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Trump’s voter ID bill catches unlikely break as McConnell remains sidelined

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An unlikely reason has chipped away, for now, at Senate Republican resistance against President Donald Trump’s flagship election priority.
The Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act has hit brick wall after brick wall in the Senate, and has only twice mustered 50 votes. Still, Trump wants Republicans to pass it by any means necessary.
Republicans, however, aren’t unified behind it. One lawmaker, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has routinely voted against the bill in its variety of iterations, earning the personal ire of Trump.
MCCONNELL FACES FRESH CALLS TO COME CLEAN ABOUT HEALTH ISSUES
Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, is pushed in a wheelchair in the Senate Subway of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 2026. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
«Mitch McConnell,» Trump told reporters last month. «He’s very disloyal to John Thune. You know, John Thune was a very good person for him. I mean, he’s a very loyal person, and Mitch McConnell’s against him almost all the time because he’s angry, I guess. Probably at me.»
McConnell has been absent from the Senate, which is currently in recess, for almost three weeks due to health issues. When he will return still remains unclear.
But without his resistance, that’s one less «no» vote that Republicans have to contend with.
REPUBLICAN SAYS TRUMP’S TOP ELECTION PRIORITY ‘DEAD’ IN SENATE AS GOP FRACTURES AHEAD OF MIDTERMS
Still, it doesn’t address the broader math problem in the Senate weighing down the chances of the SAVE America Act passing.
Senate Democrats are unified against it, meaning Trump and the SAVE America Act’s biggest proponents can’t break through the 60-vote filibuster, which has, in part, fueled the president’s demands to nuke the filibuster.
Senate Republicans don’t have the votes to do that, either.
«The only way you could get there is to undo or get rid of the legislative filibuster, and there aren’t even close to the votes here in the United States Senate in order to achieve that,» Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said last month.
There is the talking filibuster, which Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has pushed for months, which Republicans have yet to turn to, largely over concerns of floor time being eaten away and fractured unity leading to Democratic wins.
Then there is the budget reconciliation route, which Trump has pushed Congress to consider. While Senate Republicans aren’t leaping at the prospect, the House is moving full steam ahead.
GOP INFIGHTING OVER TRUMP’S VOTER ID BILL ERUPTS AS TOP SENATOR CALLS STRATEGY ‘FANTASY’

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks at a press conference with other members of Senate Republican leadership after a policy luncheon in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 28, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News’ Shannon Bream that he would move ahead with the reconciliation plan.
«We passed it three times in the House. We’re going to try one more time on a budget reconciliation bill, and I think that will be the way to get it through the Senate, and finally, to the president’s desk.»
Notably, though, House Republicans have not passed the version of the SAVE America Act that Trump desires, which would include a strict crackdown on mail-in balloting, a ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports and a ban on transgender surgical procedures for minors.
But even the bill’s biggest backers see reconciliation as a far-fetched option.
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Lee last month told Fox News Digital that the SAVE America Act was «policy, it’s non-budgetary. Therefore, SAVE America itself is not eligible for consideration in a third reconciliation.»
There could be alterations, like giving states federal funding to start doling out enhanced REAL IDs with citizenship verification in a reconciliation package, while separately passing a voter ID bill.
However, Lee believed that there was «no evidence that there is a viable path to a third reconciliation bill.»
«I hope there is. I would love to be wrong on that. I want us to do that. I think we should do that. But the schedule that we’ve got, to my great disappointment, is not — it doesn’t accommodate any of it.»
politics, republicans, mitch mcconnell, senate elections, john thune, donald trump
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Cuba abre al sector privado estaciones de servicio, puertos, geriátricos y farmacias

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Democrat compares ICE to ‘domestic terrorists’ as 111 House Dems demand Texas detention center close

Rep. Delia Ramirez calls for abolition of ICE at DHS hearing
At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., delivers a powerful and emotional statement, questioning if any parent wouldn’t go to extreme lengths for their dying child. Ramirez attacks for-profit prison corporations and makes a direct call to abolish ICE and dismantle DHS, citing concerns over inhuman conditions.
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A House Democratic lawmaker compared actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to domestic terrorism after a visit to a Texas detention facility on Tuesday.
Rep. Luz Rivas, D-Calif., said that seeing ICE’s actions was personal for her as the daughter of Mexican immigrants and argued that «for the people of the United States, we don’t want to see our government, or ICE officials, acting like domestic terrorists,» she said in Spanish during a press conference.
She said her Los Angeles district saw more ICE raids than anywhere else in her county.
Rivas was among a group of lawmakers led by Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, on a visit to an ICE facility in Dilley, Texas, which over 100 House Democrats have demanded to be shut down.
TRUMP ON VERGE OF SECURING $70B ICE FUNDING VICTORY AFTER HOUSE CLEARS HURDLE
ICE agents stand guard in front of protesters outside the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall in Newark, where ICE is housing detained immigrants on May 26, 2026, in Newark, New Jersey. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The lawmakers accused the Trump administration of holding families, including a child as young as 2 months old, in inhumane conditions.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., a member of the left-wing «Squad,» also attacked President Donald Trump as a «dictator.»
SOMETHING TO HIDE? ICE UNDER FIRE FOR SUBSTANDARD CONDITIONS AT FOR-PROFIT DETENTION CENTER
«It’s so important that we not acquiesce to this, this fascist administration, this dictator in the Oval Office,» Pressley said. «History has shown us time again, appeasement does not work. The only way to beat a dictator is with defiance. The only way to beat fascism is to refuse to accept this segregated, divided, dark, dystopian view that they have for our country, is to reject it as an inevitability.»
She called on Americans to «resist, reject, condemn at every turn.»

Ayanna Pressley at the Featured Session «Repro Revolution: A Conversation with Rep. Ayanna Pressley» during the SXSW Conference & Festivals held at the Austin Convention Center on March 9, 2025, in Austin. (Amy E. Price/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images)
But it’s that kind of rhetoric that Republicans have argued is responsible for sending tensions across the U.S. skyrocketing.
SPANBERGER’S ICE ROLLBACK TO BLAME FOR TODDLER KILLING, VIRGINIA ‘HOTBED’ OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME: DHS
GOP allies of the president have accused Democrats of encouraging violence and resistance against ICE agents, drawing a line between encouragement to resist federal immigration officers and the slate of violent incidents involving those officers this year alone.
But Democrats are accusing ICE of acting as a rogue agency outside the bounds of the law.
«We have to abolish ICE. And then I’m going to take it one step further and say any of those agents that have contributed to and caused the injury, the harm, and even fatalities, they must also be held accountable,» Pressley said. «And we should abolish qualified immunity for these federal law enforcement officers.»
In a letter sent earlier this month, 111 House Democrats accused the administration of harming children and families with the conditions at the Dilley detention center.
«Parents describe horrendous conditions at Dilley, leading to severe depression, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation amongst their children. Children have reported that their food is often contaminated with worms and mold and that they feel sick after drinking tap water,» the letter said. «Families also report not being able to sleep at night because the lights are kept on in their rooms throughout the night. … Medical care provided by CoreCivic staff is delayed, denied, and in many cases outright dismissed, even when children are suffering life-threatening medical emergencies.»

In this Aug. 23, 2019, file photo, immigrants seeking asylum hold hands as they leave a cafeteria at the ICE South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. (Eric Gay/AP Photo)
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for a response to Rivas’ comments.
DHS did previously accuse Democrats of lying about conditions at Dilley, which it said in a press release was specialized to hold families and care for children specifically.
«The Dilley facility is retrofitted for families. Children have access to teachers, classrooms, and curriculum booklets for math, reading, and spelling. They have access to age-appropriate books, toys, and outdoor activities. All of this is generously funded by the U.S. taxpayer,» DHS said.
«Infant care packages include formula, baby food, bottles, diapers, wipes, and hygiene items. The facility also provides sippy cups and cribs. Adults with children are housed in facilities that provide for their safety, security, and medical needs.»
illegal immigrants, deportation, homeland security, immigrant rights, politics
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WATCH: US envoy defends walkout during France’s ‘condescending’ remarks, vows boycott

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The United States dramatically walked out as France addressed the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council Monday, escalating an extraordinary clash between the longtime allies after Paris claimed America was no longer a «beacon of human rights.»
The U.S. delegation left the chamber as French Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont delivered remarks during a Security Council meeting on Ukraine, days after France’s U.N. mission in Geneva accused Washington of standing alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali and Russia following a vote on the U.N.’s human rights chief.
Deputy U.S. Ambassador Dan Negrea accused France of «disingenuous grandstanding» and warned that American diplomats would continue walking out during French statements until Paris renounces what he called its «condescending and disrespectful rhetoric.»
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TOUTS MORE THAN $1B IN UN BUDGET CUTS AS REFORM PUSH GAINS MOMENTUM
Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Dan Negrea leaves the Security Council chamber as French Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont speaks. ( U.S. Mission to the United Nations)
«Today, I remind them that it is the United States that remains the beacon of liberty for the world,» Negrea told the council. «As such, we will not be affording them the benefit of listening to their politicized drivel until they renounce their condescending and disrespectful rhetoric and behave in a manner commensurate with their seat on this council.»
The clash matters because the United States and France are among the world’s oldest allies, dating back to French support for the American Revolution, and today remain NATO partners and permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. Their cooperation is central to Western policy on Ukraine, European security and sanctions enforcement.
A French diplomat told Fox News Digital that the dispute should not be interpreted as a broader rupture between the longtime allies. «Differences in how we assess a vote do not call into question the quality of our relations or our ability to work together,» the diplomat said.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon backed Washington’s response and sharply criticized France.
«I think the behavior of France is shameful,» Danon told Fox News Digital Tuesday. «The U.S. is demonstrating moral clarity, standing for the real values of the U.N.»
Danon accused France and other European countries of supporting voices within the United Nations that undermine rather than advance human rights. «It’s about time to reform the U.N., and I want to thank the U.S. for showing leadership on that issue,» he said.
The confrontation marked a significant escalation from the unusually personal social media exchange that erupted after the General Assembly approved a second four-year term for U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
Türk, an Austrian diplomat who has served as U.N. high commissioner for human rights since 2022, has drawn criticism from the United States and outside watchdogs over what they describe as uneven scrutiny of democracies and authoritarian governments. A 2024 analysis by UN Watch found that, among public country criticisms initiated by Türk or his office, he criticized the United States more often than China, North Korea, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and Qatar combined, while issuing no such criticism of several repressive governments during the period reviewed.
Türk’s supporters, including France and the European Union, argue that his willingness to criticize powerful democracies reflects the independence and universality required of the U.N.’s top human rights official.
France’s Geneva mission had declared that the United States was no longer a human rights leader and claimed «the world no longer listens to it» after Washington joined nine other countries in voting against Türk’s extension.
IRAN SECURES UN ROLE WITH BACKING FROM UK, FRANCE, CANADA, AUSTRALIA AS US STANDS ALONE

French Ambassador to the UN Jérôme Bonnafont (2L) and French President Emmanuel Macron (C) arrive for a United Nations Summit on Palestinians at U.N. headquarters during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Sept. 22, 2025. (Ludovic MARIN / AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz responded by accusing France of backing an official who lectures democracies while «cozying up to the world’s worst oppressors.»
Negrea went further Monday, invoking the history of the U.S.-French alliance and saying Washington had stood beside France whenever its freedom was threatened.
The United States had tolerated France’s «grandstanding» out of «a sense of camaraderie and mutual respect,» he said, but would no longer remain silent in the face of what he described as feigned French «moral outrage.»
Bonnafont did not directly address the walkout when he spoke again at the end of the meeting. Instead, he invoked the countries’ historic ties, noting that France helped the United States secure its independence and participated in celebrations marking America’s 250th anniversary. «This is the spirit of the relationship between France and the United States,» he said, before reaffirming France’s commitment to the U.N.’s work on peace, development and human rights.
AMERICANS ARE NOT GIVING UP ON NATO, BUT THEY EXPECT EUROPE TO DO ITS SHARE

High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk delivers a press conference at the UN Offices in Geneva on December 9, 2022. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images))
«The United Nations was created with the goal of working towards international peace and security, human rights and development,» Bonnafont said, adding that France would continue working to protect the institution’s independence and its ability to serve human rights and peace.
The dispute began after the General Assembly voted 144-10, with 13 abstentions, to extend Türk’s tenure through October 2030.
The United States had unsuccessfully sought an additional week for consultations, arguing that the vote was being rushed even though Türk’s current term does not expire until Oct. 11.
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U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Michael Waltz speaks with Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon before a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to consider a U.S. proposal for a U.N. mandate to establish an international stabilization force in Gaza, at U.N. headquarters in New York City, Nov. 17, 2025. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
Washington also objected to Türk’s record. U.S. officials have accused him of disproportionately criticizing democracies, including the United States and Israel, while failing to confront authoritarian governments with the same urgency.
united nations, security council, france, world
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