Senate Should Force Talking Filibuster on SAVE Act to Secure Paxton Deal and Election Integrity
Source: https://www.facebook.com/americanspectator/. "Paxton Makes Thune an Offer He Can’t Refuse | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics." March 9, 2026. spectator.org
The Gist
The author argues that the Senate leader should make a deal with Ken Paxton - pass a voter ID law and Paxton will drop out of a Senate race that could hurt Republicans. The author thinks this is smart because the voter ID law is popular and Democrats would look bad opposing it on live TV.
Conclusion
Senate Majority Leader John Thune should accept Ken Paxton's offer to drop out of the Texas Senate race in exchange for bringing the SAVE America Act to a vote using a talking filibuster strategy
Premises
- John Cornyn's weak primary performance (under 50%) and potential runoff make his Senate seat vulnerable to flipping blue
- Ken Paxton would be a better senator than Cornyn and has offered to drop out if the SAVE Act passes
- The SAVE America Act has overwhelming public support, with 83% favoring voter ID requirements according to Pew Research
- A talking filibuster strategy can force passage with only 51 votes by making Democrats physically debate the bill on C-SPAN
- President Trump has issued an ultimatum refusing to sign other bills until the SAVE Act passes, increasing pressure
- Democrats oppose voter ID requirements because they want to cheat in elections, as there's no other plausible explanation
- The House has already passed two versions of the bill despite having only a microscopic majority
Assumptions
- Paxton's offer is genuine and he would honor the agreement
- A talking filibuster would be politically damaging enough to Democrats to force their capitulation
- Public opinion on voter ID translates to political pressure on senators
- Cornyn losing would be worse for Republicans than any potential downsides of the Paxton deal
- Trump's ultimatum threat is credible and will be maintained