Opponents cheer as Trump’s latest threat backfires

President Donald Trump is threatening to not sign any more bills into law until Congress passes the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act) and gets it onto his desk for signature. But according to MS NOW reporter Jack Fitzpatrick, it is GOP lawmakers — not Democrats — who are worried.

In an article published on March 10, Fitzpatrick reports, "President Donald Trump's pledge to stop signing bills until the Senate passes a hardline voter-ID measure is already causing heartburn for Republicans, with GOP senators warning that a standoff could freeze the president's own agenda. Democrats, however, have a different response to Trump's threat to hold up all legislation: Don't threaten us with a good time!"

The SAVE Act is drawing scathing criticism from Democrats as well as from some Never Trump conservative and libertarians.

The bill calls for proof of citizenship as a voting requirement, and a regular driver's license wouldn't be enough. Under the SAVE Act, something more — such as a U.S. passport or a birth certificate — would be needed. And critics of the bill are pointing out that many Americans don't own passports and that it would discriminate against married women, as their married names differ from the names on their birth certificates.

Hillary Clinton's current name, for example, doesn't match the name on her birth certificate: She was born Hillary Diane Rodham and didn't start going by "Clinton" until she married Bill Clinton — although she obviously has a U.S. passport.

Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia is among the Democrats in Congress who isn't worried by Trump's threat.

Warnock told reporters, "If the president is refusing to pass his own agenda, given his agenda, that's probably a good thing."

On X, formerly Twitter, Schumer posted, "The SAVE Act is Jim Crow 2.0. It would disenfranchise tens of millions of people. If Trump is saying he won't sign any bills until the SAVE Act is passed, then so be it: there will be total gridlock in the Senate. Senate Democrats will not help pass the SAVE Act under any circumstances."