President Donald Trump’s push to pass sweeping election legislation ahead of the 2026 midterms has stalled in the Senate, with Republicans now openly acknowledging that the votes needed to advance the bill are not there.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said this week that Republicans “don’t have the votes” to pass the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and photo ID to cast ballots, and that "it's not something we can get done absent having an election and electing more Republicans."

Trump has been vocal about wanting to get the act passed this year, saying that enacting the legislation will "guarantee the midterms." He's also said he won’t sign any other bills until it gets passed, and emphasized that a "watered down version" of the act would not be acceptable. He told NBC News that he would "close government" over the issue, as it is so important to him.

However, it now seems Republicans may need to win the midterms just to pass the bill.

This is not all that much of a surprise to some election law experts. Nicholas Stephanopoulos, a professor of law at Harvard University, told Newsweek that "it's been everyone's expectation for months that the SAVE Act won't pass since it clearly doesn't have enough votes to overcome a Senate filibuster."

"This just confirms that the midterm elections will be conducted without an unprecedented and inadvisable federal intervention into the processes of voting and registration," he added.

Newsweek reached out to Thune's office and the White House via email for comment.

What Is the SAVE Act?

The SAVE America Act—SAVE stands for "Safeguard American Voter Eligibility"—would introduce nationwide voter identification requirements.

Specifically, the bill would require individuals to present proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, when registering to vote in federal elections, and a photo ID to vote. It would also eliminate mail-in ballots, with exemptions for "illness, disability, military or travel."

Supporters, including Trump and Republican lawmakers, argue the measure is needed to ensure election integrity and prevent noncitizen voting, something which is extremely rare according to 2025 research by the Center for Election Innovation and Research. Critics, largely Democrats, warn that the requirements could create barriers for eligible voters, particularly those who lack easy access to citizenship documents.

Stalemate in the Senate

Despite clearing the House earlier this year, the SAVE America Act has stalled in the Senate amid significant Democratic opposition. Under current Senate rules, most legislation requires 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, a tactic used to delay or block a vote on a measure by prolonging debate.

"Senate Republicans relied on the filibuster and its 60-vote threshold during the Biden Administration to defeat Democrats' attempts to amend federal voting laws to loosen restrictions and prohibit states from adopting certain election integrity measures," Michael Morley, director of the Florida State University Election Law Center, told Newsweek.

He added that the filibuster makes it "unlikely federal voting laws will be amended in any material way in the foreseeable future," and that instead "primary responsibility for ensuring adequate access to the ballot, preserving election integrity, and bolstering public confidence will remain in the states."

Thune said on Tuesday that Republicans did not have the votes to pass the act or to lift the filibuster. He said that while Republicans are in agreement on the act, they will not be able to get it over the line without an election that would bring more Republicans to the Senate.

The result is a legislative deadlock, leaving the bill effectively stuck as the lead-up to the U.S. midterms in November intensifies.

"The stalemate underscores the reality that campaign priorities don't always translate into legislative victories," Brittany Martinez, a Republican strategist and the executive director of Principles First, an anti-Trump conservative advocacy group, told Newsweek. "Even with President Trump's support, Senate Republicans still face procedural and political challenges in advancing the SAVE Act."

However, Martinez said that the issue is "likely to remain valuable to both parties regardless of whether the legislation passes."

"Some Republicans will continue to emphasize election integrity, while Democrats will continue to argue these proposals risk making it harder for eligible Americans to vote," she said.

Despite the president's determination to get the act passed before the midterms, Morley said that it is "unlikely the SAVE Act's adoption would have impacted the outcome of the 2026 congressional elections," as its primary consequence "likely would have been promoting public confidence in the electoral process by adopting new safeguards against voting by non-citizens and other ineligible voters."

"Recent efforts at mid-decade redistricting, as well as the Supreme Court's ruling in Callais, are likely to have much greater tangible impacts than the SAVE Act's potential effects on the actual outcomes of forthcoming congressional elections," he said.

Trump’s Pressure Campaign—and MAGA Frustration

Trump has made passage of the SAVE America Act a focal point of his legislative agenda, at one point vowing not to sign any other bills until it reaches his desk.

“It supersedes everything else,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in March, adding: “I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed." Bills automatically become law if the president does not sign them within 10 days of their passing.

He also said at the House GOP’s annual issues conference in Florida that "it will guarantee the midterms. If you don’t get it, big trouble."

Even on Tuesday night, as Trump congratulated Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on his reelection, he said that Graham would now be able to "devote his time to passing the desperately needed, and long overdue, SAVE AMERICA ACT."

While Thune has suggested that the midterms could be Republicans' best shot at getting the act over the line, Senator Mike Lee wrote on X that he believed the act "will pass" so long as the Senate continues debating it "until it passes."

"This would require a considerable investment of time and patience but it would work," he added.

While pressure on Republican senators has intensified in recent days, frustration has also grown among Trump supporters over the lack of progress. Some conservative commentators and activists have criticized GOP leadership for failing to deliver.

Eric Daugherty, a conservative commentator with over 1 million followers on X, wrote on the platform, reacting to Thune's comments on Tuesday, that "rolling over is the wrong move!" Other accounts, such as @MAGAVoice, which has over 1 million followers, called for Thune to be fired due to a lack of progress.

What Happens Next

With the Senate at an impasse, Republican leaders are pointing to the midterm elections as the only realistic path forward. Thune’s acknowledgment that more Republican seats—or a different Senate composition—may be needed reflects a broader conclusion taking hold within the party: the SAVE Act is unlikely to pass in its current form this year.

That leaves Trump’s signature election proposal in limbo, even as he continues to frame it as essential to the party’s electoral strategy.