Four Republican Senators joined all Democrats to vote against including the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act into a budget reconciliation package focused on immigration enforcement funding.
The amendment, this time advanced by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), sought to attach elements like proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration, photo ID requirements, and related election security measures to a nearly $70 billion reconciliation bill aimed at funding ICE and Border Patrol. The effort failed as it required 60 votes to overcome procedural hurdles, falling short amid unified Democratic opposition.
The four dissenting Republican senators were Thom Tillis (R-NC), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Thursday’s vote marks the second time in recent months the same quartet has voted against attaching SAVE Act language to a reconciliation vehicle, as they first blocked in April during vote-a-rama on a budget resolution, and now in June on the funding package.
Collins and Murkowski have consistently crossed party lines on a number of votes, while Tillis and McConnell have cited concerns over Senate procedure.
US Senate votes against allowing Lindsey Graham’s SAVE America Act amendment to be added to the reconciliation bill.
Vote was 48-50
Republican Senators who voted against including the SAVE America Act amendment into the reconciliation bill:
🟥Susan Collins (ME)
🟥Mitch… https://t.co/Q1LFRp5dCb pic.twitter.com/EYZXG8siZW— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) June 4, 2026
Budget reconciliation is a special procedure under the Congressional Budget Act that expedites bills impacting spending, revenues, or the debt limit. In the Senate, it limits debate and—most importantly—prevents filibusters. This means legislation can pass with a simple majority of 51 votes (or 50 plus the vice president’s tiebreaker), thus bypassing the usual 60-vote cloture threshold required for most bills.
Attaching SAVE Act provisions to the reconciliation package would have allowed passage with near-unanimous GOP support plus Vice President J.D. Vance if needed, sidestepping Democratic filibusters that have stalled the standalone bill. The House has passed versions of the SAVE Act with strong Republican backing.
Without reconciliation, the bill remains vulnerable in regular order. Graham’s amendment aimed to create that workaround in the immigration funding bill, but the 60-vote procedural requirement doomed it.
President Trump has long prioritized the SAVE Act and has repeatedly called on the Senate to pass it outright or “staple” it to must-pass legislation like funding bills.
