Sen. Banks: Votes Still Aren't There for SAVE America Act

Sen. Banks: Votes Still Aren’t There for SAVE America Act

U.S. Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) isn't giving up on the SAVE America Act, even without enough votes to pass it.

Warsh Confirmation Hearing — Source: Tom Williams / Getty

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Indiana Republican Senator Jim Banks is still pushing for the passage of the SAVE America Act, even though it appears that there aren’t enough votes for it.

“We don’t have the votes, unfortunately, to pass the SAVE America Act, which secures our elections and blocks illegals from voting in our elections,” Sen. Banks told WIBC’s “The Hammer and Nigel Show” on Wednesday.

In the early morning hours on Thursday, Senate Republicans approved a budget resolution to allocate $70 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. The resolution heads to the House after a 50-48 vote, although Sen. Banks said some of the Republicans who voted to pass ICE and CBP funding will not back the SAVE America Act.

“It’s because we have a few squishy Republican holdouts who aren’t supporting it,” said Banks. “Mitch McConnell and a few other Republican Senators said they’re not going to vote for it.”

Banks supports “nuking the filibuster” to try and get the SAVE America Act passed, but according to him, there aren’t enough votes to change the rules of the Senate either. He believes that changing the Senate rules to require 51 votes to pass legislation instead of 60 would also lead to an increase in voter turnout.

“I’m all for changing the Senate rules because you’ve completely weakened the legislative branch and have tied our hands behind our backs,” Banks added.

Sen. Banks called the Save America Act a “fundamental” and “common sense” piece of legislation that needs to be passed.

“I’m not giving up on it yet,” said Banks. “Everything in Congress is about negotiating.”