Kennedy Urges GOP To Use Budget Reconciliation To Pass SAVE Act
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) is urging Republicans to pursue a dramatic procedural shift to pass the SAVE America Act — by using budget reconciliation to bypass a Democratic filibuster and approve the bill with a simple majority.
Under current plans, Senate Majority Leader John Thune has scheduled the SAVE America Act for consideration as standard legislation, meaning it would require 60 votes to invoke cloture and overcome a filibuster. With Republicans holding 53 seats, at least seven Democrats would need to join them.
Kennedy argues that approach is unnecessary. Speaking on the Senate floor, Kennedy said Republicans should attempt to pass the measure through reconciliation — a parliamentary process created under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 that allows certain budget-related legislation to pass with just 50 votes plus the vice president.
That means, if structured properly, the bill could pass with unified Republican support and a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance.
“That’s how we passed the one big, beautiful bill,” Kennedy said, referencing prior GOP legislation enacted over Democratic opposition. He also noted that Democrats used reconciliation in 2021 to pass the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan on a party-line vote.
Kennedy acknowledged that reconciliation is not simple.
“Anything you propose through reconciliation has to be paid for. We can find the money,” he said. “And anything you pass through reconciliation has to conform with the contours of the Budget Control Act. We call that giving a provision a Byrd bath.”
The so-called Byrd Rule limits reconciliation to provisions directly tied to federal spending, revenue, or the debt limit. Measures considered “extraneous” — meaning their budgetary impact is merely incidental to policy changes — can be struck by the Senate parliamentarian.
“Our parliamentarian decides what passes muster under the Budget Control Act and what doesn’t,” Kennedy said.
He urged Republican leadership to enlist legal experts to draft a version of the SAVE Act that could survive what he described as the “Byrd bath.”
“We have yet to try going to these smart lawyers … and saying, ‘Craft us a SAVE Act that will pass muster under the Budget Control Act and can be blessed by the parliamentarian,’” Kennedy said.
Some senators have expressed skepticism that the bill’s election-policy provisions could qualify under reconciliation rules. Kennedy pushed back on that pessimism.
“I’ve been here 10 years. I’ve seen things pass muster — survive a Byrd bath — that I didn’t think had a hope in hell,” he said. “And I’ve seen provisions fail … that I thought were slam dunks.”
“You don’t know until you try,” he added.
The SAVE America Act, supported by President Donald Trump, would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, mandate photo identification at polling places, and restrict mail-in ballots to specific circumstances such as military service, illness, disability, or travel.
Conservatives argue the bill is essential to restoring public trust in elections. Critics say documented cases of non-citizen voting are rare and warn that stricter requirements could burden eligible voters.
Frustration among Republican activists has grown as the bill faces procedural hurdles. Last year, when the Senate parliamentarian ruled against a Medicaid-related provision in a separate GOP bill, some conservative leaders criticized the unelected official’s influence over legislative outcomes.
Kennedy stopped short of calling for rule changes or removal of the parliamentarian, instead emphasizing that the Senate should test the limits of reconciliation before conceding defeat.
“If this bill is as important as everybody says it is — and I think it is, because we’re not just talking about voting, we’re talking about the confidence, the trust of the American people in our elections — we should try it through reconciliation,” he said.
Whether leadership adopts Kennedy’s strategy remains uncertain. But his proposal signals escalating pressure within the Republican conference to use every available procedural tool to advance the administration’s election-integrity agenda — even if it means reshaping the legislative battlefield.
Trump Issues Statement Regarding Health of Mitch McConnell
Weeks after former GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was hospitalized for a reportedly serious heart condition, there has been much speculation about his current condition.
Rumors are also swirling about whether he can complete his term, which ends in January.
Initially, reports said that McConnell suffered a “cardiac arrest” and was administered CPR – a health condition that is normally fatal, even for victims much younger than McConnell, who is 84 and has an extensive history of health problems.
But later, in one of the few public updates on the Kentucky Republican’s condition, his staff only said that he was receiving “excellent care.”
However, others who should know more about McConnell’s condition don’t. That includes the president of the United States.
Libby Dean, the White House correspondent for NewsNation, tweeted on Wednesday: “President Trump says he has ‘no idea’ how Sen. Mitch McConnell is doing and says he hasn’t spoken with the Kentucky Republican since McConnell’s hospitalization.”
Now, the governor of the Bluegrass State has grown concerned enough that he has reached out to the senator to inquire about his health.
“As Governor, I request that you fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health,” Gov. Andy Beshear,a Democrat who is seen as a potential 2028 presidential contender, wrote in a letter to McConnell on Wednesday.
“As public officeholders, we have made a commitment to our constituents to do our best to represent them and to always be transparent,” Beshear’s letter continued.
“I believe this requires clear communication about one’s ability to serve,” he added.
Several top Republicans were asked about McConnell’s condition on Tuesday, and their responses were not reassuring.
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee has said that even members of Congress are in the dark about McConnell’s current condition.
Speculation has surrounded the health of the 84-year-old McConnell since the Kentucky senator was found unconscious and required CPR at his home in Washington, D.C., weeks ago.
McConnell’s staff has provided no significant update on his condition since he was hospitalized June 14.
The secrecy has fueled speculation that there is an effort to keep the full extent of the Republican’s condition from the public and has raised questions about whether he will be able to return to office.
On Monday night, MAGA social media user Mila Joy wondered why other senators haven’t spoken out about McConnell’s condition.
“Because they are ALL in on it together. That’s why,” Joy posted to her 571,000 X followers.
In reply, Sen. Lee posted: “Many of us aren’t speaking about Mitch McConnell’s condition because we know nothing about his condition.”
But Lee’s assessment contradicts earlier comments from Senate Majority Leader John Thune after McConnell was first hospitalized.
Thune said he had spoken to the 84-year-old and that he “sounded good.”
“He wants to be back, but I’ll defer to his staff on when,” Thune said on June 15.
Popular conservative activist Laura Loomer claimed recently that sources told her that McConnell is in a “vegetative state,” dismissing Thune’s version of events.
Things with McConnell have gotten worse by the day.
Since the reported incident, McConnell’s office has provided scant details on the former Senate GOP leader’s health condition, except to say that he allegedly “appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital.”
His office last week also said the 84-year-old senator “continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
Trump ‘Briefed With Options’ Amid Stalled Iran Talks
The Trump administration on Wednesday continued to express optimism about negotiations with Iran, even as Iranian officials insist that no direct talks have taken place, according to reports.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister said no face-to-face meeting had occurred in Doha and that no direct negotiations with the United States were currently planned.
Despite Tehran’s position, President Donald Trump described the discussions as “very good,” apparently referring to indirect contacts involving U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner communicating through third-party intermediaries.
Vice President JD Vance struck a firmer tone the same day, warning that the United States could escalate its response if Iran refuses to cooperate or takes actions that further destabilize the Middle East.
His remarks underscored the administration’s message that while it remains open to a diplomatic resolution, additional measures remain on the table if negotiations fail.
“If Iran attempts to rebuild its nuclear program, threaten its neighbors and support terrorism, President Trump has options to deal with it,” Vance noted, without elaborating.
Earlier, a Wall Street Journal report claimed that Trump had been briefed on several military options, including “all-out war,” but Trump said he wanted to give diplomacy more time.
Vance additionally stated that the US “dropped bombs on Iran because it fired on ships, and we used leverage to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”
He went on to suggest that the U.S. could take that course of action again.
Vance also said the current talks are “to discuss the details and flow of maritime traffic.”
The vice president, addressing U.S. military personnel at a naval base in Virginia on Wednesday, also said that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back decades.
“If you look at what our own intelligence says about their nuclear program, they are further away from developing a nuclear bomb than they have ever been since basically the last 20 or 30 years,” Vance said, though he stopped short of Trump’s claim that the program had been “totally obliterated.”
“What the president asks you to accomplish is to destroy the defense industrial base of that country, so that if they ever decided to rebuild their military, or if they ever decided to rebuild that nuclear program, they would be harmless to do it. You did that exactly as well,” Vance added, per the Times of Israel.
The VP went on to say that Trump is now “negotiating from a position of strength because of you.”
“If the Iranians try to rebuild the nuclear program, the President’s got options. If the Iranians try to threaten their neighbors or fund terrorism, we’ve got options,” Vance continued.
“But what we must never do is drop bombs just for the sake of dropping bombs. And that is what the president will never ask you to do,” Vance added.
“He’ll ask you to go to war, yes. But when he asks you to go to war, he’ll tell you exactly what you’re going for,” the veep noted further.
“And I think that is what you should expect out of your political leadership.”
“What I noticed about the people who are attacking the administration for negotiating is that they are the very same people who, for example, encouraged us to just go a little bit further and just drop a few more bombs in places like Afghanistan,” he said.
“If you go back to the mistakes that were made, those very same people refused to say what we were dropping bombs for,” he added.
“We dropped some bombs a couple of days ago… Because the Iranians were shooting at commercial ships… We applied some leverage, and we’ve had free commercial transit for the last three days,” Vance told the naval personnel.
