President Donald Trump on Wednesday ramped up his pressure campaign against Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), urging supporters to flood his office with calls demanding action on the SAVE America Act.
“We have to pass the SAVE America Act to defend American elections. And I have to say, Mike Johnson and Congress have done a great job, but we’re having a hard time in the Senate,” Trump said at a rally in Georgia. “It’s like the Senate is a place where you send things when you want them to die.”
“We’re not going to take this any longer… I’m trying to be nice, Trump added. “Everybody call John Thune at the Senate, he’s the leader of the Republican party, and tell him to get this stuff approved!”
The president also renewed his call to eliminate the filibuster, arguing Democrats would quickly abolish the 60-vote threshold themselves if they regain power.
“The Democrats are going to terminate the filibuster as soon as they have a chance, and then they’re going to approve Puerto Rico and D.C. as a state. They got four more senators. They’re going to end up with 12 more congressmen. They’re going to get like 40 electoral votes,” the president said.
.@POTUS: “We have to pass the SAVE America Act to defend American Elections… We’re not going to take this any longer… Right now, Congress is working to get as much of our plan as possible into the budget bill… everybody call John Thune at the Senate… and tell him to get… pic.twitter.com/uBzhGziRSm
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 22, 2026
“But I may be crying when I’ll be sitting home, and I’ll say, I told them, they’ve got to really terminate the filibuster, get everything approved right away,” he added.
Trump’s remarks came hours after the House passed a third version of the election integrity measure by attaching it to the GOP-backed Stop Insider Trading Act, legislation that would ban members of Congress from buying and selling stocks.
The combined bill passed 232-198, with 13 Democrats joining Republicans to advance the measure, marking the first congressional stock-trading ban to receive a House floor vote, according to Politico.
Frustration with Thune isn’t limited to the White House. House Republicans who have repeatedly passed the legislation have also grown increasingly vocal about the Senate’s inaction.
“If John Thune has shown that he does not want to put the SAVE America Act on the Senate floor, he should step aside,” Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) said on social media. “There are plenty of other options in the Senate capable of securing our elections as Majority Leader.”
Republicans have also pointed to New Jersey’s recent admission that a “software error” led to thousands of non-citizens being registered to vote, arguing the situation shows the need for stronger election safeguards.
New Jersey Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill revealed Tuesday that the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) mistakenly registered roughly 6,600 non-citizens despite their indicating they were not U.S. citizens while applying for IDs and driver’s licenses between June 2023 and June 2024, The Daily Wire reported.
“These individuals answered ‘no’ when asked on a keypad whether they were a U.S. citizen when applying for drivers’ licenses and identification cards, but through no fault of their own, the system registered them anyway,” Sherrill wrote in an X post.
Trump administration officials have said the non-citizens who illegally voted could face prosecution and deportation.
“People need to see the consequences of voting when you’re not allowed to,” Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, told conservative podcast host Benny Johnson.
Back on Capitol Hill, Democrats argued the stock trading ban didn’t go far enough, but ultimately opposed the bill because it included provisions from the SAVE America Act.
“Republicans have corrupted their so-called stock trading bill with a decaying piece of the SAVE American Act corpse,” Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.) Morelle said, according to Politico.
The bill now moves to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain path forward.