President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would implement strict voter ID requirements “one way or the other,” and suggested that Senate Republicans could use an old practice known as the “talking filibuster” to overcome Democrat obstruction.
Senate Republicans are trying to muster enough support behind the Save America Act after a revamped version of the bill passed the House last week. Democrats, however, have the numbers to block the legislation since it first needs to clear the 60-vote threshold to get past the filibuster. Trump, however, said that Republicans have another idea to get over the Democrats’ hurdle and pass the Save America Act before the 2026 midterm elections.
“We are going to have the Save America Act, one way or the other, after approval by Congress through the very proper use of the Filibuster or, at minimum, by a Talking Filibuster, à la ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,'” Trump said, referring to the classic Jimmy Stewart film, where Stewart’s character, Mr. Smith, postpones a vote by speaking for 25 straight hours on the Senate floor.
Mr. Smith’s tactic is now referred to as a “talking filibuster,” a practice that was largely done away with in the 1970s when the Senate started the silent filibuster, allowing the opposition to stall votes only by stating their intent to filibuster, and thereby require 60 votes to invoke cloture.
Trump and Republicans hope that a long talking filibuster would cause Democrats to lose steam on their effort to stall the vote on the Save America Act and give Republicans a chance to pass it with a simple majority. Under the talking filibuster, however, Democrats could take turns speaking on the floor.
The idea was first floated by Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, who introduced the Save America Act in the Senate. Lee has been whipping up support for the legislation in the Senate, and at least 50 Republican senators have expressed support for the bill, giving the GOP the numbers they need to pass the Save America Act if they can get past the filibuster. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is the only Republican who has come out against the bill.
The revamped version of the bill aims to prevent illegal immigrants from voting and would require voters to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote along with photo ID before they cast their ballots, meaning people would have to show additional documentation such as a passport or a birth certificate.
Trump backed the talking filibuster idea for the Save America Act after his recent push to abolish the filibuster was shot down by Republican Senate leaders. Senator Lee clarified on Wednesday that the talking filibuster would not be a change to current Senate rules.
To resolve any confusion:
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) February 18, 2026
Invoking the talking filibuster does *not* require any change to any Senate rule—just the use of existing rules & procedures that often go unused (see the video)
We don’t have to do it on every bill, but we must do it here—to pass the SAVE America Act… https://t.co/Oyy4b2S9GX pic.twitter.com/4Z2hZXFACW
Lee argued that Democrats should not be granted the “benefit” of a silent cloture, as the Save America Act has the support of a majority of Congress, the president, and is extremely popular among the American people. Recent polling has shown that the vast majority of American voters back strict voter ID requirements similar to those proposed in the Save America Act.
Democrats argue that the Save America Act would “disenfranchise” up to 21 million voters and result in “Jim Crow 2.0,” the same criticism Democrats used for Georgia’s photo ID law that passed in 2021.
If the talking filibuster doesn’t work, Trump has suggested taking executive action to ensure voter ID requirements.
“There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week.
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