The Senate on Tuesday kicked off what is expected to be a long, spirited debate on the SAVE America Act, the Trump-backed legislation aiming to make significant election and voting reforms, though the outcome is all but certain.
Republicans are expected to make repeated passionate pleas to pass the bill as Democrats are expected to employ every available tool to block the bill from moving forward.
After an initial vote, which only needed 51 votes, to begin debate on the bill advanced, senators are set to hold the Senate floor for debate for as long as they want -- potentially overnights and through the weekend, teeing up a contentious couple of days.
When lawmakers run out of steam with their debates, there will be a vote to move the bill forward, which requires 60 votes to advance. Democrats will almost certainly block it, meaning the bill will fail.
Yet despite these chances, during Tuesday’s Senate GOP lunch conference, Majority Leader John Thune, still remained optimistic about the long-shot chance that senators could be persuaded, arguing that although the prospects of the bill passing are slim, the debate on the legislation is important to have.
"How it ends, remains to be seen. There will be a point at which it will end, and there will be a series of votes that come with that," Thune said.
“We'll see how long the Democrats want to defend that position. Maybe none of them will be won over at the end. That's entirely possible, but I think that ... having the fight, having the debate on the floor of the Senate is important."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was adamant that Democrats are united in opposing the Trump-backed legislation, ensuring the measure will fail when it is eventually called for a vote.
The legislation would mandate states to obtain proof of citizenship before registering a person to vote in a federal election or else face penalties, strengthen voter ID requirements for people voting and require states to share voter rolls, among other requirements.
"We’re ready to be here all day, all night, as long as it takes to ensure the powers of voter suppression do not win the game," Schumer said during Tuesday’s press conference.
"We are resolute. And our caucus, you should have heard people in there, are firm. This would be a destruction of our democracy, a violation of people's right to vote … So we are resolute in doing that. Democrats are always willing to do what we can to move voting rights forward. This moves voting rights way, way back."
Thune was pressed on why he is filling up valuable Senate floor time on the bill when the Senate has other legislative priorities it is attempting to accomplish. He called it a "unique moment" as Republicans feel the pressure from President Donald Trump to pass the act ahead of the midterm elections.
"There are other things that we will have to deal with, but we have a window of time here," Thune said. "There are a number of things that we can do, and I hope we will be able to do, but we have a unique moment in time here right now to address an issue that there is a great deal of public support around and I think it's an issue that's really fundamental, important to free and fair elections in this country."
Looming large over this week's debate is Trump's threats that he won't sign any legislation that reaches his desk until the SAVE America Act is passed -- and claiming he will never support a senator who votes against the legislation.
"Get your Senators, REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT, to VOTE 'YES' ON 'THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.' I WILL NEVER (EVER!) ENDORSE ANYONE WHO VOTES AGAINST 'SAVE AMERICA!!!'" Trump posted on his social media platform early Tuesday morning.
In addition to debating the House-passed bill that enacts significant reforms to how elections in our country are run, Senate Republicans also will attempt to pass amendments Trump has been pushing for: a ban on mail-in ballots and two unrelated measures he wants included -- banning transgender women from women’s sports and gender-affirming surgeries for minors.