Trump-backed voter ID bill faces GOP resistance as Tillis vows to stop it

By Fox News · Fox News

Senate Republicans are gearing up for a floor battle over Trump-backed voter ID legislation, but another GOP senator plans to oppose it. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., won’t support the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, a decision that could throw a wrench into the GOP’s plan to force Senate Democrats into tough vote after tough vote next week. "I'm a no," Tillis said. "I'm going to do everything I can to prevent it from even moving forward." SENATE GOP EYES BLAME GAME AS TRUMP-BACKED SAVE ACT HEADS FOR DEFEAT He did offer an alternative, arguing that if Republicans were "serious" about voter ID, they’d consider legislation that incentivized states to use the practice in exchange for federal funding. If not, the money would go toward ensuring "election integrity" oversight. "Who could be against that? You know, and then rock on, California, if you want to enable ballot harvesting," Tillis said. "Make sure you do it on your nickels, because we're going to spend the money to oversee the elections to make sure you did it legally." His resistance to the bill comes after President Donald Trump demanded that Republicans ram the bill through Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Democrats’ blockade with a talking filibuster. TRUMP, THUNE CLASH ON VOTER ID ULTIMATUM AS GOP REMAINS DIVIDED ON PATH FORWARD Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Republicans landed on a plan to put the bill on the floor that doesn’t take the route of a talking filibuster, given that there isn’t enough unity among Republicans to block Democrats’ amendments that could drastically change the bill. However, that process is in the spirit of the talking filibuster and will allow Republicans to load up amendments on the floor for a marathon debate session. Still, it won’t lower the threshold to pass the bill with just a simple majority, something the talking filibuster would have done. Republicans know it’s destined to fail and are trying to shift blame…