I know that the world is focused on Iran but here’s what President Trump wrote on Truth Social Sunday about the so-called “SAVE Act” (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility):
“It supersedes everything else. MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE. I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed, AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION – GO FOR THE GOLD: MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. & PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS EXCEPT FOR MILITARY – ILLNESS, DISABILITY, TRAVEL.”
The original bill, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) way back in January 2025, has undergone a few enhancements at the hands of Sen. Lee’s colleagues, but the core desideratum is simple: that American elections must be secure, i.e., only those entitled to vote should be allowed to vote.
This is an overwhelmingly popular goal. Some 88 percent of voters are behind it. Why? Because voters, looking back at the 2020 election, are rightly concerned about “election integrity,” which is a polysyllabic phrase for the real process at issue: fraud.
Let’s break it down.
1 – Only US citizens are allowed to vote in US elections; therefore proof of citizenship must be furnished before one is allowed to vote.
2 – Because we want to be sure that people are who they say they are, people going to vote must show a photo ID.
3 – Because mail-in ballots have been shown to be easily manipulated, their use should be restricted to those situations where in-person voting is impracticable or impossible.
Are these requirements objectionable? Democrats think so. Speaking for them, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer left his cheeseburgers unattended, dusted off his highest horse, climbed up, and posted this: “The SAVE Act is Jim Crow 2.0. It would disenfranchise tens of millions of people.”
Gosh. Has Sen. Schumer tried to board a commercial airplane recently? Has he tired to check into a hotel? Has he even tried to enter an office building or send a package via FedEx, UPS, or other such carrier? What’s the first thing the friendly person behind the counter would ask him? Yes, that’s right: “May I see a photo ID, please?”
The fate of the SAVE Act is important in itself and as a reminder about the feckless – or perhaps it is the minatory – behavior of Senate Republicans. Under the leadership of John Thune (R-S.D.), the Senate has been conspicuously unhelpful to the president and his agenda. Indeed, it is not too much to say that, under Sen. Thune, the Senate has become a graveyard for Trump-backed legislation passed by the House.” Why is that? Inquiring minds want to know. Could it possibly be that Sen. Thune is an anti-MAGA hack whose true allegiance is with the business-as-usual deep state? You might very well think that; I couldn’t possibly comment.
I have my cards right here. Let me place them on the table. I believe that Democrats today are untrustworthy. If they think they can get away with it, they cheat in elections. Failing to require a photo idea and proof of citizenship makes it easier to cheat. Ditto the promiscuous use of mail-in ballots. I think Donald Trump was correct in both of his recent predictions. If the SAVE Act passes, he said, “it will guarantee the midterms” for the Republicans. If it fails to pass, he said, “big trouble.”
How big? The commentator who writes under the soubriquet “Cynical Publius” gets it right. “If the GOP fails in this,” he wrote at the end of February, “literally half of their voters will walk away. They won’t become Democrats, they’ll just withdraw from public involvement, stop voting and start hoarding canned food and ammunition.” And then what? Best case: the GOP “back to the 1960s where the Democrats had overwhelming control of both Houses and the Presidency.” Worst case? “[T]he entire conservative right descends into fractured, ineffective factions and the Democrats gain multi-generational control like has never before been seen in the USA.”
Donald Trump has been astonishingly successful dealing with tyrants, obstreperous foreign leaders, business rivals and political opponents. Perhaps his most difficult challenge will be in dealing with insidious RINO turncoats in his own party. The fate of the SAVE Act will broadcast the result to the world.
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