Let's see if this End-Around Play with the SAVE AMERICA ACT is able to get thru THUNE!!!
𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏 𝐒𝐋𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋 — 𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐕𝐎𝐓𝐄 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍
President Trump announced Wednesday he has formally inserted the SAVE America Act into his forthcoming $350 billion Pentagon reconciliation package — the national defense spending bill that bypasses the Senate filibuster and requires only 50 votes plus JD Vance. The House has passed SAVE Act three times. Each time, it d∗ed in the Senate. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲.
What the law requires is simple. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘐𝘋, Trump explained — 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? And 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. Mail-in ballots would be limited to illness, disability, military service, or travel. On public support he was blunt: 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 80-20. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 99-1, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯.
The four Senate Republicans who voted to block SAVE Act before: Thom Tillis, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Mitch McConnell. Senate Majority Leader Thune quietly shelved it after the spring recess without a floor vote — a fact Rep. Anna Paulina Luna called out publicly on live TV. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚 $𝟑𝟓𝟎 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞. The parliamentarian ruled SAVE Act outside reconciliation rules on the domestic bill; the defense bill is a new vehicle requiring a fresh review. Trump is forcing the argument again.
The backdrop matters. California just ran a primary where mail ballots kept arriving for days after election night, leaving multiple congressional races uncalled for nearly two weeks. Trump named it: 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. He credited the 2024 landslide to overwhelming margins — enough votes they couldn’t manufacture their way around it. The SAVE Act closes the gap between that kind of victory and a normal election. 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐃 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥-𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.
View attachment 290262
𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐄: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀 𝐌𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐘 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏
Steve Bannon didn’t reach for a diplomatic word when asked about Senate Republican leader John Thune’s posture toward the Trump administration:
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺.”
When his co-host pushed back on the word “mutiny,” Bannon — a Navy veteran — defined it precisely: “𝘔𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. 𝘔𝘳. 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘉𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘵.” Then he applied it to Thune: 𝐚 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐨, 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩. 𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩’𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐬. He literally laughed.
The specific receipts Bannon cited:
A $1 billion line item for a tactical operations center and field hospital, buried inside the reconciliation bill. “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘢𝘮 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵.” Zero recess appointments. Confirmation votes going nowhere. FISA legislation being pushed forward — the same surveillance tool used to spy on Trump’s 2016 campaign and demonize his associates.
On the FISA push, Bannon was direct: “𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘍𝘐𝘚𝘈, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘥-𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵.”
His warning about 2026: In the South Carolina Republican primary, 43% of GOP voters just voted against Lindsey Graham in his own state. 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭 — 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚.
Thune has his conference. The MAGA base has the midterms.
𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧: 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝.
View attachment 290263