Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) is now openly calling for Republicans to ram the SAVE America Act through reconciliation, a legislative maneuver that would allow passage with just 50 votes plus the Vice President.
Budget reconciliation is a special parliamentary process in the U.S. Senate that allows for the expedited passage of legislation regarding spending, revenue, or the debt limit, requiring only a simple majority (51 votes or 50 + Vice President) rather than the 60 votes usually needed to overcome a filibuster.
Created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this process is limited to budget-related matters and cannot be used for general policy changes.
Although under the “Byrd Rule,” provisions must have a direct impact on the budget. “Extraneous” items that do not significantly impact spending or revenue are forbidden and can be stripped out.
Kennedy’s remarks come as frustration boils over among conservatives who have watched the critical election integrity bill stall despite growing national concern over voter confidence and election security.
Kennedy laid out the battle plan in crystal-clear terms:
Sen. Kennedy:
“I think we are, Mr. President—I know you are—we need to try to pass this legislation through reconciliation.Now, you know how reconciliation works, Mr. President. It means we can pass this bill with 50 Republican votes and the Vice President to break the tie. That’s how we passed the one big, beautiful bill. I would hope to get some of my Democratic friends to support us, but we don’t have to have them.
That’s harder than I described because, as you know, Mr. President, there are parameters on reconciliation.
Anything you propose through reconciliation has to be paid for. We can find the money to pay for it. And anything you pass through reconciliation has to conform with the contours of the Budget Control Act. We call that giving a provision a “birdbath.”
And our parliamentarian decides what passes muster under the Budget Control Act and what doesn’t.
Now, we’ve got a lot of smart lawyers in the United States Senate. Every single one of them thinks they’re ‘Oliver Wendell Scalia.’
But we’ve got a lot of other smart lawyers in America. Here’s what I’m getting at: we have yet to try going to these smart lawyers—some in the Senate and some, believe it or not, not in the Senate—and saying, “Craft us a SAVE Act that will pass muster under the Budget Control Act and can be blessed by the parliamentarian.”
And some of my colleagues—those ‘Oliver Wendell Scalia types’—they say, “Kennedy, you know you’ll never be able to do that.”
They don’t know. I’ve been here 10 years. I’ve seen things pass muster—survive a birdbath—that I didn’t think had a hope in hell. And I’ve seen provisions fail the parliamentarian’s judgment under a birdbath that I thought were slam dunks.
You don’t know until you try, and we haven’t tried. And 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— If this bill is as important as we say it is, we should try it through reconciliation.”
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At the same time, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is calling for an entirely different pressure tactic: force the Senate’s hand by attaching the SAVE America Act to FISA.
WATCH:
The Senate would walk over broken glass to pass FISA, which is why FISA is the perfect vehicle to attach the SAVE America Act and force a vote.
No more excuses. No more delays. Attach it, pass it, and get voter ID done. pic.twitter.com/Ud9uonlvWR
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) March 17, 2026
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