Florida – A fight over election legislation has opened a fresh rift inside the Republican Party, with Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna publicly turning her frustration toward Senate Majority Leader John Thune over the stalled SAVE America Act.
The measure, formally known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, has become one of the GOP’s most closely watched election bills ahead of the midterm cycle.
The House passed the legislation in February by a narrow 218-213 vote, sending it to the Senate, where it faces a much harder path because most major bills need 60 votes to clear a filibuster.
At its core, the bill would require people registering to vote in federal elections to show documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. Supporters say that could include documents such as a passport or birth certificate.
The legislation also includes voter ID requirements and directs states to use federal systems to help identify non-citizens on voter rolls.
For Luna and other conservatives, the issue is not merely procedural. It has become a test of whether Republican leaders in the Senate are willing to push hard enough on an election-security promise that President Donald Trump and many in the House GOP have placed near the center of their agenda.
Luna’s criticism sharpened after she claimed Thune was no longer moving forward with the measure.
She has argued that the Senate has failed to act and suggested the only way to force the bill through may be to attach it to other major legislation, including FISA-related measures or housing legislation.
In March, she wrote that the Senate “has failed the American people” and that the SAVE Act would have to be attached to FISA to survive.
The clash has grown more public as Trump has also pressed Senate Republicans to find a way around Democratic resistance.
Fox News reported that Trump urged the Senate to use the “talking filibuster,” a time-consuming floor tactic that would force opponents to keep debating rather than quietly blocking the bill through the modern 60-vote threshold.
Thune, however, has pointed to the math in the Senate. According to Fox News, he said there were “not even close” to enough votes to eliminate the filibuster, calling that path one without a future.
That answer has not satisfied Luna. Speaking on Fox News, she tied the issue to a wider battle over Democratic priorities and the future of Senate rules.
“As we have stated before, we need everyone to show up and vote in the midterms,” Luna said.
“But I think this also goes to show, Peter, that when President Trump says they’re going to remove the filibuster anyways, and then you have people like John Thune refusing to codify the agenda that the American people mandating and voting for President Trump, that’s a problem.”
She called the SAVE Act “one of the biggest, most popular pieces of legislation in the country,” describing voter ID and the bill’s broader election provisions as “an 80-20 issue” backed by Democrats, Republicans and independents.
“And yet you have people in the Senate like John Thune saying that they can’t remove the filibuster or even embrace the talking filibuster, which is a workaround, and that’s simply unacceptable,” Luna said.
Voter ID and the SAVE Act have overwhelming bipartisan support, yet @LeaderJohnThune continues to block it. President Trump mandated this get done, and I’ll make sure the SAVE Act is included in FISA or housing. Thune cannot ignore it now. pic.twitter.com/M7TKpPIgxv
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) May 17, 2026
Opponents see the bill very differently.
Democrats and voting-rights advocates argue that federal law already bars non-citizens from voting and that new proof-of-citizenship rules could block eligible Americans who do not have easy access to documents.
The Associated Press reported that critics have warned the measure could create confusion for election offices and voters as primaries approach.
Still, the pressure from Luna and other House conservatives shows how much the SAVE Act has become a symbol inside the GOP.
What began as an election bill has turned into a leadership test, a fight over Senate tactics and a warning sign that House Republicans may not quietly accept delays from their own party’s Senate leadership.
With the midterms approaching, the dispute is unlikely to fade. Luna has already promised a renewed push when lawmakers return to Washington, saying she intends to make sure the SAVE Act is attached to larger legislation.
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For Thune, the challenge now is not only whether he can move the bill, but whether he can keep a restless Republican coalition from turning its anger inward.
