SAVE Act fails in Senate again after 4 stubborn Republicans vote against it

Senate votes to block SAVE America Act.

The SAVE America Act was voted down in the Senate Thursday evening as four Republican senators voted with Democrats to block the legislation, which has already been passed by the House, from being added to the budget reconciliation act. It's the second time the SAVE Act has failed in the Senate.

The measure needed at least 60 votes to pass but was able to muster only 48 votes after senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and outgoing Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky voted against it. The Save Act has been a signature piece of legislation championed by President Trump that, among other things, would require Americans to provide photo ID and proof of citizenship when voting in elections. Opposition among senate Democrats was unanimous. 

A law mandating voter identification for elections is overwhelmingly popular with Americans. A March poll showed voter ID is literally an 80-20 issue, with exactly 80% of those polled about requiring a valid photo ID to vote supporting such a measure. The poll showed just 20% oppose such a measure. Other polling has shown similar support among American voters, prompting Trump to describe the SAVE Act as "the most popular bill I've ever seen put before Congress."

"There's no other reason to say you don't have to have an ID. It just makes cheating easier," Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Thursday after the vote, according to Fox News. "Who wants a noncitizen voting in our election? If you're against that, that makes me wonder."  

Trump posted on Truth Social thanking Graham for bringing the act up for a vote in the Senate, and listing what the bill calls for. In addition to the voter ID clauses, the bill also includes provisions to limit mail-in voting, officially bans men from playing women's sports and makes gender transitioning surgery performed on children illegal.

Below, watch the moment in the Senate that the final votes were tallied showing the SAVE Act came up 12 votes short.