Conservative watchdog group says GOP senators slow-walked the SAVE America Act while being bankrolled by groups opposing it

A conservative watchdog group is accusing 11 Republican senators of slow-walking the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act while taking millions of dollars from industries that the group says oppose the election integrity bill and support broader legal protections for illegal immigrants.

In a June report sent to Zeale News, the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) argued that the senators’ donor relationships help explain why the SAVE America Act — which would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections — has stalled in the Senate despite passing the House and receiving repeated support from President Donald Trump.

“For two years, these senators swore to their constituents back home that they supported the SAVE Act,” AAF President Tom Jones told Zeale News. “Yet the second they got back to Washington and had the opportunity to act on this promise, they folded and decided to stonewall it to please their wealthy donors, who are more focused on keeping citizenship enforcement theoretical and amnesty alive.”

AAF says the 11 senators named in the report received a combined $8.3 million from groups and industries that benefit from immigrant labor and supported the DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act, a bipartisan immigration measure that would offer legal status protections to some illegal immigrants. 

The groups cited in the report include the National Restaurant Association, the National Association of Home Builders, the Associated General Contractors of America, the National Roofing Contractors Association, the American Seniors Housing Association, LeadingAge, and the National Retail Federation.

The report names Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.; and Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.; John Cornyn, R-Texas; John Barrasso, R-Wyo.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; James Lankford, R-Okla.; Katie Britt, R-Ala.; Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska; and Bill Cassidy, R-La., as those receiving money from such industries.

Jones said the senators named in the report hold “significant power and influence over whether the SAVE America Act will pass” and argued that GOP leaders would have passed the bill months ago “if they actually wanted to secure our elections.”

“Since that hasn't happened, we now know precisely who to blame for the Senate's inaction,” he said.

Jones called the Dignity Act a “horrible piece of legislation that amounts to nothing less than a mass amnesty bill for illegals.” 

“These senators are being funded by groups who want mass amnesty for people who broke our nation’s laws and are now unlawfully interfering with our elections,” he argued.

According to the report, Thune received the largest total among the senators at more than $1.58 million, followed by Cornyn at roughly $1.36 million and McConnell at about $1.23 million. 

AAF said it drew the figures from Federal Election Commission data on political action committee and organizational contributions, independent expenditures, and itemized employee donations. The group said it excluded small-dollar individual donations and labor unions from its calculations.

The report does not accuse the senators of an explicit quid pro quo arrangement. Instead, Jones told Zeale News that AAF sees the donations as evidence of a conflict between the senators’ public support for election integrity legislation and their donor relationships.

“If a senator is being bankrolled by groups that oppose the legislation they are voting on, why would the senator work against their own interests for re-election?” he said. “It's a tale as old as time in Washington.”

Jones called on Thune and Senate GOP leadership to force action on the bill, saying the path forward “could not be simpler.”

“Thune and the rest of the GOP leadership need to stop playing games,” he concluded, “get out of the way, and pass the SAVE Act.”