Mar 19 2026

Tillis Statement on the SAVE America Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), issued the following statement on the SAVE America Act:

"I am one of the few members of Congress who has actually passed a voter ID law (on a bipartisan basis), which I did as Speaker of the House in North Carolina, and that's why I proudly co-sponsored the SAVE Act. While I support strengthening mail-in ballot integrity, many states like Utah, Florida, Alaska, and Montana rely on the use of mail-in ballots to conduct their elections, and we should not be completely upending how states already securely conduct their elections. Even if this issue is fixed, the SAVE America Act still will not have the 60 votes required to pass it.

"While the so-called 'talking filibuster' has been floated as an option, there is a reason why previous attempts to utilize it in recent history have failed. A 'talking filibuster' would effectively make Chuck Schumer the new Senate Majority Leader, allowing Democrats to block every single Trump judge and executive branch nominee, and allow them to force endless votes on anything they want. Democrats would control the floor of the U.S. Senate until the end of the year.

"There are only two ways out of a 'talking filibuster.' The first is for Democrats to miraculously give up and allow Republicans to pass the bill with a simple majority. That is never going to happen, and anyone who claims it's even a remote possibility is either completely misinformed or intentionally misleading the American people.

"The second way is for Republicans to substantially weaken or eliminate the filibuster altogether. I have made it crystal clear that I will never vote to do this. Eliminating the filibuster is a foolish and lazy idea pushed by politicians seeking short-term gain at the expense of causing irreparable long-term harm to our nation. Succeeding in eliminating the filibuster would significantly weaken the minority party, end the need for bipartisan compromise, and allow erratic swings in policy that would transform America for the worse. Those are just the consequences of a best-case outcome.

"During the last Congress, all of my Democratic colleagues currently serving supported nuking the filibuster to try to pass their own partisan election reform bill. Democrats were dead wrong to try to change the filibuster when they controlled the Senate, and Republicans would be dead wrong to try to change the filibuster now that we control the Senate. The only real path to address the American people's declining confidence in our elections is for both parties to find common ground on legislation that supports universal adoption of voter ID, proof of citizenship, and other vital election integrity measures."

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