By Alex Miller
福克斯新闻
发布于2026年2月16日美国东部时间晚上7:30 | 更新于2026年2月16日美国东部时间晚上8:30
参议院共和党人现在在党内获得了足够的支持来通过特朗普支持的选民ID立法，但一个重大障碍仍然存在。
《保护美国选民资格（SAVE）法案》已获得50名参议院共和党人的支持，这是过去几周白宫和一群参议院保守派施压的结果。
来自犹他州的共和党参议员迈克·李（Mike Lee）领导了上议院的推动工作，随着该法案在众议院通过，他在上周加大了努力。
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犹他州共和党参议员迈克·李和参议院共和党人在推动选民ID立法方面达到了一个关键门槛，但参议院阻挠议事规则的争议仍然横亘在道路上。(Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
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[舒默称民主党将”全力以赴”对抗选民ID提案，反对国土安全部参与选举]
李告诉福克斯新闻数字版，他对巩固立法支持所取得的进展感到”欣喜若狂”，并希望参议院能尽快审议该法案。
“我很希望我们下周就能着手处理此事，也许是在国情咨文演讲后的第二天，”李说。”我认为那会是个好时机。但我认为这件事需要尽快完成，而不是拖延。”
这场多方面的运动——既在社交媒体上进行，也在参议院闭门会议中展开——被证明是成功的，获得了参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩（John Thune）等几位议员的支持。
缅因州共和党参议员苏珊·柯林斯（Susan Collins）成为第50位支持该法案的参议员。这为共和党人提供了推进立法所需的内部支持，但前提是他们必须启用常规的（即”冗长辩论”）阻挠议事程序。
上周离开华盛顿特区进行为期一周休假前，李和其他支持者，包括威斯康星州共和党参议员罗恩·约翰逊（Ron Johnson）和佛罗里达州共和党参议员里克·斯科特（Rick Scott），向同僚们推销选民ID提案以及通过该法案的潜在途径。
“我们有一些优秀的参议员站出来说，’不，我们必须为此而战，’”约翰逊告诉福克斯新闻数字版。”我支持他们。我们需要为此而战。”
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[柯林斯支持共和党选民ID努力，但不会废除阻挠议事规则]
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唐纳德·特朗普总统于2025年2月13日前往北卡罗来纳州，在抓获委内瑞拉马杜罗后会见军人。(Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
尽管如此，这项努力仍面临参议院民主党人的强烈反对，他们几乎一致反对该法案。
唯一可能的例外是宾夕法尼亚州民主党参议员约翰·费特曼（John Fetterman），他反驳了纽约州民主党参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默（Chuck Schumer）将该法案描述为”《吉姆·克劳法2.0》”的说法，但尚未表明他是否最终会支持《保护美国选民资格法案》。
尽管存在这种可能性，舒默和他的大多数党团成员计划阻止该立法。
“我们不会让它在参议院通过，”舒默告诉美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）的杰克·塔珀（Jake Tapper）。”我们将全力以赴与之抗争。”
并非所有参议院共和党人都支持该法案。阿拉斯加州共和党参议员丽莎·穆尔科斯基（Lisa Murkowski）已宣布将投票反对该法案，而肯塔基州共和党参议员米奇·麦康奈尔（Mitch McConnell）和北卡罗来纳州共和党参议员汤姆·提利斯（Thom Tillis）尚未签署为共同提案人。
绕过民主党反对的一个选择是”废除阻挠议事规则”，即消除需要60票才能结束辩论的门槛——一些国会共和党人认为，由于立法可以仅通过扣留选票而非占用议事时间就能被阻挠，这种阻挠议事规则实际上已成为”僵尸阻挠”。
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[强硬派保守派加倍努力挽救《保护美国选民资格法案》]
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纽约州民主党参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默于2026年1月30日在华盛顿特区美国国会大厦的新闻发布会上发言。(Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
尽管唐纳德·特朗普总统此前曾施压要求废除阻挠议事规则，但这一举措在共和党人中并未获得足够的票数——图恩上周强调了这一点。
“远远没有足够的票数——甚至差得很远——来废除阻挠议事规则，”图恩说。
这就留下了回到常规（即”冗长辩论”）阻挠议事规则的可能——这是今天程序障碍的前身。根据这种做法，参议院民主党人将被要求占用议事时间并公开辩论他们的反对意见，就像几十年前现代阻挠议事规则成为标准做法之前的情况一样。
这一想法似乎在一些共和党人中越来越受到重视，尽管批评者警告说，这可能会根据民主党人的决心，有效地使上议院瘫痪数天、数周甚至数月。
李表示，他交谈过的许多参议员都对这一想法持开放态度，而那些持怀疑态度的人并不相信它不会奏效。
“我理解为什么人们可能会对我们不熟悉的程序有疑问，”李说。”但这并不意味着我们不需要这样做，因为我们必须这样做。”
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与此同时，特朗普暗示，如果国会无法通过《保护美国选民资格法案》，他可能会亲自采取行动。
在上周的Truth Social帖子中，特朗普称该立法是”中期选举及以后连任不可错过的机会”。
“这是一个必须立即抗争的问题，必须立即抗争！如果我们无法在国会通过它，这个骗局有合法理由不被允许，”特朗普写道。”我将很快以行政命令的形式提出这些措施。”
亚历克斯·米勒（Alex Miller）是福克斯新闻数字版报道美国参议院的记者。
Senate Republicans reached a crucial number of votes to pass the voter ID legislation, but more hurdles remain
By Alex Miller
Fox News
Published February 16, 2026 7:30pm EST | Updated February 16, 2026 8:30pm EST
Senate Republicans now have enough support within their conference to pass Trump-backed voter ID legislation, but a major hurdle remains.
The Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act has secured the backing of 50 Senate Republicans, following a pressure campaign by the White House and a cohort of Senate conservatives over the past several weeks.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has led the charge in the upper chamber, ramping up his efforts last week as the bill moved through the House.
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Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Senate Republicans reached a key threshold in their quest to pass voter ID legislation, but a fight over the Senate filibuster still stands in the way.(Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
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[SCHUMER SAYS DEMS WILL FIGHT VOTER ID PUSH ‘TOOTH AND NAIL,’ BALKS AT DHS ROLE IN ELECTIONS]
Lee told Fox News Digital that he was “ecstatic” about the progress made in shoring up support for the legislation and hoped the Senate would move as quickly as possible to consider it.
“I would love to see us turn to it next week, perhaps the day after the State of the Union address,” Lee said. “I think that would be good timing. But I think this needs to get done sooner rather than later.”
That multifaceted campaign — both on social media and behind closed doors in the Senate — proved successful, drawing support from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and several others.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, became the 50th senator to back the bill. That gives Republicans the internal support they need to advance the legislation procedurally, but only if they turn to the standing, or talking, filibuster.
Before leaving Washington, D.C., for a weeklong break last week, Lee and other supporters, including Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., pitched the voter ID proposal and potential pathways to pass it to colleagues.
“We had some good senators stand up and say, ‘No, we got to fight for this,’” Johnson told Fox News Digital. “I’m with them. We need to fight for this.”
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[COLLINS BOOSTS REPUBLICAN VOTER ID EFFORT, BUT WON’T SCRAP FILIBUSTER]
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President Donald Trump traveled to North Carolina on Feb. 13, 2025, to meet with military members after the capture of Venezuela’s Maduro.(Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Still, the effort faces heavy resistance from Senate Democrats, who are nearly unified in their opposition.
The only potential outlier is Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who has pushed back against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s, D-N.Y., characterization of the bill as “Jim Crow 2.0” but has not said whether he would ultimately support the SAVE America Act.
Despite that possibility, Schumer and most of his caucus plan to block the legislation.
“We will not let it pass in the Senate,” Schumer told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “We are fighting it tooth and nail.”
Not every Senate Republican is onboard, either. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has announced she will vote against the measure, while Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., have not signed on as co-sponsors.
One option to bypass Democratic opposition would be nuking the filibuster and its 60-vote threshold — a move some congressional Republicans argue has effectively become a “zombie filibuster,” since legislation can be blocked simply by withholding votes rather than holding the floor.
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[HARDLINE CONSERVATIVES DOUBLE DOWN TO SAVE THE SAVE ACT]
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 30, 2026.(Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Despite previous pressure from President Donald Trump to eliminate the filibuster, the move does not have the votes among Republicans to succeed — a point Thune underscored last week.
“There aren’t anywhere close to the votes — not even close — to nuking the filibuster,” Thune said.
That leaves a return to the standing, or talking, filibuster — the precursor to today’s procedural hurdle. Under that approach, Senate Democrats would be required to hold the floor and publicly debate their opposition, as senators did for decades before the modern filibuster became standard practice.
The idea appears to be gaining traction among some Republicans, though critics warn it could effectively paralyze the upper chamber for days, weeks or even months, depending on Democrats’ resolve.
Lee said that many senators he’s spoken with are open to the idea, and that those who were reluctant didn’t believe it wouldn’t work.
“I understand why people might have questions about a procedure that we’re not familiar with,” Lee said. “It doesn’t mean we don’t have to do it, because we do.”
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Meanwhile, Trump has suggested he could take matters into his own hands if Congress cannot pass the SAVE America Act.
In a Truth Social post last week, Trump called the legislation a “CAN’T MISS FOR RE-ELECTION IN THE MIDTERMS, AND BEYOND.”
“This is an issue that must be fought, and must be fought, NOW! If we can’t get it through Congress, there are legal reasons why this SCAM is not permitted,” Trump wrote. “I will be presenting them shortly, in the form of an Executive Order.”
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.