Sen. John Thune criticized over SAVE Act

An X post circulating within the past 48 hours targeted Senate Majority Leader John Thune over the SAVE Act, accusing the South Dakota Republican of failing to back the bill and urging voters to oppose him in upcoming primaries. The post, attributed in briefing materials to the handle @jwstephens01, reflects a line of attack that has followed Thune for months from the party’s right flank. The criticism centers less on whether Thune supports the legislation than on how he has handled its path through the Senate. Public records and Thune’s own statements show he has promoted a Senate vote on the measure while rejecting demands to change Senate rules to force it through. ### What is the SAVE Act that Thune’s critics are talking about? H.R. 22, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, according to Congress.gov. The bill also directs states to maintain programs to identify noncitizens on voter rolls and creates penalties tied to registering applicants who do not present the required proof. The House passed H.R. 22 on April 10, 2025, by a 220-208 vote, and the bill was then received in the Senate, according to Congress.gov. A related Senate measure is also referred to in some coverage as the SAVE America Act. ### Did Thune actually oppose the bill? John Thune said on March 12 that he would bring the SAVE America Act to the Senate floor the following week. (congress.gov) In floor remarks posted on his Senate website, Thune described the measure as “a package of commonsense policies” and said Democrats would be “forced to defend their outrageous positions on these issues.” March 12 is the clearest public evidence against the claim that Thune refused to support the legislation. His office’s statement said he planned Senate debate on the bill, and his remarks endorsed its proof-of-citizenship and voter ID provisions. ### Why did Thune become a target anyway? (thune.senate.gov) March 9 became a flashpoint because Thune ruled out changing Senate rules to pass the bill over Democratic opposition. Asked by ABC News whether the Senate would alter its 60-vote rules to advance the SAVE America Act, Thune replied, “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” (thune.senate.gov) CBS News reported on March 10 that Thune said, “There are no easy ways to do this,” and told reporters Republicans had examined the available options. He said the votes were not there for the kind of procedural move some conservatives and President Donald Trump were demanding. ABC News reported that Trump had pressed for the bill to reach his desk and threatened to withhold his signature from other legislation until it passed. (abcnews.com) Thune said he could not “guarantee an outcome” and argued that a rules change was “just not a realistic option.” ### So what is the dispute really about? (cbsnews.com) The dispute is over Senate procedure. Thune’s public position was that he backed the SAVE America Act itself but would not “nuke” the legislative filibuster or adopt a workaround that he said lacked the votes and could consume weeks of floor time. (abcnews.com) That distinction matters because the social-media criticism collapses two separate questions: support for the bill and support for changing Senate rules to pass it. Thune’s own statements show support for the first and opposition to the second. ### What can readers verify for themselves next? (abcnews.com) Congress.gov still lists H.R. 22 as having passed the House and been received in the Senate. Thune’s March 12 floor remarks remain posted on his Senate website, and those two records are the clearest public documents for checking the substance of the claim against him. (congress.gov) (thune.senate.gov)