John Thune spent months protecting the Senate filibuster like it was his personal property.
Then Trump dangled a Texas Senate endorsement worth $100 million in primary spending – and Thune's carefully managed conference started cracking.
Now a veteran Republican senator who once called filibuster reform a "wrecking ball" just reversed himself completely, and the dominos haven't stopped falling.
Bernie Moreno Names the Republican Senators Blocking the SAVE America Act
Sitting across from Ingraham on The Ingraham Angle, U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) dropped the curtain on the Senate's internal war over the SAVE America Act.
"There's three or four Republicans that just won't be part of the team, and they're rowing their own different direction," Moreno said. "And, unfortunately, Leader Thune has very little leverage over them."
A Republican senator on national television, confirming what conservatives have suspected for months: a handful of GOP holdouts are blocking Trump's election integrity bill – and Majority Leader John Thune can't do a thing about it.
Moreno explained exactly why Thune is stuck. "He can't fire. He didn't hire these people." Senate leadership doesn't work like a corporation. Thune can't strip committee assignments without creating enemies he needs on other votes. He can't threaten primary challenges overnight. The pressure levers that once kept conference members in line have rusted out.
The SAVE America Act passed the House 218–213 in February. It requires documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections, mandates photo ID at the ballot box – in person and by mail – and directs states to purge illegal aliens from voter rolls monthly. Trump called it his No. 1 priority.
Fifty Republican senators publicly support it. The policy isn't the problem. The problem is three or four senators who answer to no one.
The names aren't a mystery.
RINO Lisa Murkowski opposes the SAVE Act outright. Susan Collins wants the filibuster to stay "forever" and won't back the talking filibuster. Thom Tillis called the talking filibuster a "goat rodeo." Mitch McConnell hasn't said a word – which, from a man who built his career on killing conservative legislation he pretended to support, says everything.
Those are Moreno's three or four. And none of them answer to anyone.
Why Senate Democrats Can Block Voter ID and Proof of Citizenship With One Senator
Democrat senators will filibuster the SAVE Act into oblivion. Chuck Schumer called it "Jim Crow 2.0." Not one Democrat breaks ranks.
That forces Republicans to either find 60 votes they don't have or change the rules. Trump has been demanding the Senate deploy a talking filibuster – forcing Democrats to physically hold the Senate floor and defend their obstruction out loud.
Thune says he won't try it. His staff claims they can't find a piece of legislation that passed that way – conveniently ignoring that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 only cleared the Senate after Republicans forced Democrats to hold the floor for 60 straight days until they broke.
That's exactly what conservatives are demanding now. Make Democrats stand at their desks. Make them defend blocking voter ID on live television, day after day, in an election year. Force every one of them to own it on the record.
Democrats don’t want to have the indefensible.
Thune's answer: the three or four Republicans blocking the SAVE Act won't hold together for the floor fight it requires.
"The votes aren't there, one, to nuke the filibuster, and the votes aren't there for a talking filibuster," he told reporters. "It's just a reality."
Moreno pushed back hard. "Today, we had a very spirited conversation at lunch, and I think we're getting closer to having people realize how important it is for us to deliver on a fundamental promise, which is to secure our elections for the future."
Trump Uses Texas Senate Race to Force the SAVE Act Vote
RINO Texas Senator John Cornyn spent his entire career defending the 60-vote threshold. This week he published an op-ed in the New York Post declaring he now supports "whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary" to get the SAVE Act to Trump's desk.
What changed? Trump started withholding his endorsement in the Texas Senate runoff and tying it directly to the SAVE Act's fate.
Cornyn is in a dead-heat primary against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton had already called Cornyn out publicly for refusing to back the talking filibuster. When Trump told CNN "I want the SAVE America Act – it is more important than everything else we're working on, other than the war," Cornyn heard the message.
When a reporter confronted Cornyn about his previous statement that changing filibuster rules would take a "wrecking ball" to the Senate, he replied: "I said I'd be open to reforms." Then he put his hand over the NBC camera and walked away.
That's a politician with no good answer – and no time left to find one.
Moreno told Ingraham he believes the pressure is working. But the three or four senators he named without naming – still rowing in the wrong direction – haven't moved yet.
Trump isn't letting off the gas. And Ingraham's audience now knows exactly who's standing between Trump and secure elections.
Sources:
- Mariane Angela, "GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno Outlines Why John Thune Struggles To Move SAVE America Act Forward," Daily Caller, March 10, 2026.
- Sahil Kapur, "Sen. John Cornyn flips on the filibuster to pass SAVE America Act as Trump weighs endorsement," NBC News, March 12, 2026.
- Alexander Bolton, "GOP leader John Thune quashes Donald Trump push to reform filibuster for SAVE Act," The Hill, March 11, 2026.
- "Report: Trump Withholding Texas GOP Senate Race Endorsement over SAVE Act," Breitbart, March 9, 2026.
- "Thune stands firm on SAVE America Act as Trump threatens legislative blockade," CBS News, March 10, 2026.