Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said there’s no way Democrats will let the SAVE Act pass in the Senate, playing up their ability to filibuster the GOP voter suppression bill despite being in the minority.
“We will not let it pass. Period. Over my dead body,” Schumer said in an interview on the Fast Politics Podcast with Molly Jong-Fast. “It is despicable.”
The SAVE Act is a priority bill for Republicans and President Donald Trump, and it already passed the House earlier this month. It would require Americans to show proof-of-citizenship documents in order to vote. But it’s already illegal to vote if you’re not a U.S. citizen; this bill would force people to prove they are U.S. citizens by providing documentation, like a passport or a certified license, that tens of millions of Americans don’t have ready access to.
Guess who’s less likely to have the documentation required for voting under this bill? Low-income people, voters of color and Indigenous people. Republican women are also more likely to report taking their husbands’ last names, which complicates the process for them.
Schumer said Democrats will hold firm in denying Republicans the 60 votes they need to break a filibuster to move forward with the SAVE Act. The chamber currently breaks down to 53 Republicans vs. 47 Democrats, including the two independents who caucus with them.
He’s previously said as much, but his latest interview is particularly fiery and perhaps an effort to show that he is channeling the anger felt by progressives that Democrats need to do more to fight Trump’s plans – something he took heat for not doing by progressives last month.
“I’m the Minority Leader. They need sixty votes for it. They will not get the sixty votes,” he said.