Something surprising happened in Washington this weekend — or did it? Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) suddenly discovered a spine on one of President Trump's top legislative priorities. Cornyn now says he'll support using a talking filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, and a photo ID to actually vote. But does this move matter?
Let's be clear about what's actually happening here. Cornyn is in a Texas Republican Senate primary runoff against Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Paxton has been pounding him relentlessly over the SAVE Act, which has stalled in the Senate because Democrats can block it with a 60-vote filibuster threshold. Paxton threw a grenade into the race last week, offering to drop out entirely if the Senate could pass the SAVE Act.
“I would consider dropping out of this race if Senate Leadership agrees to lift the filibuster and passes the SAVE America Act,” he said on X. “John Cornyn is a coward who has refused to support abolishing the filibuster to pass this bill. Now, Fake News reporters and the establishment are trying to destroy me with misinformation.”
The Save America Act is the most important bill the U.S. Senate could ever pass, and I'm committed to helping President Trump get it done.
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) March 5, 2026
I would consider dropping out of this race if Senate Leadership agrees to lift the filibuster and passes the SAVE America Act.
John Cornyn…
So Cornyn punched back on Saturday. "Contrary to fake news in the twitterverse: I have supported the Save America Act from day one," he wrote. "I will happily support the 'talking filibuster' if that's what it takes to pass this into law."
While this development sounds promising, it may be a meaningless gesture. Why? Because nothing will happen without Senate Majority Leader John Thune on board. And Thune, as of right now, is decidedly not on board. Last month, Thune told reporters that enforcing a talking filibuster is problematic.
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“The talking filibuster issue is one on which there is not, certainly, a unified Republican conference, and there would have to be,” Thune said. “If you go down that path, you’re talking about the need to table what are going to be numerous amendments and an ability to keep 50 Republicans unified, pretty much on every single vote. And there’s just not, there isn’t support for doing that at this point.”
Fair point, but I think we all know that Democrats will nuke the filibuster entirely once they control the White House, Senate, and House again. Enforcing the talking filibuster seems like a good compromise to end partisan obstruction without nuking the filibuster entirely.
This is no doubt the moment for Republicans to codify commonsense election integrity that has mainstream support. And it can be done. Senate Republicans have already locked down the 50 needed to pass the SAVE Act, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie. The filibuster is the only thing standing in the way. The question isn't whether Republicans support the bill — they do. The question is whether Thune and the Republican leadership are willing to force Democrats to stand at their podiums and talk themselves hoarse to block a bill with over 80% public support.
Until Thune moves, Cornyn's talking filibuster pledge is, at best, a political maneuver timed to blunt Paxton's momentum in a brutal runoff. At worst, it's exactly what Paxton said it was: hollow.
