuts both ways.
I don’t want Trump to have to rely on an executive order, but Barack Obama established a precedent, and I’m tired of the GOP not fighting as hard as the radical left. One thing is for sure: if Republicans need to go that route, Democrats can only blame Barack Obama.
