Senate Republicans have secured the 50 votes necessary to advance the SAVE America Act, setting the stage for a high-stakes procedural battle that could test the future of the filibuster in a 50–50 chamber.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) announced Friday evening that the legislation now has the backing of 50 senators, enough to force a motion to proceed with Vice President JD Vance prepared to cast the tie-breaking vote.
The breakthrough came after Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), long viewed as a pivotal moderate, signaled her support. In a post on Twitter, Lee declared: “We’ve got 49 Senate sponsors of the SAVE America Act and at least one more—Senator Collins—who supports it, and that takes us to 50! We now have enough votes to pass a motion to proceed to the House-passed bill—even without any additional votes—with @VP breaking the tie.”
What’s next now that we have enough votes to pass the motion to proceed to the House-passed SAVE America Act?
In a nutshell, we now need to convince Senate Republicans to ditch the Zombie Filibuster & enforce the Talking Filibuster on this bill! https://t.co/WsNZfFJUrQ pic.twitter.com/TOiT3gYYuB
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) February 13, 2026
The SAVE America Act (H.R. 7296), sponsored in the House by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and carried in the Senate by Lee, would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship—such as a passport or birth certificate—for federal voter registration. The bill also mandates photo identification at polling places and directs states to remove non-citizens from voter rolls.
The House approved the measure February 11 by a 218-213 vote, largely along party lines, with one Democrat joining Republicans, noted Newsweek.
Supporters, including President Donald Trump, argue the legislation strengthens election integrity and aligns with broad public support for citizenship verification and voter ID requirements. Conservative activists have amplified the push online, portraying the bill as a long-overdue reform.
But advancing the measure is only the first step. Final passage in the Senate would require 60 votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster—an unlikely prospect given unified Democratic opposition.
Lee’s answer is procedural rather than substantive: restore what he calls the “talking filibuster.”
Rather than abolishing the 60-vote threshold, Lee has urged Senate leadership to require opponents to physically hold the floor and debate continuously if they wish to block the bill—reviving the chamber’s earlier practice and eliminating what critics call today’s “silent” or “zombie” filibuster.
“Enforcing the Talking Filibuster is NOT ‘eliminating’ the filibuster. It’s just enforcing the Senate’s rules and making Democrats opposed to the SAVE America Act actually speak if they want to filibuster,” Lee wrote.
He has described the effort as a “difficult path fraught with uncertainties,” but argues that forcing sustained public debate would increase transparency and expose what Republicans characterize as Democratic resistance to widely supported safeguards. In recent remarks, he has called on colleagues to “slay the Zombie Filibuster” and “MAKE THEM SPEAK.”
Enforcing the Talking Filibuster is NOT “eliminating” the filibuster
It’s just enforcing the Senate’s rules and making Democrats opposed to the SAVE America Act actually *speak* if they want to filibuster
If we don’t do this now, we might as well prepare to lose
MAKE… https://t.co/n0MGYXVsUb pic.twitter.com/SVxnzu8aEt
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) February 14, 2026
Democrats have said they will shut down the country in order to prevent photo IDs and proof of citizenship from being required to vote.
Roughly 80 percent of Americans, across race and party, support the measure.
Americans agree with Nicki Minaj when it comes to voter id.
83% of favor photo voter id to vote per Pew. This includes 70%+ of Democrats and Republicans, as well as 75%+ of Americans across races…. White, Black, and Latino.
It's not controversial. pic.twitter.com/9Kocw85Uh8
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) February 3, 2026
The internal Republican debate now centers on whether leadership will embrace Lee’s procedural gambit. Some GOP moderates question whether a revived talking filibuster could spiral into prolonged floor theatrics, endless amendments, and weeks of consumed legislative time.
For now, the motion to proceed appears within reach. Whether Republicans can translate that procedural win into final passage remains uncertain.
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Can we apply to other issues