Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has declined to answer questions about a $5 million nationwide ad campaign pushing the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections and remains stalled despite House passage.
Thune’s communications staff did not respond to emailed questions from Rushmore State News after being asked about the advertising campaign urging passage of the SAVE America Act, a voter ID and election integrity bill that would require photo identification for voting, proof of citizenship for registration and stronger efforts to remove non-citizens from voter rolls.
In the email, Rushmore State News asked whether Thune had seen the campaign, what legislative options he was considering to advance the bill and whether he would support changes to Senate rules such as the “nuclear option” to remove the Senate’s filibuster to allow the measure to pass with a simple majority.
Thune did not respond to a Rushmore State News’ phone call left at his D.C. office or to emails on the matter.
Thune’s silence comes as Restoration of America has launched the advertising push urging the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act. The ads argue that voter ID requirements have broad public support and are standard in many other countries, and they criticize both Democrats for opposing the measure and Republicans for not yet acting decisively.
The campaign includes a $3.1 million national television buy and digital advertising in select swing states, with spots airing across both conservative and liberal media markets.
A March 2026 CBS News/YouGov poll of U.S. adults found that about 85% support requiring photo ID to vote and a majority also support proof of citizenship requirements to register, indicating broad, often bipartisan backing for nationwide voter ID-style policies despite sharp partisan differences in views on voter fraud and access to voting.
On Feb. 11, 2026, the U.S. House passed the SAVE America Act by a 218–213 vote, moving forward a measure requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. It marked the second House passage of the bill within a year, following a 220–208 vote on an earlier version on April 10, 2025. Despite repeated House approval, the legislation remains stalled in the U.S. Senate.
The legislation has drawn sustained support from Senate Republicans, including provisions backed publicly by U.S. Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who have signaled interest in advancing voter ID measures through broader legislative vehicles, including budget reconciliation.
Thune, in contrast, has been noncommittal, previously stating there was insufficient Republican support to eliminate the filibuster necessary to pass the Save America Act. In November, he said “the votes aren’t there.”
In his first address to the legislative body, Thune also defended the 60-vote threshold as part of the Senate’s intended design.
“They made the Senate smaller and senators’ terms of office longer, with the intention of creating a more stable, more thoughtful, and more deliberative legislative body to check ill-considered or intemperate legislation and protect the rights of the American people,” Thune said at the time.
However, under former President Joe Biden, Senate Democrats failed in their push to abolish the filibuster after opposition from then-Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, both of whom later left the party to become independents.
The latest silence from Thune’s office leaves open questions about how Republican leadership intends to navigate both the legislation’s stalled status and renewed outside pressure campaigns.
President Donald Trump has called the bill his “number-one priority” and repeatedly urged Senate Republicans to act on the legislation, calling for stronger GOP efforts to secure passage.
“He’s got to be a leader,” Trump told the Washington Examiner of Thune. “He’s the leader, he’s got to get them.”
Others in the Republicans have echoed that pressure.
In early March, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) called for potential changes to Senate rules, arguing that Democrats were blocking key Republican priorities and suggesting that procedural reforms such as a “talking filibuster” could allow legislation to pass with a simple majority.
Cornyn said that while he has long been protective of the filibuster, it is time for change.
“The Democrats’ recklessness and radicalism have changed the landscape,” Cornyn said in an op-ed published by the New York Post. “On these critical issues, at this critical hour, the old procedures no longer align with the core American principles we must defend.”
The push for the bill comes amid continued partisan division in the Senate.
In mid March a procedural vote to begin debate of the SAVE America Act passed 51-48, though support remained short of the 60 votes needed for final passage.
However, the bill still remains short of the 60 votes needed for passage, and no follow-up vote has been scheduled.
