WASHINGTON, D.C. – As usual, there’s little room for agreement between Utah’s representatives in the U.S. Senate.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) is the leading the charge of insurgent Republicans to force a vote on his SAVE America Act that would require proof-of-citizenship and voter identification to cast a ballot in future federal elections.
Meanwhile, Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) is taking a more measured and scholarly approach to the looming showdown in the Senate.
The core of their disagreement is focused on the now controversial Senate tradition of the filibuster.
Since February, President Donald Trump has been urging Republican senators to evoke the so-called “nuclear option” to eliminate the endless debates during filibusters as an avenue to pass Lee’s election reform legislation.
But Curtis opposes any attempt to do away with the filibuster in Senate.
“My views on the filibuster are longstanding and not tied to any specific piece of legislation,” according to Curtis. “I would stand firm on the filibuster in any instance, because it is the cornerstone of the Senate.”
In a scholarly defense of the filibuster printed in the Wall Street Journal, Curtis argues that tradition has contributed to the Senate’s reputation as the world greatest deliberative body.
The filibuster forces engagement, requires listening and pushes ideas to be tested beyond a simple majority, he says, which gives individual senators real power that cannot be ignored.
“Without the filibuster,” Curtis adds, “the Senate would function like the House, where individual members — the constituents they represent — have less ability to shape major legislation.”
The time-honored tradition of the filibuster in the Senate is a practice that requires 60 votes in that legislative chamber to end debate before a bill can voted on.
In the past, senators actually had to stand on the floor of that chamber and talk endlessly to maintain a filibuster.
In modern times, however, that stalling tactic often involves just threatening a filibuster rather than dramatic, prolonged speeches. The more modern practice is known as a “silent filibuster” or – as Republican refer to it – a “zombie filibuster.”
With the votes of 50 Republican senators – many of who are already on record as supporting the election reforms of the SAVE America Act – plus the tie-breaking vote of Vice President JD Vance – Republicans led by Lee could end the filibuster in the Senate.
Then the SAVE America Act would only require a similar 51-vote simple majority to pass.
Lee is meanwhile holding the entire Senate hostage by formerly objecting to any August recess until the chamber deals with the filibuster and election integrity issues.
Senate Majority John Thune (R-SD) is pushing for the usual recess from early August to mid-September and insists the Senate has no time to engage in a protracted battle over the SAVE America Act.
But Lee counters that what the Senate lacks is spine, not time.
Other GOP mavericks have joined Lee, including Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) who has called the planned recess schedule “insane.”
But Curtis is sticking to his guns, saying that the 60-vote threshold guaranteed by the filibuster plays an important role in the Senate beyond day-to-day legislation.
“Without that threshold,” he contended in the WSJ op-ed, “far-reaching decisions can be made by a simple majority and just as easily reversed by the next.
“At the point, the Senate would become unrecognizable to our Founding Fathers,” Curtis adds.
According to recent GOP polling, 86 percent of Americans and 74 percent of Democrats are in favor of requiring voter identification and proof for citizenship at the ballot box.