Cattle Scratch!

Pass the bill and earn my vote.

In order to earn President Donald J. Trump's support, Texas senator John Cornyn has to push the skeptical Republicans to pass the SAVE Act. It doesn't have the votes to pass.

Quid pro quo.

Trump has vowed to not sign any legislation until this bill is passed. It is a desperate attempt to seal Republican control for generations by rolling back The Voters Right Act of 1965.

The 53 senators and likely Sen. John Fetterman (I-PA) have backed this atrocity.

In this bill it requires acceptable documents:

• REAL ID-compliant ID that explicitly indicates U.S. citizenship.
• Valid U.S. passport.
• U.S. military ID + military record showing U.S. birth.
• Government-issued photo ID showing U.S. birth.
• Other government photo ID plus one of: certified birth certificate (with specific details: full name, date/place of birth, parents’ names, seal, etc.), hospital birth record, adoption decree, consular report of birth abroad, naturalization/citizenship certificate, or American Indian Card (KIC classification). 

The U.S. elections are well protected by the states. Most Americans vote once in a primary and a general election. They do not vote more than once. It is recorded. Rarely at best less than 1% of the voter electorate conducting fraud.

Trump is by far the worst president in modern history cannot fathom a loss to Joe Biden.

Now he wants to make sure states he failed to win in 2020 will no longer be swing.

Yes, most Americans do approve of voter identification but do not like obstruction to voting.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is being pressured to abandon the cloture and force a majority vote.

Cornyn at first didn't support ending cloture. Trump demanded that he change course in order to receive his endorsement in a closely watch special run off primary against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Cornyn is pressing Senate Republicans to pass the SAVE (Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility) America Act — even if it means scrapping the chamber’s 60-vote legislative filibuster.

His appeal marks a significant reversal for the Texas Republican, who long argued the filibuster served as a safeguard against Democrats advancing sweeping left-wing priorities with a simple majority.

"For many years, I believed that if the U.S. Senate scrapped the filibuster, Texas and our nation would stand to lose more than we would gain," Cornyn wrote in a New York Post op-ed Wednesday morning. "But when the reality on the ground changes, leaders must take stock and adapt."

Thune is expected to put the SAVE America Act to a vote in the Senate next week, but the measure could fail on the floor given widespread opposition from Democrats. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is also facing a weeks-long shutdown over Democrats’ refusal to fund the agency absent vast reforms to immigration enforcement.

Under Senate rules, both pieces of legislation would have to overcome the 60-vote threshold — meaning buy-in from some Democrats — to survive a key procedural vote before final passage.

"Today, Democrats are weaponizing the Senate’s rules to block the SAVE America Act, defund the Department of Homeland Security and hurt the American people — all to spite President Donald Trump," Cornyn wrote.

"After careful consideration, I support whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary for us to get the SAVE America Act and Homeland Security funding past the Democrats’ obstruction, through the Senate and on the president’s desk for his signature," Cornyn added.

Trump has repeatedly called on the Senate to pass the voter ID bill, calling it the "number one priority" during an address to House Republicans on Monday.

The House-passed legislation would require proof-of-citizenship to vote in federal elections, impose voter ID requirements and require states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls. Trump has asked Republicans to add provisions that crack down on mail-in ballots, prohibit biological males’ participation in women’s sports and ban child sex-change procedures. 

Trump has also threatened not to sign any legislation into law until the SAVE America Act clears the Senate. The White House later clarified that DHS funding was not included in the president’s ultimatum.

"We can either unilaterally disarm, or we can stand and fight," Cornyn wrote. "The answer is clear: We need to stand, fight and win.

Both Cornyn and Paxton are vying for Trump’s endorsement ahead of the late May runoff election that will decide who will face Democratic candidate James Talarico, a Texas state senator, in the November general election. Trump said last week that he would "soon" back a candidate, but he has yet to issue an endorsement. Cornyn, who has served in the upper chamber since 2002, is seeking his fifth Senate term.

Paxton said last week that he would consider exiting the race if the Senate were to circumvent the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act.

"The SAVE America Act is the most important bill the U.S. Senate could ever pass, and I'm committed to helping President Trump get it done," Paxton wrote. 

Despite Cornyn’s new openness to filibuster reform, the SAVE America Act still faces an uphill battle in the Senate. The bill passed the House last month in a vote mostly along party lines.

Thune, a supporter of the SAVE America Act, has repeatedly said that the votes do not exist to scrap the 60-vote filibuster and advance the voter ID measure.

The majority leader has also warned against using the talking filibuster — a little-used maneuver preferred by some conservatives — arguing that approach would have unintended consequences and risks jamming the Senate floor for an indefinite period.

"The votes aren’t there for a talking filibuster," Thune said Tuesday.

"I’m the person who has to deliver sometimes the not-so-good news that the math doesn’t add up, but those are the facts and there’s no getting around it," he continued.

I get it. If it is a bill that Republicans favor they should be able to pass it without any distractions.

But now they see the outcome of how they acted when Democrats wanted to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and George Floyd Policing Act.

It was Fetterman along with then senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema holding up the bills because of the filibuster.

Obviously Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) will not concede to ending the filibuster. It will take 60 votes to pass legislation.

If it has bipartisan support why can't they get it passed?

The SAVE Act appears to disenfranchises voters who often don't vote every year. It stops transgender Americans from voting. It makes married women who do not have their maiden names from voting. It makes early voting days nearly impossible. It eliminates mail in voting.

It is a confusing hot mess designed to help Republicans win elections under the guise of protecting voter rights.

It does not even allow Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa residents an opportunity to vote for president.

It only enhances the status quo.