Karoline Leavitt stood up to the entire White House press corps every day for a year and a half and walked out undefeated.
Katie Zacharia officially took that job Monday, and she's already putting Senate Republicans on notice.
What she just said about the SAVE Act and tight midterm races should make Republican senators sweat.
Katie Zacharia Steps Into Karoline Leavitt's Shoes With a Warning to Senate Republicans
New White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia appeared on Fox & Friends Weekend – before officially starting as White House press secretary.
She went straight at Senate Republicans for failing to pass the SAVE America Act – Trump's signature election security legislation requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID at the polls.
"If they had passed the SAVE America Act, I don't even think we would be talking about a lot of these tight races," Zacharia said on air.
That's a remarkable statement from a woman who hadn't even had her first official day yet – made on national television, before her first briefing, with the blame landed directly on the Republican Senate.
https://twitter.com/martinwalsh__/status/2108924291412541796
Senate Republicans Killed the SAVE Act and Left Trump to Fight the 2026 Midterms Alone
The SAVE America Act passed the House in February 2026 and died in the Senate – not because Democrats killed it, but because Senate Republicans wouldn't fight for it.
To break a Democratic filibuster, Republicans need 60 votes – they have 53. Senate Majority Leader John Thune repeatedly told reporters there wasn't enough appetite within the GOP to eliminate the 60-vote threshold, even as Trump threatened to hold other legislation hostage until the SAVE Act passed.
Senate Republicans still didn't deliver.
Zacharia went further: Congress needs to "step up and come behind him and create law so he doesn't have to do it by the stroke of his pen."
Trump has been forced to govern around his own party's Senate because the Republican Senate won't back him up when it counts – and proof of citizenship to vote is one of the most popular positions in American politics. Republicans couldn't get it done.
They headed into November's midterms without it – and Trump's new press secretary said so publicly on Fox News before her first briefing.
El-Sayed Is Running DSA Talking Points and the Michigan Senate Race Is Proving It
Zacharia called out the Michigan Senate race directly – Republican Mike Rogers against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.
"He is talking all DSA talking points," Zacharia said of El-Sayed. "He's not talking about the auto industry, jobs, anything that actually matters to someone in Michigan."
El-Sayed is a socialist who built his political brand on Medicare for All and hard-left identity politics – running in a state where Trump won twice and where only 19% of Michiganders say mass migration has been good for the state, according to the Daily Signal.
Rogers led El-Sayed by nearly five points in a May 2026 Glengariff Group survey of likely Michigan general election voters, according to the Washington Examiner – a margin that should be wider.
Senate Republicans handed Democrats a ready-made environment by refusing to fight for the SAVE Act, and Rogers is running in it alone.
Republicans haven't won a Senate seat in Michigan since 1994.
Rogers is trying to end that drought with one hand tied behind his back – and the GOP Senate tied it.
Zacharia questioned the polling: "I don't know how much I believe all of the polling numbers."
But she didn't dismiss the stakes – she named specific races, called out the legislation Senate Republicans buried, and put congressional Republicans on record as having done less than Trump needed.
What Katie Zacharia Said Before Day One Means for Republicans and the 2026 Midterms
Zacharia walked onto the job Monday having already put her own party's Senate on notice – before her first official briefing.
She came from Trump Media and Technology Group – the company behind Truth Social – and served a stint at DHS before this appointment.
Trump called her work at Trump Media "outstanding" and praised her as "a devoted fan and member of MAGA" when he made the announcement on Truth Social Friday.
Trump didn't pick a diplomat – he picked someone willing to fight the party when it fails him.
Proof of citizenship to vote is supported by a strong majority of Americans. Senate Republicans had the most popular election security argument in the country and chose procedural caution over it anyway.
If Michigan flips blue and Democrats retake the Senate, every Republican senator who refused to fight for the filibuster carve-out will have to answer for that choice.
Katie Zacharia just made sure they know someone is keeping score.
Sources:
- Donald Trump, Truth Social, Oct. 10, 2026.
- "Trump Taps Conservative Commentator Katie Zacharia to Replace Leavitt as Press Secretary," TNND/OKC Fox, Oct. 10, 2026.
- Fred Lucas, "Michigan Poll: Trump's Job Approval Dangerously Low, but Senate Race Is Close," The Daily Signal, June 1, 2026.
- "GOP's Mike Rogers Edges Democrats Battling for Michigan Senate Seat," Washington Examiner, May 27, 2026.