Padilla Leads Effort to Defeat Republican Attempts to Pass Anti-Voter SAVE Act in the Dead of Night

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, led his Senate colleagues in defeating Republicans' efforts to include the SAVE Act voter suppression bill in their anti-immigrant reconciliation bill. Padilla took to the Senate floor twice to condemn the Republican amendments to limit eligible Americans' voting rights, successfully blocking Senators Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) and Mike Lee's (R-Utah) brazen attempts to jam through President Trump's partisan election takeover ahead of the midterm elections.

In his opposition to Graham's amendment, Padilla highlighted Trump's unlawful efforts to disenfranchise voters by taking over elections from the states and banning vote-by-mail. The legislation would immediately impose sweeping new national voting restrictions, including banning vote-by-mail, severely limiting absentee voting, implementing extremely strict ID and citizenship documentation requirements - and also included anti-trans language. Graham's amendment failed in a bipartisan 48-50 vote, with 60 votes needed to pass it.

"I rise in opposition to this Graham amendment and remind us colleagues that just over a month ago a similar proposal was defeated on a bipartisan basis," said Senator Alex Padilla. "It is already unlawful for noncitizens to vote in the United States. What this amendment does is mirrors earlier attempts to push through the President's priorities to try to take over elections, to ban vote by mail, and while they're at it, attacking trans folks during Pride Month. That's pretty damn offensive."

Video of Padilla's remarks in opposition to Graham's amendment is available here.

Later in the night, Padilla took to the Senate floor again to stop Lee's similar amendment that would mandate burdensome, in-person citizenship documentation requirements that could disenfranchise millions and impose voter ID requirements stricter than any existing state law. Padilla reminded his colleagues that Trump's anti-voter tactics have been defeated before and would be defeated again. Lee's amendment failed in a bipartisan 49-50 vote with 60 votes needed to pass it.

"It's déjà vu all over again. Not only did this Senate, on a bipartisan basis, reject a similar measure legislatively just a few weeks ago, but just a few hours ago, this Senate rejected a similar amendment on a bipartisan basis," said Senator Padilla. "This and other measures that would eliminate vote-by-mail and make voter registration drives unlawful is not enabling civic participation, it's making it harder. It is wrongheaded. We defeated it before, we should defeat it again."

Video of Padilla's remarks in opposition to Lee's amendment is available here.

As Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee, which has oversight over federal elections, Padilla has led the charge opposing Trump's unlawful anti-voter SAVE Act. During the failed March 2026 "talking filibuster" attempt, Padilla took to the Senate floor four times as a leader in the Democratic opposition to the SAVE Act.

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