Four Senate Republicans—Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitch McConnell, and Thom Tillis—joined Democrats to block advancing the SAVE America Act, a major Trump-backed election overhaul. The vote, tied to a nearly $70 billion immigration and border funding pack
For a second time, the SAVE America Act hit a wall in the Senate—this one hard enough to spark an immediate MAGA backlash.
Four Senate Republicans—Susan Collins. Lisa Murkowski. Mitch McConnell and Thom Tillis—broke with their party to stop an effort to advance the bill by attaching it to a nearly $70 billion funding package for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol operations. The move dealt another setback to a major Trump-backed election overhaul proposal.
The vote also landed with the weight of repetition. It marked the second time the same four Republicans helped derail the measure, following an earlier failed attempt in April led by Sen. John Kennedy.
The SAVE America Act is strongly backed by Donald Trump and would require voters to prove their citizenship and present a photo ID to vote. That means voters would need to provide proof of identity—including documents such as passports or birth certificates—when registering to vote. The bill passed the House in February on a near party-line vote but has stalled in the Senate for months.
Republicans tried to change that by attaching the legislation to the $70 billion border funding package. Trump and his allies have framed the bill as essential to protecting election integrity. pointing to Trump’s continued claims questioning the results of the 2020 presidential election. In March, Trump called the proposal his “No. 1 priority” while speaking to congressional allies at his Florida golf resort.
“It will guarantee the midterms,” Trump told lawmakers, according to Politico. “If you don’t get it, big trouble, my opinion.”
Later, Trump said he would not sign any other legislation until the SAVE America Act becomes law, declaring that it “supersedes everything else.”
And even with Republicans holding a 53-47 Senate majority. the bill still couldn’t clear the chamber’s 60-vote filibuster threshold for the second time. The second blocking vote meant the Senate move wasn’t just a procedural delay—it was a direct rebuttal to a proposal Trump has treated as central to the political timeline ahead.
That’s where the backlash turned personal.
On X, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville accused the dissenting Republicans of betraying conservative voters. “It is beyond EMBARRASSING that ‘Republicans’ continue to block the SAVE America Act,” Tuberville wrote. “The four senators voting against the bill have not only betrayed their constituents — they are ACCOMPLICES in Democrats’ ‘Illegals First’ agenda. The people of North Carolina, Alaska, Kentucky, and Maine deserve better.’”.
Conservative commentator David J. Freeman, known online as Gunther Eagleman, also attacked the senators, calling the vote “unbelievable.” He shared a post on X stating that “voting against the Save America Act is treason against the American people,” adding, “It’s true.”
The sequence is stark: the SAVE America Act passed the House in February on a near party-line vote. stalled in the Senate for months. was targeted again by being attached to a nearly $70 billion ICE and Border Patrol funding package. and still failed to reach 60 votes—again—after the same four Republicans helped block it.
For Trump’s allies, the message is that their “No. 1 priority” isn’t moving. For the senators who voted against it. the bill still doesn’t have the coalition they’re willing to provide—leaving the election integrity fight tangled with border funding and the high-stakes pressure of an election-year schedule.
SAVE America Act Trump-backed election overhaul Senate Republicans Susan Collins Lisa Murkowski Mitch McConnell Thom Tillis ICE Border Patrol Tommy Tuberville MAGA backlash