Emboldened by President Donald Trump, a core group of House conservatives redoubled their calls for the Senate to pass the voter ID bill known as the SAVE America Act this week, bringing other business to a standstill and tension between the two chambers to a boiling point.

The sweeping voter ID and elections overhaul bill — which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, photo ID at the polls and restrictions on mail voting, among other things — has become a rallying cry for the House Freedom Caucus and others over the last several months.

But they have reserved their strongest ire not for the Democrats who oppose the package, but for their Republican counterparts in the other chamber, lobbing insults and complaining that senators are “lazy.” 

“The bottom line is the Senate is too lazy to do America’s business right now, and that’s just plain wrong. America deserves better,” House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, R-Md., said at a Thursday news conference.

Or as Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., put it: “The Senate sucks.” 

Tension between the House and Senate is not exactly new, but the voter ID bill has pushed the rhetoric well beyond the usual gripes about how the “cooling saucer” of the Senate slows down the faster pace of the House.

“House members, we’re sick of it,” Donalds said. “We send it over to the Senate, and what do they do? They go to lunch. They don’t work, they don’t debate, they go to lunch.”

Those members and others, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., flexed their muscles this week, bringing the House floor to a halt as they threatened to hold up unrelated legislation until the Senate moves on the bill. Shortly after the news conference, the House canceled its Friday votes over the gridlock.

“I personally think we should not have any more legislation until the Senate comes back in session, and they’re out for two weeks,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C.

What they’re asking for is a tall order — not just because the Senate is on recess until mid-July, but because there’s just not enough support to move the voter ID legislation through the Senate, according to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

While the House passed the bill in February, Senate Democrats and even a few Republicans remain opposed to it, and Thune’s conference won’t budge on blowing up the legislative filibuster to sidestep a 60-vote cloture threshold, leaving no realistic path to passage for the bill in Thune’s eyes.

For the leader, the math hasn’t changed despite the president and House members adding new variables to his complex equation.

“Party leaders can control a lot of things, but forcing members to vote a certain way isn’t one of them,” said a Senate GOP aide familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “I think Trump learned that on Wednesday when he came to the Capitol to flip votes. He left with the same number or fewer than when he arrived.”

Senate Republicans met for a tense lunch with Trump on Wednesday, just hours after the president scrapped a long-awaited bill signing event for bipartisan housing legislation as he vented frustration over the stalled voter ID bill.

“If Trump can’t flip these votes either, I’m not sure why House members keep pointing their fingers at Thune,” the GOP aide said.

Trump had previously threatened not to sign other bills into law until the voter ID bill was passed, but he didn’t hold firm to that threat until Wednesday. Senators left the lunch with scant specifics of how to move forward. 

House conservative hard-liners cheered on the hard-ball tactics.

“I also want to thank the president for basically blowing this week up and doing the right thing. Unfortunately, that’s the only thing that works in this town, is political force,” said Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz. 

‘It makes no sense’

But some Republican senators called Trump’s reversal a mistake, especially since they had hoped to take the housing package home to their constituents as affordability solidifies itself as a top concern for voters.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., called it “an example of what I think we shouldn’t be doing.”

“I don’t know why you’re holding a bill that’s ready for signature hostage over a bill that will never pass in this Congress,” he said. “It makes no sense.” 

A few insist there’s still a path for the voter ID bill, calling for Thune to force Democratic opponents to continuously hold the floor in what’s known as a talking filibuster, for example. 

“The Senate is about to recess for TWO WEEKS. In August, we’re leaving for OVER A MONTH,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., posted to X ahead of the Senate’s adjournment. “There is PLENTY of time to pass the SAVE America Act.” 

But none of those Republicans objected Wednesday evening to Thune’s request for unanimous consent to adjourn until July 13. And earlier this year, the Senate essentially abandoned an extended debate on the voter ID legislation after it resulted in lackluster floor time and didn’t grow Thune’s whip count.  

On Thursday, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said his history as a Senate staffer gives him a unique view of how the chamber works, pointing to how it passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s after weeks of debate.

“That’s the Senate working. Today, they’re hiding,” Roy said at the Freedom Caucus news conference. “I’m a former creature of the Senate, chief of staff to [Texas Republican Sen.] Ted Cruz. I was a lawyer on the Senate Judiciary Committee. I understand the Senate better than, frankly, most.” 

But this week Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, brushed off such talking points, posting on X, “There is not [a] single instance in the history of the United States Senate where a ‘talking filibuster’ has resulted in a favorable outcome for the proponent.”

Trump was expected to meet with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., at the White House on Thursday afternoon to try to find a path through the Hill’s gridlock. But the tension inside the party — and between the chambers — that flared this week seems likely to continue.  

“Let’s say a miracle happens. The Senate says, ‘Well, we hear you, we saw the press conference, we’re convening tomorrow, we’ll stay up here as long as it takes.’ But, barring that, I don’t see any way around it,” Norman said. “I’m through voting for these fruitless bills that don’t mean anything. I’m done.”