Thune’s New Plan for the SAVE America Act: Make It a Campaign Issue. Republicans Deserve Better Than This.
John Thune finally found a use for the SAVE America Act. Not passing it. Running on it.
“How about we make it about them?” Thune told reporters Monday, before beclowning himself by pretending he is the only one who “can count to 50.”
“How about we make it about them!” Thune said, regarding Democrats.
“Seems to me I’m the only one who can count to 50. We don’t have the votes,” he added. “Let’s make this an issue in the campaign. How about we go out and turn our fire on Democrats and make it about them opposing the SAVE Act.”
How ’bout you do your job as a leader and twist arms, threaten to take away chairmanships and campaign financing? Maybe try and make a deal with some ‘no’ votes? You know, John, become a leader.
The Senate Majority Leader has 53 Republican seats. He cannot find 50 votes. His solution is to weaponize his own failure as a campaign strategy.
This is a man who has fundamentally misunderstood his job.
The SAVE America Act requires proof of citizenship to register and vote. Eighty-three percent of Americans support it. Seventy-two percent of Democrats support it. New Jersey just admitted 6,600 noncitizens were on its voter rolls with nearly 400 who voted. Virginia found 6,531 more. A British national pleaded guilty in Texas last week to voting in five American elections over twelve years. The Trump administration’s declassified intelligence identified 270,000 noncitizen registrations across just four cooperating states. The evidence isn’t theoretical anymore. It’s documented, prosecuted, and multiplying.
And Thune’s answer is to make it a campaign issue. What a clown.
Let’s be clear about what “make it a campaign issue” actually means in practice. It means: we had the evidence, we had the majority, we had the public support, we had the urgency, we had a president who personally came to Capitol Hill to pressure us — and we chose the filibuster over election security. Then we went on television to say we couldn’t find 50 votes in a 53-seat majority and told voters to be angry at Democrats instead.
Democrats will kill the filibuster the moment they take back power. They put it in a signed resolution. Sen. Chris Murphy confirmed it on a podcast. This is not speculation. The filibuster that Thune is protecting will be gone before his next term ends if Republicans lose the Senate in November. He is preserving a procedural rule specifically to avoid a difficult vote — a rule his opponents have already promised to eliminate.
The campaign issue argument is also the wrong read of the political moment. Running on “we wanted to do it but couldn’t” doesn’t fire up a base. It demoralizes one. Voters who believe the SAVE America Act is urgent — and the polling says an overwhelming majority do — are not going to be energized by a campaign commercial about a bill that died in Thune’s Senate. They’re going to stay home.
Darline Graham, in her first week as a senator replacing her late brother Lindsey, said she’d vote to end the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act if that’s what it takes. She’s been in office eight days. She understands the moment better than the man who has run the Senate for eight months. So does President Trump, who even went to Capitol Hill to urge the GOP majorities to get this done.
Making it about them is not a strategy. It’s an admission of defeat dressed up as a plan.
Do the job, Senator. While you still can.
BREAKING: Dolly Parton’s Cause Of Death Revealed: ‘Brief Battle’
Dolly Parton’s death came after a brief battle with cancer, her representatives revealed Tuesday.
The country music legend died Aug. 25 at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. She was 80.
Parton had been admitted to the cancer center Friday, four days before her death. Her representatives confirmed the cancer diagnosis in a statement to PEOPLE but did not disclose what type she had.
“Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched. Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand,” the statement read.
“Whether it be the hundreds of millions of books donated through her invaluable Imagination Library or funding research that helped create a lifesaving vaccine used around the world, Dolly’s unconditional love for all people was the guiding force for her lasting impact. After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones,” the statement concluded.
The “Jolene” singer had also been dealing with kidney and autoimmune issues before her death, PEOPLE previously reported.
Just days earlier, Dolly Parton opened up about her declining health and acknowledged that she had put off addressing some medical issues while caring for her husband, Carl.
“As I’ve shared in video messages throughout the past year, I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over [my husband] Carl. You know, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to manage something like this. Back in the early ’80s, I was down for several months with female issues, and I was struggling with my weight at the time too, so it’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health,” Parton told PEOPLE.
Her nephew, Bryan Seaver, announced her death in an Instagram video Tuesday on behalf of the Parton and Owens family.
“My name is Bryan Seaver, son of Cassie Parton, and I’m representing the Parton and Owens family today announcing the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, Sister, Sis and Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next,” he says in the video.
Seaver, who served as Parton’s head of security for more than two decades, said she had asked him years earlier to deliver the announcement.
“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” he continued. “As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now.”
Seaver said the moment brought immense pride and heartbreak, but he took comfort in his faith that Parton had been reunited with Carl and other loved ones.
Seaver added: “It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly. Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents and countless othe
Shocking 'truth' behind Prince Harry's decision to quit major role
Prince Harry should have "resigned in disgrace" from the board of a controversial African wildlife charity, a commentator says. James Walker makes the bombshell remark in Wednesday's episode of this publication's podcast, Daily Expresso.
He and the show's host, JJ Anisiobi, delve into the Duke of Sussex's dramatic decision to step down from African Parks. James, commenting on the controversy, said: "When you hear about this stuff and how long it's been going on for, you should be resigning in disgrace. [Harry] should be saying: 'I'm not touching that with a barge pole. That is a failed entity. We're going nowhere near it'.
"But no. He's still saying he's going to 'support their mission'. And again this Caroline Pearce, executive director of Survival International, goes on to say: 'His departure doesn't undo that record'.
"She alleged that African Parks was aware of the abuses for years, but it was only after Survival complained to Harry that the charity finally commissioned an investigation."
James added: "Well, she's got a point."
It emerged on Monday (August 24) that Harry was no longer a board member of the wildlife charity.
The conservation organisation has admitted that human rights abuses were committed by its rangers against members of the semi-nomadic Baka group in Congo-Brazzaville.
African Parks has said since that it has improved its safeguarding processes both in the Odzala-Kokoua National Park and institutionally.
Its admission followed an independent human rights investigation into allegations guards managed and paid by the charity had beaten, raped and tortured indigenous people in Odzala-Kokoua National Park.
Harry was president of the charity for six years before he became a member of its board of directors in 2023.
A spokesman for the Duke said he remains an active and avid supporter of African Parks. He added: "The Duke is proud of his 10 years with African Parks and fully supports the ongoing strengthening of its board.
"His commitment to conservation in Africa continues and he remains a supporter of African Parks’ mission."
Human rights organisation, Survival International, said it had been calling on Harry to step down from African Parks for years.
The group's director, Caroline Pearce, said in a statement: "It’s outrageous that for 10 years Prince Harry has served African Parks while the organisation has been responsible for abuse and violence against Indigenous people.
"His departure doesn't undo that record — African Parks itself must now be held accountable, and must abandon this model of fortress conservation for good."
Survival International said indigenous peoples know how best to manage their land and the idea outsiders know better is racist and colonial.
