Collins boosts Republican voter ID effort, but won't scrap filibuster

Senate Republicans gained a key ally in their quest to enshrine voter ID into law, but the lawmaker's support comes with a condition.

A trio of lawmakers, led by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, have undertaken a campaign to convince their colleagues to support the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, working social media and closed-door meetings to secure the votes.

The campaign has proven successful, with the cohort gaining a crucial vote from Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who announced that she would back the SAVE America Act, which recently passed the House. With Collins, Senate Republicans have at least a slim majority backing the act.

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"I support the version of the SAVE America Act that recently passed the House," Collins said in a statement first reported by the Maine Wire. "The law is clear that in this country only American citizens are eligible to vote in federal elections."

"In addition, having people provide an ID at the polls, just as they have to do before boarding an airplane, checking into a hotel, or buying an alcoholic beverage, is a simple reform that will improve the security of our federal elections and will help give people more confidence in the results," she continued.

Collins noted that she did not support the previous version of the bill, known simply as the SAVE Act, because it "would have required people to prove their citizenship every single time they cast a ballot."

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Her decision gives Lee and Senate Republicans the votes needed to clear a key procedural hurdle in the Senate.

"We now have enough votes to pass a motion to proceed to the House-passed bill - even without any additional votes - with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie," Lee said in a post on X.

That tie-breaking scenario would only present itself if Republicans turn to the standing, or talking, filibuster. It's a move that Lee has been pushing his colleagues to make, and one that would require actual, physical debate over the bill. 

It's the precursor to the current version of the filibuster, where the only hill lawmakers have to climb is acquiring 60 votes. Lee and other conservatives believe that if they turn to the standing filibuster, rather than the "zombie filibuster," they can barrel through Democratic resistance.

But some fear that turning to that tool could paralyze the Senate floor for weeks or even months, depending on Senate Democrats' resolve.  

And Collins' support is not enough to smash through the 60-vote Senate filibuster.

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Complicating matters, Collins made clear that she does not support doing away with the filibuster, as do several other Senate Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who reiterated earlier this week that the GOP doesn't have the votes to eliminate the legislative tool.

"I oppose eliminating the legislative filibuster," Collins said. "The filibuster is an important protection for the rights of the minority party that requires Senators to work together in the best interest of the country."

"Removing that protection would, for example, allow a future Congress controlled by Democrats to pass provisions on anything they want - D.C. statehood, open borders, or packing the Supreme Court - with just a simple majority of Senators," she continued.

GOP senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, remain the only Republicans who have not pledged support for the SAVE Act.