WASHINGTON — Sen. Ron Johnson said Tuesday that he wants to vote on changing the 60-vote Senate filibuster rule to test what Democrats are thinking as Republicans wrestle over how to wrangle the SAVE America Act through the upper chamber.
“I’ve got colleagues who just simply won’t believe the Democrats will actually do it, just because two of them held out last time — those [two] who’ve been purged from their party,” Johnson (R-Wis.) told reporters, referring to Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.
“So let’s get them on the record. Let’s — [make the] first vote out, ‘Let’s end the filibuster’ — and just see what they do. If they go down and vote ‘no,’ it’s probably the only thing that would restrain them from not ending the filibuster the next time they’ve got power, because they’re on the record.”
Johnson added that he would “reluctantly support” scrapping the 60-vote requirement “because Democrats will do it when they’re back in power” — but left open the possibility of voting no if enough Democrats demonstrated that they want to keep the filibuster in place.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has insisted he lacks the votes to change Senate debate rules.
“We don’t have the votes either to proceed, get on a talking fillibuster nor sustain one if we get on it,” he told reporters Tuesday. “I understand that the president has a passion to see this issue addressed. As do all of us.
“For better or worse, I’m the one that has to be the clear-eyed realist about what we can achieve here.”
Senate Republicans have been facing a revolt over the SAVE America Act, with prominent conservative influencers naming and shaming GOP lawmakers who won’t roll back the filibuster to pass it.
The SAVE America Act would impose a proof of citizenship requirement for registration to vote in federal elections.
While the GOP has 53 Senate seats, they would need to flip seven Democrats to overcome the filibuster.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) has suggested that Republicans use the budget reconciliation process to pass the SAVE America Act with a simple majority.
“My guess is the [Senate] Parliamentarian would for sure rule that more policy than budget, and so somewhat out of order,” Johnson told The Post. “And if we overrule the ruling of the chair, that’s a form of nuking the filibuster. So I don’t think that’s realistic.”
Acknowledging the unlikelihood of the Senate GOP nuking the filibuster, Johnson stressed the importance of making sure Democrats get blamed for tanking the SAVE America Act.
“We ignore our base at our own peril, and we don’t want to disfigure our base,” he said. “…I’m sympathetic with the position of not any filibuster, but short of that, our next goal ought to be to make sure the Democrats be blamed because they’re the ones truly blocking it.”
Johnson also urged his colleagues to take the election threat from Democrats seriously, contending that they “are at war with us” and that “they are trying to destroy us.”
Thune is set to tee up a vote on the SAVE America Act next week.
