Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) delivered a harsh message to President Donald Trump about the SAVE America Act on Thursday, saying he would oppose the bill if it comes to a vote on the Senate floor.
Tillis, a retiring senator who has become a vocal critic of the Trump administration, slammed the president’s voter ID legislation, arguing the “math doesn’t work” to get the bill implemented by the 2026 midterm elections.
“If I see a reconciliation bill come from the House with another failed attempt to confuse this election, I will use every device I have available to slow down the wheels of government until people cop a clue and do the math,” Tillis said.
The senator’s comments come after House Republicans moved to attach elements of the SAVE America Act to a $95 billion party-line spending bill, also known as reconciliation. This would allow Senate Republicans to bypass the filibuster and some components of the legislation.
Trump has been pushing Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) argues that the GOP doesn’t have the 60 votes needed to pass the legislation. Because of this 60-vote threshold, Trump and some Republicans have been calling to abolish the filibuster and move to a simple majority to pass legislation in the Senate, but many oppose such a move.
The main purpose of the SAVE America Act is to prevent non-U.S. citizens from voting in elections, requiring stronger documentation when registering to vote in order to prove they are actually citizens.
Tillis outlined that he is in favor of all states requiring voter ID and using grants to support states in implementing the policy, or being audited with that money.
“That’s fine. That’s good governance, and that’s giving the states [a chance] to decide whether or not [to] up the ante and increase the integrity of their election or expect an audit from the federal government if they don’t,” Tillis said. “That is what I would be advising my client. And that is what I’m advising my client right now, the president of the United States.”
Tillis argues that “basic math” shows the legislation cannot be implemented in 60 days, drawing on his experience implementing laws.
“Don’t fool the American people into thinking you can implement something of this complexity over 60 days,” Tillis said. “My God, it needed to happen two years ago.”
Currently, 36 states have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the voting polls, with the remaining 14 states and Washington, D.C., using other methods to verify the identity of voters, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Tillis said people are misleading Trump into believing it’s possible to implement national voter ID before the midterm elections.
“Mr. President, these people are misleading you if they’re telling you this can be implemented by November,” Tillis said. “The only thing that will occur is an undermining of the election integrity, the integrity of our elections right now.”
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Tillis called on his colleagues to “stop the charade.”
“Let’s stop the distraction,” he said. “Let’s get the government funded, let’s use reconciliation if we need to, but let’s not clog it up with another piece of policy airdropped by a member of this Senate or the White House that will undermine this bill, undermine what we need to get done before the election.”