The Republican-led Senate voted Tuesday to open what is likely to be a lengthy, rancorous floor fight over a bill to implement strict voter identification requirements in federal elections.
The SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to cast a ballot, is backed by nearly every Republican.
Still, it lacks enough Democratic support to clear a 60-vote threshold needed to cut off debate and vote on final passage, which means the debate is likely to drag on for days with no predetermined end time.
Republicans have little choice but to bring the measure to the floor thanks to intense pressure from President Trump, who said the bill is his top legislative priority. Mr. Trump has threatened to withhold his signature from any other bill until the SAVE America Act is passed.
The Senate voted along party lines, 51-48, to move the bill to the floor for a debate that could last weeks.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, defended bringing the bill to the floor, even though it could take two weeks of floor time and is all but certain to be defeated by a Democratic filibuster.
“It’s an important debate to have because it is an issue that is at the very core of elections in this country, and I think this is something that the American people care about, something that we’ve obviously heard a lot about from constituents across this country,” Mr. Thune told reporters after a closed-door party luncheon. “How it ends remains to be seen.”
In recent days, Mr. Trump intensified his push for Republicans to take up and pass the SAVE America Act. Under his direction, Senate Republicans will bring up amendments to the bill that would impose restrictions on mail-in voting, ban biological male transgender athletes from playing in women’s sports and prohibit transgender surgeries on children.
Mr. Trump told House Republicans last week that the three additional provisions are very popular and “might help us” in the midterm elections. Republicans will be fighting to maintain their majorities in both chambers.
Democrats are digging in on their opposition to the measure, although polls show voter ID is backed overwhelmingly by Republicans, Democrats and independents.
They argue that the proposed voter registration requirements are too strict and would make it harder for married women with name changes to vote, as well as for others who might have difficulty locating a birth certificate or obtaining a passport needed to prove citizenship. Opponents of the bill say a provision requiring states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls would result in the purging of legal voters.
“If MAGA Republicans want to bog down the Senate over a debate on voter suppression, Democrats are ready. We’re ready to be here all day, all night, as long as it takes to ensure the powers of voter suppression do not win the day,” Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said on the Senate floor.
Opponents of the bill say a provision requiring states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls using a Homeland Security Department verification system would result in the purging of legal voters.
Sen. Patty Murray, Washington Democrat, said the department’s system is “a dumpster fire” that has wrongly flagged citizens for removal from voter rolls.
Mr. Trump and some Republicans are calling on the Senate to end the 60-vote threshold for passing legislation and push through the measure with a simple majority of 51 votes. Others want Mr. Thune to at least impose the “talking filibuster,” which would require Democrats to hold the floor with endless speeches opposing the measure.
Even a talking filibuster requirement eventually would require 60 votes, which the SAVE America Act does not have.
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, said Democrats are not willing to support laws to prevent illegal immigrants from voting because they want them to vote fraudulently in favor of Democrats.
“If we were voting on the merits of what was good for America, what was good for democracy and what was good for American citizens, the vote would be 100 to nothing,” Mr. Cruz said.
Mr. Thune said some Democrats could be “won over” during the course of the debate.
“At the end of the day, I just don’t know how you defend a position that you need to be a citizen in this country not only to register to vote but also to be able to show an ID when you vote. And we’ll see how long the Democrats want to defend that position, and maybe none of them will be won over at the end,” Mr. Thune said.
