Thune says talking filibuster has never passed a bill in Senate history
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FIRST ON FOX: Senate Republicans have launched a test to test Senate Democrats’ resolve against voter ID legislation, and while it may not seem like what many want, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.) has argued it’s the only way forward.
Thune came under pressure from President Donald Trump and an online network of conservatives, a faction in the Senate GOP demanding that she enable the talking filibuster to pass the Protecting American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.
But as Thune argues, this is a grassroots tactic that has never been successful in getting legislation passed.
AS THE MARATHON SENATE DEBATE STARTED, REPUBLICANS SIGNALED THAT THEY WOULD NOT WITHDRAW THE RESCUE MOVEMENT
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.) has pushed back against outside pressure for him and Republicans to launch a verbal filibuster, telling Fox News Digital: “Nobody really knows how this is going to end, and the people who are out there saying it does.” (Nathan Posner/Anatolia via Getty Images)
“Nobody really knows how this is going to end, and neither do the people saying it,” Thune said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “Because it’s never been done, or at least it hasn’t been done in modern history.”
Proponents of the talking filibuster see it as a method to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold and ensure passage of the SAVE America Act. But that comes at the high price of floor time, the upper chamber’s most valuable currency, and it’s not something lawmakers want to give up during the ongoing shutdown.
Thune added that Senate Democrats have considered this move in the past under former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-Y), and “I think in both cases they opposed it because they felt that the price we were going to make them pay was not worth whatever they were trying to do.”
GOP LAUNCHES MARATHON SENATE FIGHT TO EXPOSE DEMS OPPOSITION TO TRUMP-SUPPORTED VOTER ID ACT
President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval Office of the White House on St. Patrick’s Day, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“If I saw a way, even if it was a small percentage way, to get a result, I would be more inclined to do it,” Thune said. “But we looked at it, we considered all the possibilities, we gamed it, we mapped it, we mapped out what it would look like on the floor, we did the research, we studied the history, and we couldn’t find a single instance in modern Senate history where a talking filibuster actually led to the passage of a bill.”
Instead, Thune and Senate Republicans are engaging in a version of the filibuster that allows for unlimited debate but prevents Senate Democrats from making an unlimited number of amendments that would drastically alter the bill, knowing Republicans don’t have the votes to kill it.
This is not something he did on his own. The nature of Thune’s leadership style, which has helped him gain the top spot in the Senate GOP, is to avoid unilateral decision-making and instead allow Republicans to agree on a plan.
Senate GOP BLAMES THE VOTE AS A RESCUE MOVEMENT FOR TRUMP-SUPPORTED DEFEAT
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, was determined to ensure the Senate continued debating the voter ID bill until it “passed very well.” (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Still, there are critics who are unhappy with the plan Republicans adopted because it did not lower the threshold to pass the bill. But the pressure Thune felt from all sides wasn’t enough for him to give in and pull the trigger on the talking thug.
“I think there is a leadership guru of sorts whose main point is that the first responsibility of a leader is to define reality, and I try to figure out what is achievable,” he said. “And there are a lot of people out there who overpromise and create false expectations about what we can do here.”
The Republicans’ plan prompted the Senate to debate the RELIEVE America Act for three days in an attempt to force Senate Democrats to oppose the legislation. When this debate will end is still up in the air.
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Some, like Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, the bill’s lead sponsor, want the Senate to spend as much time on the bill as “as long as it takes” to wear down Senate Democrats.
“And if we’re not there yet, we need to keep discussing it,” Lee said.
