Republican Louisiana Rep. Julia Letlow is calling on Senate Republicans to invoke the talking filibuster to get the SAVE America Act to President Donald Trump’s desk.
Letlow is locked in a hotly contested Senate primary against incumbent Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who cosponsors the SAVE Act but has stopped short of saying the tactic — advocated for by some Senate Republicans — should be used to pass the bill. Letlow’s call to pass the election integrity bill comes just hours after Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he plans to bring the legislation to the floor next week for a vote.
“I firmly believe, as do most Americans, that only Americans should be voting in our elections. It’s common sense and that’s why I and so many others strongly support the Save America Act, including President Trump,” Letlow, who has Trump’s endorsement in her Senate race, said in an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The voting bill contains widely popular policies, such as voter ID and proof of citizenship upon registration, which would strengthen preexisting laws banning noncitizens from voting. Due to Democrats’ staunch opposition, the bill would fail to reach the 60-vote threshold in the upper chamber, causing some Republicans to turn to their talking filibuster push which would require Democrats to deliver speeches to stall votes.
Thune told reporters Monday the talking filibuster is “much more complicated and risky than people are assuming at the moment.” The filibuster is a tool of the minority, allowing Democrats multiple procedural tactics to add their legislative priorities to the bill over the course of weeks, if not months.
Despite the risks, Letlow said the legislation is “too important to do nothing.”
“I’m not surprised Democrats don’t support secure elections, but Senate Republicans shouldn’t be letting the Save America Act die without a fight,” Letlow told the DCNF. “I believe Senators like Bill Cassidy should speak up and force Senate Democrats to defend their support for illegal immigrants voting in our elections.”
Letlow pointed to a recent case in which Mahady Sacko, a noncitizen from Africa, allegedly voted in every federal election since 2008. Sacko was arrested and charged with voter fraud in Philadelphia.
“Voter fraud is a serious issue,” Letlow said. “If you don’t want to show an ID to vote, I assume you want to cheat. And unfortunately, election integrity has stalled in the Senate even as President Trump pushes for secure elections.”
Trump recently said he would not sign anything Congress sends to his desk unless the upper chamber passed the SAVE America Act. However, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a former constitutional lawyer, said any legislation sent to the president’s desk that is not signed within 10 days automatically becomes law.
Cassidy, who staunchly supports the legislation but is a strong defender of the 60-vote threshold, said in a recent statement sent to the DCNF he supports the talking filibuster, but is unsure of the proposal to use it to pass the SAVE Act.
“I am a strong and committed supporter of the SAVE America Act.  It is common sense and overwhelmingly supported by the American people,” Cassidy said. “We need to pass this important piece of legislation. I have not seen the specific proposal regarding returning to the talking filibuster, but I have supported returning to the talking filibuster since I joined the Senate.”
Cassidy’s fellow Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, also told the DCNF there has been very little discussion surrounding the procedural move.
Letlow did not endorse abolishing the filibuster.
Letlow and Cassidy are also competing against Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming in the May 16 primary for the Senate seat. Fleming, too, has expressed support for the policies, but not the talking filibuster.
Letlow, who did not come up in politics and served as Executive Director of External Affairs and Strategic Communications at the University of Louisiana at Monroe before running for Congress in her late husband’s place in 2020, kept the pressure on Cassidy and highlighted her constituents’ drive for the voter ID laws to pass.
“Wherever I go in Louisiana, this is the number one thing on their minds as well,” Letlow told the DCNF. “[Cassidy] should definitely speak up.”
Cassidy was notably one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump following his 2021 impeachment.
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