The Most Explosive Political Clash of the Year | Episode 248

Summary

VINCE Podcast – Episode 248

"The Most Explosive Political Clash of the Year"
Host: Vince Coglianese
Guest: Rachel Bovard (Conservative Partnership Institute)
Date: March 18, 2026

---

Episode Overview

This episode of VINCE delivers an in-depth, high-energy analysis of the current “Save America Act” showdown in the U.S. Senate, as GOP leadership navigates internal fractures, media pressure, and Democratic resistance. Vince breaks down primary election results, discusses the Republican base’s growing demands on Senate action, and hosts a detailed procedural segment with leading Senate rules expert, Rachel Bovard.

The prevailing themes:

• The state and stakes of the Save America Act (voter ID, citizenship, curbs on mail-in voting, trans youth provisions)
• GOP strategy (or lack thereof) in the Senate
• Democratic counterarguments and media narratives
• The base’s role in driving political pressure
• How Senate rules are shaping the legislative fight

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Aftermath of Primary Results (Illinois & Virginia)

[03:19–15:50]

• Illinois "Squad Bench" Defeats: Vince covers the rout of left-wing Democratic primary challengers (“the bench for the squad”) in Illinois, framing it as both a rejection of radicalism even among Democratic voters and a win for party establishment power.

  • Memorable moment: Vince’s mockery of defeated candidate Katabuga Bugabuga, playing a clip from her explicit concession speech.
  • Quote:
    • "Even on the left there are voters who are done with that sht... It's not just the declared radicals, it's the undeclared radicals that are the problem in their party."* ([05:01])

• Virginia Special Election:

  • Republican overperformance in Virginia's District 98, seen as a positive sign for GOP energy ahead of a key referendum to prevent Democratic gerrymandering.
  • Urges listeners—especially Virginians—to mobilize and vote “no” on the ballot measure.
  • Quote:
    • "Vote like your country depends on it, because it does, Virginia." ([14:10])

---

2. Save America Act Enters Senate Debate

[15:53–31:56]

• Donald Trump Statement ([15:53]):

  • Trump touts the Save America Act: voter ID, proof of citizenship, elimination of mail-in ballots, bans on men in women’s sports, and gender surgeries for minors.
  • Quote:
    • "The only people who would want not to have [voter ID] are people that want to cheat. Cheaters. Very simple. We can't let that happen." (Trump, [16:53])

• Debate Begins, But Fractures Emerge:

  • Senate vote to begin debate succeeds (51–48), but some notable absences/defections:
    • Lisa Murkowski votes no.
    • Thom Tillis misses the vote despite being a bill co-sponsor.
  • Vince’s frustration: leadership is posturing rather than seizing the moment for bold procedural moves.

---

3. Republican and Democrat Floor Arguments

[21:00–25:55]

• GOP Perspective:

  • Marsha Blackburn: Democrats are prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens.
    • Quote:
      • "Give them a choice between protecting the rule of law and protecting U.S. citizens, they're going to choose somebody illegally in the country every single time." (Blackburn, [21:10])

• Democratic Pushback:

  • Chuck Schumer: Labels Save America Act as “voter suppression,” claims “millions will be purged,” invoking Elon Musk’s “Doge squad” (mocked by Vince).

    • Quote:
      • "It could purge millions of American citizens from the voter rolls through a screening algorithm designed by Elon Musk's Doge squad." (Schumer, [22:46])
    • Vince counters these are fear tactics and clarifies SAVE is an established government system to ensure only citizens are on the rolls.

  • Patty Murray: Asserts that student and tribal IDs would be invalidated, making it “harder for you to vote.” Vince deconstructs and dismisses this argument as dishonest and out-of-step with general public sentiment.

  • Vince connects Democratic resistance to their strategic calculation that new registrants favor Republicans and that the opaque system works to their advantage.

---

4. Senate Rules Deep Dive – Interview with Rachel Bovard

[31:57–48:06]

Senate Maneuvering and John Thune's Role ([31:57–41:16]):

• Explanation of the "amendment tree" blocking Democrat amendments by filling amendment slots with GOP priorities (Trump’s add-ons: ban trans surgeries, sports protections).

  • Bovard: "By filling the amendment tree, there's only a certain number of slots available. John Thune basically blocked Democrats from being able to offer any amendment. So he filled that...with the changes that Donald Trump has proposed." ([33:51])

• Thune’s caution: reluctant to force a “talking filibuster”—Rachel and Vince criticize this lack of boldness, arguing the rules already allow for it.

Endurance and Leverage Tactics ([41:16–44:39]):

• Democrats can be made to "suffer" by unpredictable floor schedules (“depriving them of dinner reservations” and “sleep”).

  • Bovard: "You have to make it physically painful for them...start calling live quorums, keep the Senate in overnight, make the floor so unpredictable..." ([39:47])

• John Fetterman signals willingness to negotiate if the bill is narrowed to photo ID requirements. Bovard: that's the opening for a cross-party deal if pressure continues.

Political and Procedural Strategy Advice ([44:39–47:59]):

• Bovard and Vince stress that not getting cloture isn’t defeat—multiple cloture attempts can keep the bill on the floor and force negotiations.

  • Bovard: "When the Senate wants to do something, it makes time for it...We don't expect at the end of this process a failed cloture vote to be the end." ([37:16])

• Pressure, activism, and base engagement are essential.

  • Bovard: "We want them to be trying to work this out with Democrats...We expect the message to be, we are not done here." ([46:04])

---

5. Republican Leadership Under the Microscope: John Thune's Reluctance

[50:50–55:08]

• Vince plays and dissects John Thune’s Fox interview with Brett Baier:

  • Thune repeats that there “aren’t the votes” for a talking filibuster, referring to historical precedent as a rationale for not trying.
    • Quote (Thune):
      • "You go back to the 19th century and the way things were done in the Senate. And we can't find an example in modern Senate history where a piece of legislation passed via the talking filibuster." ([51:14])
    • Vince’s rebuttal: Calls this a cop-out and challenges Thune to lead and organize, not just lament the math.

• Press conference moment: Reporter confronts Thune directly, “Why is the filibuster more important than stopping illegals from voting?” Thune offers a Senate civics lesson but, per Vince, dodges the heart of the question. ([54:22])

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Vince on the GOP base:
  "The whole base is calling the Senate. Much of this audience is calling, knocking on doors, sending emails… Everybody's very active on this issue right now." ([45:10])
• Rachel Bovard's Core Strategic Point:
  "Every major piece of legislation in the senate for literally 250 years has passed this way. It's only the last 20 years that we've just seen, 'oh, we don't have 60, we just give up and go home.' That is never how the Senate operates." ([42:05])
• Vince on media and journalism:
  "That kind of journalism shouldn't be rare. It should be common. That kind of journalism is why we have the First Amendment." ([56:20])

---

Timestamps – Important Segments

• [03:19] – Illinois “squad bench” primary defeats
• [14:10] – Virginia special election results
• [15:53] – Trump on the Save America Act
• [17:41] – Senate debate begins (vote 51-48)
• [21:02] – Marsha Blackburn: Democrats “loyalty to illegal aliens”
• [22:43] – Chuck Schumer: Claims voter suppression, invokes Musk
• [25:55] – Vince debunks Dem talking points on voter eligibility
• [31:57] – Rachel Bovard interview begins
• [33:39] – “Amendment tree” Senate procedure explained
• [39:07] – Tactics for pressuring Democrats physically via Senate schedule
• [42:05] – Fetterman open to voter ID-only bill; historical negotiation context
• [46:04] – Base activism and keeping up pressure on senators
• [50:50] – Thune challenged on talking filibuster on Fox
• [54:22] – Reporter asks Thune if filibuster is more important than stopping illegal voting
• [56:20] – Vince’s commentary on the state of American journalism

---

Conclusion & Action Items

• Vince reiterates that the fight for the Save America Act is not over—calls on the audience to stay engaged, sustain pressure on senators, and reject performative half-measures from GOP leadership.
• The episode closes with a rallying cry for grassroots action and a preview of high-profile guests (Donald Trump Jr., Dr. Oz) coming on later in the week.

---

Overall Tone:
Confrontational, urgent, detail-driven, with a blend of humor and frustration directed at both Democratic opposition and lackluster Republican leadership. Vince's style remains informal but relentless in holding political figures to account and translating Senate process into accessible language for his deeply engaged conservative audience.

Transcript

[Vince]

This episode is brought to you by Cologuard.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Do you know what's really scary? Not screening for colon cancer when you turn 45. The cologuard test is non invasive, requires no special prep or time off work,

[Vince]

and ships right to your door.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

In just three simple steps, Cologuard takes the scare out of colon cancer screening. If you're 45 or older and at average risk, ask your healthcare provider about the Cologuard test. Cologuard is available by prescription only. Learn more or request a prescription [e-mail] screen everybody, welcome to this Wednesday edition events. I'm hoping you're already having a great day. Thanks for being here. The best audience anywhere. We've got another mighty show for you today. The Save America act finally gets the Senate debate that we've all been demanding as United States senators take to the floor, make their case yesterday for the first day of why we need it so badly. Meanwhile, Democrats take to the floor to demonize the whole thing. And they've, they're coming up with a bunch of ludicrous explanations as to why we don't need election integrity. We'll get into the details there and we'll take a close look specifically at what leadership are saying. John Thune kind of trying to, you can tell what's happening here. They're trying to do a little bit of like placating, a little head patting going on. Little like, oh, see, we gave it a debate. Yeah, we want more than that. We'll talk about that and why the pressure needs to stay on at this very moment for the Save America Act. We'll, we'll discuss that. Also, some election results. Overnight, a couple of primary and special elections completed across the country with some very interesting dynamics built in. We'll get to that in just a moment. It's all ahead on this edition of Vince. Great to have you with us as always. Great to have you with us. And thank you for those of you who were joining us yesterday to celebrate one year of both the Vince podcast and the big national radio show. Thank you for that. We had such a good time and it was just nice to gather together as always. All right, Let me thank one of our great sponsors who are in love with this country as well, Patriot Mobile. Patriot Mobile loves our country. 250 years of this country. And you know, like us, patriot mobile really does think that this is a critical moment in our nation's history. And one way to, you know, kind of reckon with the gravity of it is to Realize that every little thing you and I do, every little decision we make, especially in our economy, it really does impact the country. And so have you thought clearly about your wireless company? Who were you supporting? What do they support? Do they even care about the well being of the country? Well, there's no question when it comes to Patriot Mobile, they're totally different. You see, for more than 12 years now they've stood with us. They've stood with Americans who believe in freedom and that it's worth defending. Supporting the Christian conservative movement when others stayed silent. And here's the deal. You don't have to give up any quality or service. They're top of the line. Patriot Mobile is the best I have. Patriot Mobile, I love it. They, they deliver premium priority access on all three major U.S. networks. You will get the same or better coverage than you have today. If you think switching is a hassle, don't worry at all. It's not. You can keep your number, you can keep your phone, you can even upgrade. Their 100% US based customer support team is always standing by. They can activate you in just minutes if you're still paying off a device. Well, Patriot Mobile can take care of that too. They can even offer a contract buyout for you. This is a defining year. And let's work together we can to save our country. Go to patriot mobile.comVince or call 972-patriot. Use the promo code Vince. Get a free month of service. That's Patreon mobile.comVENT or call 972 Patriot and switch. Today. A bunch of election results overnight and that includes in Illinois. You see there's a, a kind of a fun headline Axios has up this morning. They said the squad got wiped out overnight. Now it's not the squad that you typically think of. These are the, the, the school. This is the bench for the squad. So if you think the squad sucks, you should see the bench. It's outrageous. This is what Axios reports this morning. The squad left suffers complete wipeout in Illinois as this was the primary phase for them. The left as these are the craziest lefties all defeated in Illinois, which is a crazy Democrat run state last night and they say it's a bad sign for dozens of insurgent Democrats running in congressional races across the country, both in open seats and as primary rivals to older or more establishment oriented incumbents. So you can read this one of two ways and I'll perhaps read it as a hybrid of both. One, it's that even on the left there are voters who are done with that shit. As you might hear Pete Hegseth say, they don't. They don't like the most radical garbage. The, the. The. The kind of like just the pro terrorist stuff, The. The crazy boys can become girls stuff, the open border stuff. There are lefties who are just completely done with it, but they haven't yet come to this full realization that it's not just the declared radicals, it's the undeclared radicals that are the problem in their party, the guys who pretend to be moderates. That whole party is infected with radicalism, whether they're saying it out loud or not. So you can read it that way. The other way you can read it is that the establishment is prevailing in defeating some of its upstarts. You know, what's happening here is, you know, the Barack Obama, Hakeem Jeffries wing of the party. They're trying to crush any of the guys who might upset their establishment stranglehold on the party. So, you know, when there's all this chatter going on on the Internet and don't. I wouldn't use the Internet as your litmus test for what do Americans care about? What are they all talking about? But when there's all this chatter on the Internet that, oh, the right is fighting, the right is fighting, the left's at war with itself. And we just saw a bunch of these upstarts get whacked, Defeated politically whacked in Illinois last night, which is a kind of a fun story. So keep your eyes on stuff like that. And among the people who just lost last night is one of our favorites, cat. A bugabuga. Buga. A bug. A booger cat. Hold up. How do we. Cat a bug. A cat. Okay, anyway, Catabuga bugabuga just lost last night in Illinois. Now you will probably remember Catabuga bugabuga was the chick who got her ass thrown on the ground by the cops as she was impeding federal immigration enforcement. Impeding federal immigration enforcement. Do you remember this moment? Take a look. Here she is. She's mid throw. We were. I was just playing it before the show for the guys. I was like, you guys remember this? Here she is. Oh, oh, oh, there she is. Thrown on her ass. Holy cow. Look at. Oh, here comes the boom. Here comes the boom. Here comes the boom. She. She got thrown. And the reason she got thrown is because she was impeding law enforcement. And you remember what she. What happened after that? They indicted her. They indicted her. She. So she loses last night. But the one thing she didn't lose and this is, this is words of encouragement for you Catch. The one thing you didn't lose is the ongoing federal criminal indictment that you signed up for when you started impeding law enforcement. So that's, that's her fate. She hasn't had a good year. She's had a, she's had a very, a very rough year. In fact, here. What did I find this morning? I wanted to share this with you. Oh, here is, this is her concession speech. She was giving it last night. She's, she's upset, of course, that she lost and she went out to, to talk to her comrades. Here she is last night taking the stage. Concession speech. Hey, everyone, I don't know if you heard, but we didn't win. And it really fucking sucks.

[Vince]

We came really close and it sucks,

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

but something that no one in power even expected would be possible at all really fucking sucks.

[John Thune]

We win.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Yeah, you lost. You know where she came from? That shit came from in the speed she goes on. She's like, we gotta fight big money. We gotta stop all the big money influences. You know where she come from? She came from Media Matters. You know where Media Matters got its money from? George Soros. She's a part of this gigantic left wing billionaire operation. And she's like coming out. She's got to fight the man, we got to fight the power. We got to fight all this big money that's interfering in elections when she's, you know, you know, cat a bugga bugabugga. Anyway, that's what happened to her. So I know you were waiting for an update on that, that lady's career. We don't have the full update on her criminal conviction yet. When that arrives, we'll let you know. That's, that's Kat in Virginia. We got an update as well. This is kind of interesting. In Virginia, there was a House of Delegates race last night to replace a man who had passed away. And so it's again, it's a small, it's a state legislative race. It's not the whole country. But it is kind of interesting because I want you to remember what's happening in Virginia right now. If you're in Virginia, you likely know this. If you don't, I'm telling you for the first time, get out and vote. Right now. There's a special election going on, a ballot referendum to decide whether or not the state of Virginia gets rigged entirely. At the moment, Democrats control six congressional seats in Virginia. And to the, to the Republicans, fives, five. What they're trying to do is Steal four of them. Democrats are right now. And Obama, there he is again. Barack Obama, Mr. Establishment Obama is running advertising all over the Commonwealth of Virginia. So if you turn on television or if you go on the Internet, you watch a random video, any Virginians in the chat, Are you tired of seeing Obama? Obama's everywhere. The left is spending ridiculous amounts of money to put his goofy mug in front of our eyeballs and it's a total disaster. And so what they're trying to do is rig the whole House of Representatives. Thank you. Yeah, Furry Thor voted no in Virginia. Patriot Pub is in Virginia. Yeah. So what we've got going on is this, this referendum. Go to the polls, vote no. Find your polling place, go online, vote no. And don't just find your polling place. Tell everybody else you know where the polling places are posted to social media, post it online. Hey, this is how you find your polling place. Go and vote. No Virginia, please, Please. If you even, and if you're not in Virginia, this is definitely how you can help. Post that to social media. Just post that. Just share the information about where to find your polling place in Virginia. It's right there. Online. You can find that and then people can go find it. Go vote no. You've got to stop this election rigging operation because if the left gets its way, it will steal the entire House of Representatives this way. They want to steal four congressional seats like that. They've already got Democrats in the state who've laid claim to it like it's calling shotgun. Walking across the parking lot, they're like, yeah, shotgun, I got that new district. No, you don't get that at all. Not if Virginians vote the right way. If you vote no, we can stop this thing. It's got to be done right now. So I say all that to say that Republican voters in the state. We've seen some early indications that Republicans are very energized by this. Democrats, they have to spend a bunch of money to drag their lazy asses to the polls just to get them to rig the election. But Republicans, Republicans seem activated. The early vote shows that much of western Virginia, this is, you know, Republican dominated country, is showing up early to vote in big numbers. And those numbers continue now. We'll see if it holds all the way through April 21st. That's the end of this election. But for now, Republicans are showing up. And we got a result yesterday. Virginia House of delegates, District 98, special election. Check this out. New York Times with the, with the tabulation here. But look at this. The Republican wins the district with 62.5% of the vote, 62.5% of the vote to the Democrats, Cheryl Smith, 37.55%. This is Virginia House of Delegates District 98. Now, you're of course wondering to what extent is, what is this? And was this a Republican district to begin with? Well, in 2024, that district went to Trump by 15 points. By 15 points. And in 2024, the district went to win some Sears, the Republican candidate for governor at the time, by just seven points. So 15 points, seven points. Now, wait a second. I'm looking at this New York times result here, 38% to 62%. This is a huge margin. This is a massive margin. So what's happened right now is Republicans are dramatic. Well, at least last night they've dramatically overperformed in this district. Now, is it a sign for the whole state? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe, maybe not. But you know how these things go when, when, if a Democrat overperforms anywhere, it's turned into some big litmus test by the media. Oh, it's a, it's a bellwether. It's going to tell us what's going to happen in every election going forward. Okay, fine. Turnabouts, fair play. Look at this dramatic turnout by Republicans in this special election. And it's going to be very interesting, very, very interesting to see what happens in Virginia. Come on, stay in the fight. Stay in the fight. Vote like your country depends on it, because it does. Virginia, we really do depend on you right now to vote no on this. And don't fall for that ballot language. The language says it's to restore fairness to elections. It's not. It's to steal them. That's actually the plan. That's actually the plan. All right, coming up on the program, we've got, we've got a lot of big elements to get to here. We're, we're about to jump into the Save America debate. We're going to talk about the Save America act debate, where things stand right now because these senators take the floor yesterday. This is not the never ending filibuster we were demanding, but it's, it's something, I mean, they're taking the floor again. A lot of this is clearly, as you and I have been discussing, as I've alerted the country from the very beginning, a lot of this is performance art in an effort to try and tamp down voter energy to get the Save America act through. But I'm telling you right now, I don't care what they think. This is let's make them as uncomfortable as possible until they pass it. Just keep the pressure on. I don't care. Keep the pressure on. But coming up here on the program, we will have the good fortune of being joined by one of the leading experts on the Senate rules. That's Rachel Bovard. We get an update from her. She's the woman who told us last year that. Hey, Vince, you realize that all they need is a simple majority in the Senate and they can pass stuff, really? Yeah, they can. They don't like talking about it, but they can do it with a simple majority and they don't need any rule changes. Yeah, Rachel was the one who was telling us all about this. And Rachel joins us again here on the program today as the Senate begins engaging in this debate. And I want Rachel to litigate especially John Thune's behaviors, attitudes, and what's possible here and get a take from her. So we'll talk to Rachel in just a moment about that. Um, and. Oh, and that's right. I'm sorry. Carnage25 is correct. We are in the midst of the. Of the Safe America act meeting. Obviously, producer Jim is keeping the minutes. And with that in mind, we gavel in. We always gavel in. Thank you very much, Carnage. You can't forget the gavel. That's how, you know, it's official. We get the gavel. Okay, so we've gaveled in, which means we should probably start with the President of the United States. Here he is. Cut one last night.

[Donald Trump]

The biggest thing coming up is a Save America act in the Senate. That's voter ID and proof of citizenship and no mail in ballots. You know, corrupt mail in ballots. We're the only country in the world that does it that way. Corrupt as hell. And then we added two more. We're going to be. I think they're going to be adding a couple of more. One is no men in women sports. That seems like an easy one. I believe that's 99%. And no transgender mutilization of our children. None. That's only polling at 98% speaker. So hopefully the Senate is going to be able to get that. You can't ask for five better things. I think in terms of. And it's not politics. It's really good for it. So good for our nation. I mean, who would not have voter id? Who would not have proof of citizenship? And the only people who would want not to have that are people that want to cheat. Cheaters. Very simple. We can't let that happen.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Cheaters. He's right about that. So the Senate, what did they do last night? They started debate. It was a vote that didn't require J.D. vance. J.D. vance, the vice President of the United States was on standby, prepared to go to the Senate, prepared to cast the tie breaking vote just to get all of this started. And we didn't need him yesterday. Now if we had this vote tally to use the speaking filibuster to get this thing passed, we could pass it now. We could pass it or at least we can initiate the filibuster and pass it. But we don't. At the very least, we have this vote tally to begin debate. Here it is, 51:48. Here's the Senate beginning debate yesterday. Cut to watch. On this vote, the yeas are 51.

[John Thune]

The nays are 48.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

The motion is agreed to, delays before the Senate. 5148. We begin debate on the, on the Save America Act. Now you, if, if you're doing the math at home, like 5148 feels like something might be missing there. Yeah, something's missing. First of all, Lisa Murkowski voted no. So we lose a vote there. Murkowski voted no because she's a whack job. I mean this is, this is the craziest vote. No. And then Thom Tillis, who claims he's a co sponsor of the Save America act, he claims he supports it. You know, Thumb missed the vote yesterday. Thumb thumbs. Dom wasn't even there to vote for this. Yes. What are you even doing? Just leave. Just leave, please. You're useless. The guy doesn't even show up. So Thom Tillis misses the vote yesterday. Lisa Murkowski votes No. But debate begins 51:48. And the debate truly begun. You got a number of people presenting yesterday, Republicans and Democrats. I'm going to give you a sampling of both. Some of the Republicans were mighty. All of the Democrats were ridiculous. We'll get to that. And then Rachel Bovard is just minutes away. We've got to talk to her about what John Thune is up to here, how he's trying to manage this whole process. It's all ahead on this edition. Events. I want to thank one of my favorite sponsors ever, Helix Sleep. I love Helix. I slept so well last night. You know why? I have a Helix mattress. Allison and I love our Helix mattress. You know, the thing about mattresses, as you see all the mattress advertising is people doing constant all over the place, mattress stores everywhere. And, and Allison and I, we went to the mattress store, we tried the mattresses out. We were like, lying on. There's a guy there, and, like, he. I don't know what kind of training you get to be the mattress guy, but you're like, okay, try lying on this one. Lie on this one. What do you like? And so we're doing all this, and by the end of it, we get convinced to buy some mattress, it comes home with us. And then, like, after a while, I'm like, I don't actually think I like this thing. Maybe it's not the mattress. Maybe it's me. Maybe I just suck at sleeping. Well, it turns out I was wrong. That guy was wrong about my mattress, and I was wrong about my sleep. Helix is what changed at all. Alison and I went online. We did the sleep quiz with Helix I. Then we got this mattress. Our sleep has changed completely. Backaches, Waking up sweaty, just moving around, jarring, jarring the other person out of sleep. That's all gone away. Thanks to Helix, we sleep so comfortably. Everybody with our team, everybody here is associated with Silverlock and the big national radio show. Everybody's got Helix mattresses because they work. They're so good. Can't recommend them enough. You should go to helix sleep.com. do what we did. Take the quiz. Go to helixsleep.com Vince. Get 20% off site wide. Again, that's helixsleep.com Vince. 20% off site wide. Make sure to enter our show's name after checkout so they know we sent you. Helixsleep.com Vince. Thank you, Helix. Great operators. Great, great, great mattress company with great mattresses. I can't praise them enough. All right, let's get to some of the debate last night. Here's. Here's Marsha Blackburn. She went among the first Republican senators to speak out here. And she goes, look, all Democrats want is to suck up to illegals at the expense of Americans. Take a look.

[Vince]

The Save America act, which I'm delighted that we are finally on this bill. This is another area where we are watching the Democrats come full display of their loyalty to illegal aliens that are in this country. I mean, they are on it. Give them a choice between protecting the rule of law and protecting U.S. citizens, they're going to choose somebody illegally in the country every single time. That is really a disappointment.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Yeah, that's good, Josh. I think I'll cut off there. That's. That's a perfect expression of. Of what's happening here. The only reason Democrats are opposed to this is they're more interested in protecting illegals at every Level, even if they're not voting, they're just meaning that the illegals were just here and being used for bodies. They're being used for electoral advantage for Democrats in order to pad the numbers for the Electoral College and for congressional districts across the country. Democrats are very comfortable creating an environment where people are not following the law at scale and we have a massive invasion going on and they're not really that concerned about the consequences of it for the rest of us because they derive electoral power from it. So Marsha Blackburn. Right, to call that out now, Democrats are going absolutely ape about this. And Chuck Schumer, because he's their leader and also because he's ridiculous is a great expression of this. Here's Chuck Schumer stepping up yesterday and saying that Americans are going to be stopped from voting. This is a part of many ludicrous allegations the Democrats are making right now. Just kicking dirt up in the air. It's a wrap up smear, as Nancy Pelosi might say. Here's Chuck Schumer yesterday.

[Chuck Schumer]

If MAGA Republicans want to bog down the Senate over a debate on voter suppression, Democrats are ready. We're ready to be here all day, all night, as long as it takes to ensure the powers of voter suppression do not win the day. Let me be very clear. The SAVE act is not a voter ID bill. It is in every sense a voter voter suppression bill. It could purge millions of American citizens from the voter rolls through a screening algorithm designed by Elon Musk's Doge squad. It could disenfranchise over 20 million Americans. It would kill online voter registration. It would kill online vote by mail. I mean, it would kill vote by mail. It would kill motor voter registration. What does any of that have to do with election security? It doesn't. It's a naked attempt to rig our elections. The SAVE act also rejects the most common forms of ID for anyone trying to register.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

All right, all right. So basically he's saying, look, all these Americans are going to be ejected. Everyone's going to be, you're not going to be able to vote. You're going to be prevented. It's voter suppression. And then you hear the invocation of the word Elon Musk. Elon Musk, to be clear, is another one of these guys like President Trump, who the radical left absolutely loathes. There are actual. According to member polling out of Rutgers University, up to half of all Democrats in our country, according to the survey, say they could justify the assassination of Elon Musk. That's how angry they are at him. There's an assassination culture around him and President Trump. So it's pretty gross. So he brings up Elon Musk as a way to be like, see, this is evil. This is evil stuff. And he's upset that we would catch illegal. This is really what's happening. He's upset that we'd catch illegals on the voter rolls. How would that happen? Well, I want to remind people, you know, save. Act. When we look at the word save, there's a really useful application for the word save. It's what DHS does. You know about this, the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program. Save. And it's a combo operation between dhs, US And US Citizenship and Immigration Services and their verification division. And what they do is they administer the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program. It's an online intergovernmental service designed to help federal, state, territorial, tribal, local government agencies, benefit granting agencies, other authorized entities, and licensing bureaus, as authorized by law, determine citizenship and immigration status of individuals within their jurisdiction for the purpose of granting benefits, licenses, as well as other lawful purposes. In other words. In other words, the federal government has the means. If we pass the Save America act, we have the means to look at voter rolls and eject anybody who's not a citizen. So among the many lies that the left are telling right now about the Save America act is this idea that like, oh well, you'd be. Everyone would have to reregister to vote. You'd be kicked off the voting rolls. Americans would be taken off. No, none of that is true. The only people that would be kicked off the voting rolls are non citizens who shouldn't be on the voting rolls to begin with. So what you're watching right now is a flurry of lies that Democrats are trying to wield in this debate. Here's another one, cut five. Another Democrat saying, oh, student IDs. You won't be able to use a student ID to vote. Well, no kidding. How do you think the student got the id? By showing a state id, you idiot. Watch this. That is not the half of it. Just consider all the people who will face new challenges just to vote for no good reason. If you are a student who just moved to start college, Republicans will make it harder for you to vote because if this bill passed, passes, you will need to show a photo ID and proof of citizenship in every single state. But a student ID won't count. Many tribal IDs also won't be enough under the new Republican restrictions. Now she's, of course, glossing over a bunch of distinctions. Here's a big one. The proof of citizenship is required to register to vote. That's the point at which you would have to provide proof of citizenship. And, and they're trying to just ignore all of this. When it comes to actually voting, you have to show your id, your photo id. These are simple requirements. Americans support it broadly. Patty Murray wants to lie to you about what the circumstances are. And my key advice is don't fall for it. One more thing on why the Democrats are being so ludicrous here. The idea that they're the ones who are standing up for married women. They claim, oh, married women are going to be impeded from voting. They're not. American citizens are going to be fine in all of this. But this idea that they care about married women, ridiculous. Married women vote for Republicans. Democrats aren't fighting to make sure Republican voters have access to the polls. They don't even want you to have the candidates you want on the ballot. They've been trying to keep Trump off the ballot in Maine and Colorado. They tried to keep RFK Jr. Off the ballot when he was running in the Democrat primary. Obama's constantly throwing primary candidates out of the race in order to clear the path to for his preferred candidate. They rigged the elections against Bernie Sanders. They're not that worried about voter access to support other candidates other than the establishment picks in the Democrat Party. Married women. Oh, what if married women can't vote? Democrats would love that. The married women are a problem for Democrats. And then finally for voter registration nationally. You understand something about Democrats. In 2024, they stopped their voter registration campaigns. Did you know that? You remember the old school like, like vote or die and true the vote and everyone needs to vote and all this stuff. You understand? They gave that up in 2024. You know why? Because among eligible Americans who are not yet registered to vote, huge numbers of them, it's almost a 50, 50 split now, are Trump voters. Democrats are scared that if they register more people to vote that they're going to be Republican voters. They're not eager to register more people. That's the last thing they want. They're perfectly comfortable with the opaque, corrupt system that they have now, and that's what they're trying to protect. All right, more ahead on the program. We'll get Rachel Bovard's reaction here in just a moment to what exactly is going on? What, what is this Senate procedure that they're using and what is John Thune up to? Rachel, will give us the latest on on all of this in just a moment here on this edition of Vince, thanks for being with us. All right, let me tell you about one of our great sponsors, Brickhouse Nutrition. Brick man. They're talk about a loyal and wonderful and supportive sponsor of our program and it is such a pleasure to be associated with them because they have great products including Lean. You know, the, you know, the weight loss injections that people take get some pretty dramatic results, but you understand what that comes with the painful weekly injections, some of those side effects. If you want something different, if you want a great and wonderful working alternative to that, go with Brickhouse Nutrition. Their scientists created an amazing supplement called Lean and the results are remarkable. The studied ingredients in Lean have been shown to help lower your blood sugar, help you burn fat by converting it into energy, and help you curb your appetite and your cravings so you're less hungry. But listen, Lean by Brickhouse Nutrition is not for casual dieters. It's for frustrated dieters with 10 or more pounds to lose. So let's get you started. 20% off free rush shipping. Visit takelean.com Enter the code Vince for your discount. That's promo code Vince. Take lean.com these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. And it's not a substitute or alternative for care from a health care provider. Thank you to Brickhouse and thank you to True Trade for sponsoring our program. A more recent arrival on the show and we love having True Trade with us. Trading the markets has never been easier, you know. True Trade introduces one of the world's first one click AI driven trading platforms. No trading experience, no problem at all. Just purchase access to the platform, connect your trading account, download the app, turn it on. It's that simple. No need to worry about what or when to trade with just one click. They have that AI software that handles everything for you. No headaches, no worries. Whether you're trading a single account or managing an entire portfolio, True Trade software runs on autopilot. It's got its AI risk management protecting your downside. And here's the best part. True Trade offers an unprecedented money back guarantee on their software purchase price. So join thousands of traders worldwide who are already benefiting from their AI driven trading technology. The markets won't wait. Learn more about taking control of your financial Future today. Visit TrueTrade IO Vince that's T R U T R A D E.IO/ Vince Investments involve risk. Results vary. Consult with your financial and tax professionals, see terms at True Trade IO slash Vince. All right. Joining us right now, the wonderful and incomparable Rachel Bovard, the Vice President of Programs at the Conservative Partnership Institute and who knows all about the intricacies of this Senate fight, which is why I constantly read her social media and consult her when I have the opportunity. Rachel, great to talk to you as always.

[Vince]

Yeah, thanks for having me. Glad to be here.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Okay, so what did we witness last night? 51 Republicans, Lisa Murkowski votes no. Thom Tillis forgets to show up to the vote. But. But 51 Republicans vote to get this thing started. Why can't we have 51 Republicans vote to get it passed?

[Vince]

Well, we asked John Thune to start the process, and he did. That is what we saw yesterday. And I will give him some credit. There was some discussion, you know, prior to this move of we'll just introduce a new bill and we'll proceed to that. Well, that would have required a filibuster. That would require breaking a filibuster. So he chose to use the House message, which is a privileged motion to proceed. So you saw them get on it with only 51 votes. And to your point, Senator Mitch McConnell voted yes even though he opposes the bill. Thom Tillis took a walk. Lisa Murkowski voted no. So this is where we are. So the Senate is what we call on the bill. The Senate is now debating the legislation. Now, as soon as the Senate got on the bill, you saw John Thune go to the floor and fill the amendment tree. And this was a tactical decision that he made because as we've discussed prior, the big objection to the strategy was Republicans didn't want to have to vote on Democratic amendments.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Yes.

[Vince]

They didn't think, you know, when John Thune says, we don't have 51 votes for the talking filibuster, what he really means is we do not have 51 votes in the Republican side to table or kill all the Democratic amendments.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

So can I ask you, can I ask you for a little bit of clarity on this? Because we use this phrase and a lot of people in Washington will use like, oh, the amendment tree. Like, we all know exactly what we're talking about. I don't. I actually don't. Is this like, like a March Madness bracket? Like, there's only like, a certain number of slots available and says that what happened? John Thune just filled the available slots and there's just no room for Democrat amend? Is that how it works?

[Vince]

Yes, that's exactly right. And I Actually just put up on my X account a visual representation of what the filling the amendment tree looks like, if that helps people.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Yeah.

[Vince]

Because it can be a hard thing to understand. So if you want to see what it looks like, you can I just put that video up. But yes, you're exactly right. There's only a certain number of amendments that can be pending before the Senate at one time. The amendment tree is what's supposed to keep it organized. And so by filling the amendment tree, there's only a certain number of slots available. John Thune basically blocked Democrats from being able to offer any amendment. So he filled that, that amendment tree with the changes that Donald Trump has proposed to the bill. So banning trans surgeries on minors, the stuff on mail in balloting, protecting girls, sports from male participation, things like that. So all those things are in the amendment tree.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

So these things that President Trump has been suggesting, I've been, I've been receiving a lot of questions in the last 24 hours, hours about this because people keep asking, well, wait a second, Vince, if we add extra stuff to the bill, doesn't that just increase the chances that it'll get voted down? So, like, if you add the transgender issues, which, by the way, are like, are even more wildly popular than the photo ID requirements, everyone's like, yeah, of course you shouldn't mutilate children. The polling on this is really clear. But a legitimate question I keep receiving is like, hey, doesn't this make the bill a little bit more cumbersome? Can't we just keep it really, really narrowly focused? But there's an advantage. There's a tactical advantage. You're explaining to having some other options here for the amendment tree. And this prevents Democrats from muddying up the process even more.

[Vince]

That's right. And you know, the President wants these things considered by the Senate. Just putting them in the amendment tree doesn't mean they will automatically be added to the bill. Right. Each amendment has to be considered on its merits. There's a question of whether, you know, Thune will invoke cloture on the amendments themselves. Because, remember, cloture is not just for the bill. It's for any debatable question. And amendments are in that category. So we don't know what will happen with those amendments at the end of the day. And that's kind of the beauty of this process. This is the Senate and deliberation. This is the majesty of the Senate. You literally don't know how things will end because that's what deliberation looks like. And I will say, even with the amendment tree filled, this is the most open that the Senate floor has been in maybe a decade. And that's telling you something. So I will give. You know, we don't know how this process will end. We really hope Republicans take it seriously. But I will give John Thune some credit in that we have literally not seen this in a decade.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Okay, so what are we seeing? We're not seeing a never ending filibuster, never ending debate on the floor. In fact, they adjourned last night shortly before midnight. They get back going again today around midday. What, what is this process that we're witnessing?

[Vince]

Yeah, so it's not a true talking filibuster in the sense that, you know, we are grinding Democrats down to try to pass the bill. And if they're not speaking, he can put the question because he's decided to fill the amendment tree. We, we are in a situation where he can require Democrats to speak before the amendments are voted on, but he never really will get to the bill because he never. The goal here is to block Democrats. So you can't actually take any amendments out of the tree. What we are in is a wear them out situation. What we are in is a let's punish them for their obstruction decision. Let's force the Senate to work on this bill. What you hope to see at this point is Republicans taking this exercise very seriously. And that will look like is attention to floor. Right. Being on the floor, you know, trying to vote through some of these amendments. But also what you hope to see is this an actual negotiation take place.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

What?

[Vince]

We've never tried this on this bill. Right. When the Senate tries to pass major legislation, they don't just, you know, file cloture. And if they don't get it, they move on. They actually engage Democrats and they say, what would it take for you to pass this bill? They maybe do have a cloture vote at the end of it, and if it fails, they say, okay, well, now we know where the votes are on the Democratic side. Let's try to go engage them and do this again. I will give you an example. In 2019, when Mitch McConnell was leader, he had a middle, a Middle east security bill that he really wanted to pass. It failed on cloture three times. He kept bringing it up and bringing it up and bringing it up and saying to Democrats, what do I have to do get to get you to vote for this? On the fourth cloture vote, he got them because he negotiated, he made those deals. When the Senate wants to do something, it makes time for it, and that's what we expect to see here. We don't expect at the end of this process a failed cloture vote to be the end. So, sure, there's some Republicans that want it to be the end, but we should not expect.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Okay, so first of all, that's a very useful. And I shouldn't blow past a very useful detail that a single cloture vote is not the end of this fight. If Jonathan wants to keep the fight going, he can. And they can have cloture vote after cloture vote after cloture vote until they get to 60. Is that what you're saying? 60?

[Vince]

Yeah. Because remember, as a technical matter, cloture does not kill the bill. Right. The bill remains the pending business. And even if he moves off something else, like, let's say a dhs.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Yes.

[Vince]

Deal pops in the middle of this, and he's like, guys, we need to go do that. Yes, he will move off. Yeah. Well, the bill will go back to the calendar. He can proceed to it again. So the way he handles this, I think will tell us a lot about what the Senate intends.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

The word cloture means that what you're doing is you're ending debate and advancing to the actual vote. Right?

[Vince]

Right. So it breaks the filibuster. Right. So if simply failing to invoke cloture does not vote down the bill. Yeah, And I think that's a very important thing for people to understand.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Okay, so you mentioned a moment ago, though, and this. And people probably heard me say, well, get to 60, we'll get to 60 would require Democrats. You mentioned a moment ago that this is meant to make Democrats suffer, that they've got to endure this. At what. What's the leverage here over Democrats? What are they being deprived of by the fact that. That all this floor time is being concentrated on the Save America Act. Why. Why would Democrats feel any pressure here?

[Vince]

Well, that's, you know, the. The question really is how you behave in this process. Because they're not necessarily being deprived of anything. They don't want the Trump agenda to pass.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Right, right.

[Vince]

So you have to make it, and John Thune has to make it, and Senate Republicans have to make it physically painful for them. And so it can't just be, you know, and the risk they run of the amendment tree is it's more difficult to force Democrats to the floor because Democrats don't necessarily care about these amendments. You have to start calling live quorums. You have to keep the Senate in overnight. You have to make the floor so unpredictable that Democrats have no idea what's coming. Because the way the Senate operates normally is it's this sort of, you know, consent process. Everybody knows what's happening. The Republican and Democrat floor staff, you know, consult with each other. They know what to expect. It's very comfortable.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Right, I see. I see what you're saying. So here's what needs to happen. You're depriving them of their dinner reservations. You're depriving them of their sleep. You're depriving them of being able to jet off to whatever party they want to go to and call themselves a senator and get free meals. You're depriving them of all of that. And instead they've got to go to work and they have to do it at unpredictable hours for extended periods of time.

[Vince]

Right. Because, you know, they don't. They have to be. You're tyrannizing them. Right. With the uncertainty of. At any point, right. The amendment tree is up, but at any point, right. John Thune could go to the floor and table all those amendments and move to the bill. They have to be living in the fear of that happening. They have to be living in fear of Republicans suddenly presenting a quorum and trying to put the question. And that has got to be. We can't control that. The only person that can control that is Jonathan.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

So there is now, now, this is. This should not come as a surprise. There's like one Democrat senator who's signaling that he is willing to negotiate on the terms of the bill. At this moment, that's John Fetterman. John Fetterman says, hey, if this is just a photo ID bill, he doesn't want to change anything about mail in balloting, which is a complete mess. Mail in balloting is a mess. Jimmy Carter admitted it early this century. He said it's the primary vector for fraud in the United States. But. But what you have Fetterman saying, he's like, look, if it's just a photo ID bill, I'm for it. I'm for it. Now, I don't know if that's enough to start, you know, breaking other Democrats away, but here we go. We got one guy starting to say, okay, there's a way to get me to a yes, and it's for a universal photo photo ID bill. What does that tell you?

[Vince]

It's an invitation, right? This is how the Senate has operated for 200 years, is you see an opening and you begin the process and us happens in the Senate is a gang forms, Right. People may remember things like gang of eight, gang of 14. There's like a group of committed senators from both sides that are trying to work out what a bipartisan agreement might look like. The point of this entire exercise is to force Democrats into that negotiation. If you want to invoke cloture on the question, right. If you need, if you want to use them in this process, and it seems like Senate Republicans do, then start, right? This is what the Senate is designed for. It's the consensus body. It is supposed to be forcing these negotiations. So. So do it. Right. Every major piece of legislation in the senate for literally 250 years has passed this way. It's only the last 20 years that we've just seen. Oh, we don't have 60. We just give up and go home. That is never how the Senate operates. Let's put our back into it and see what we come up with.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

So I've got a clip and. Well, maybe I'll play it in a moment. But I'll just ask you about it. John Thune was on with Brett Baier last night on the Fox News Channel, and Brett had asked him, hey, why aren't you invoking the speaking filibuster here? Why aren't you doing that particular strategy? And, Rachel, you've been talking about this. In fact, I think, honestly, you may not say this yourself, but I think a lot of the world knows about this because of you, but you're not invoking this strategy. And Thune's response involves something like, well, this hasn't been done since the 1800s. And I listen to that and I go, wait a second, your excuses. You haven't done your job in hundreds of years, so why start now? I don't. What is that?

[Vince]

Yeah, I watched that interview. He says, well, it's never been used successfully to pass a bill at 51 votes. And there is actually historical example from 1890, the Sherman Silver Protection act, that using a talking filibuster made the opposition give up. And the bill did go. The question was put at 51 votes. So there's that sort of, you know, academic historical fact. But, you know, what he's basically saying is, this is hard and we don't want to work nights. Right. Like, historically, senators have been able to use this in various forms. Like this idea that, well, it's never been used to pass 51 votes. That is, you know, as a narrow, factual matter, you know, besides that one example. Correct. The talking filibuster, though, is much, much more than that and it's been used many times to pass major pieces of consequential legislation simply because it's a negotiating. It's an. It forces the political process that results in a bill.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Yes.

[Vince]

Right. It's. It's distinct from, you know, what Senator Mike Lee calls the zombie filibuster, which is again, this process of I put one cloture vote on the floor, it doesn't get 60, I give up and go home. Right. The talking filibuster forces the process to move forward. Is it always successful?

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

No.

[Vince]

You can never guarantee a legislative outcome on the Senate floor. That is, again, the beauty of the delivery liberty process.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Yes.

[Vince]

But it forces the Senate to work and that is why so many of us have been proposing it is because it forces a process on a bill that I personally think is very good politics for Republicans.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Totally. Let's talk about the politics of this moment. Now, as I've been telling people like, it appears, I think, crystal clear to anybody who's paying attention that a lot of what we're witnessing right now is an attempt by at least some in the Republican Party to placate the base. These senators are hearing a lot from Republicans at this moment. All across the country, the whole base is calling the Senate. Much of this audience is calling, knocking on doors, sending emails. I'm getting all of their email communications is being forwarded to me. Here's what my senator is saying, here's what they didn't say, here's what I'm reading between the lines, all of that. Everybody's very active on this issue right now. So, Rachel, despite the fact that there are some in Washington, not Mike Lee. Mike Lee wants to pass this thing, but some in Washington who want to put on a show for us right now. Now, what should the base be doing at this moment in terms of the political calculations we should make as voters? What kind of pressure should we put, should we be putting on the Senate as we speak?

[Vince]

Well, I think it goes back to kind of what we were discussing. We want the Senate to take this seriously, right? Yes. There's a performative element to it. Right. We want to see them actually work on this bill and debate it, like make Democrats bleed. But we also at the same time want them to be taking it seriously. We want them to be trying to work this out with Democrats. We want at the end of this process because at some point they're going to. The Senate will have to move on to something that has a deadline. Right. Dhs, Mark Wayne, Mullen, fisa. You know Things that are coming up, but what we expect at that point, fine, the Senate can go do its business, but we expect the message to be, we are not done here. We are going to continue to work on this bill. It is incredibly important to Senate Republicans, us and the American people. We expect, expect the Senate to return to it. And John Thew needs to look at the conference and say, we're coming back. Right. We gotta do this thing. But you know what? We're gonna keep working on this bill, we're gonna bring it up, and we are going to give substantial floor time to it again, because we respect the fact that legislation takes time and it takes effort, and we don't want this to be a one and done exercise.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Okay, finally, how much do you think this issue is now ingrained in the base in terms of, like, just being a part of the DNA of American voters who are thinking, okay, this is my litmus test for whether or not you even become a candidate for federal office.

[Vince]

You know, I do think that the base understands this issue and is more fluent in the procedures than I've really ever seen in a long time.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Yeah.

[Vince]

And I think it's not going away. You know, like, this is an issue. Again, many of us have proposed this strategy because it's good politics. So many people already think voter ID is law. It is that common sense. And so I think when people have found out, oh, by the way, this isn't, you know, law, and this is something Republicans have to do, but they don't really want to do it, it kind of blows people's minds. So I don't know that this issue is going away. And I think Republicans shouldn't. Right. It should become a platform based issue and Republicans should treat it that way.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Amen. All right, Rachel Bovard, Conservative Partnership Institute. Thank you as well. I learned a lot. Again, every time we talk, I do. And I appreciate you. Thank you so much.

[Vince]

Thanks, Vince.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

There she is, Rachel Bovard. Appreciate her time this morning. And yeah, it really, it really comes down to, like, what are we going to see in the, in the weeks ahead, you know, what is this going to look like? And so pay attention to the specifics. Like, just because you see a single cloture vote as Rachel just described, doesn't mean it's over. We don't even know when we're going to get a cloture vote. And a cloture vote is merely a vote to end the debate and proceed to the vote on the bill itself, which is why they say cloture takes 60 you need a super majority in the Senate to end debate and then move on to the vote. 60. 60 threshold. You know, just because we do one doesn't mean it's done. All right, go back to debating. Go back to debating. Keep debating it, and then file another cloture vote, see if we can pick anybody else up. You know, this is going to be a process that we need to keep the pressure on. We need to keep the pressure on and make it really clear. And I, and I've said before, you know, enthus case, you know, if Thune fails here, and there's all sorts of indicators that he's destined for failure if he fails here. I'm sorry, you may be a nice guy. I don't. You know, President Trump seems to like working with him just fine. But let's get rid of him. Let's find somebody. As President Trump said last year is going last week, rather is gonna lead. Your job is to lead. It's not merely to be sort of an empty vessel for, well, here's what the data tell me. We don't have enough votes. Well, what have you done to get them? How much effort have you put in to get them? That's the core question. And if you can't succeed in that effort, let's find somebody else who can. You know, the guy who runs the Senate, the Republican Party, you've got an immense amount of power. You control purse strings for elections. You can dedicate funding to help candidates get elected into the Senate in the first place. You can get your preferred guy through. I mean, it's the whole reason why in Texas right now, we've got John Cornyn and Ken Paxton. Cornyn supported by the establishment, supported by John Thune. Ken Paxton supported by the base President Trump didn't endorse in that race. Yesterday was the deadline for those guys to drop out for the runoff. So they're both gonna appear on the ballot in this thing. It's just. It's just you have a lot of power in this job. You should use it. It's leverage. And that leverage is really important to being able to achieve the things that are important to the American people. If that's your priority. It also includes committee assignments. Are you in charge of things? Do you have power in the Senate? The Senate majority leader has immense power. He's not merely just like a guy who's telling you what the weather is. He's a guy who can. Can change the weather. He's a guy who really can affect what comes next. So do it, Jon Thune Jonathan was on with, as I mentioned, he was on with Brett last night. Brett asked a series of good questions on Fox, and I didn't love Thune's answers here. As I just told Rachel, take a listen. Here's Cut nine. Brett Baier interviewing John Thune last night. I don't want to dwell on this

[John Thune]

too much, but some of your colleagues

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

say the talking filibuster is the way to go.

[John Thune]

Here's the Utah Republic. Mike Lee, this is something that 85%

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

of the American people want.

[John Thune]

So if a small handful of Democratic lawmakers want to interfere with the will of the American people, let them earn it.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Make them speak, make them stand on the Senate floor and explain why in

[John Thune]

front of all the American people, they

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

won't last very long.

[John Thune]

This is something that we can do without changing a single rule or a single precedent, and it's something that we

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

must do in this instance. Why, in specific detail, are you convinced

[John Thune]

that a talking filibuster doesn't work? Well, first off and foremost, because we don't have the votes for it. And that's again, it's a simple function.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

What are you doing again, in the

[John Thune]

Senate, it would take even a talking filibuster would take 51 votes. We don't have 51 votes for that in the United States Senate. But why is that? Why are Republican colleagues not going to force the issue? The president's obviously putting his foot here, saying this is the most important thing that needs to come out of this Congress. Right? And I know people don't like to hear this, but the talking filibuster, you know, it takes you back kind of basically to the 1800s. You go back to the 19th century and the way things were done in the Senate. And we can't find an example in modern Senate history where a piece of legislation passed via the talking filibuster. But in the meantime, what it does is but he would say if they

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

got tired and exhausted, it would be 51 votes.

[John Thune]

It would be at 51 votes. But between now and then, and you're talking about unlimited debate, and anytime an amendment, for example, is offered and fails, if it gets tabled, you start all over, you reset the clock and it really favors the minority. When Harry Reid was the majority leader, Democrat leader in the Senate, same thing with Chuck Schumer, they both looked at doing this and opted against it. What it would force us to do

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

in the Senate is that. So basically what happens is Thune goes on to say like, hey, if we get rid of the, the non speaking filibuster. He's. Look, he's blurring the lines quite a bit. We're not asking you. I mean, there are. I have asked you to change the rules. That's separate and distinct from what we're talking about right now. I'm asking you to follow the existing Senate rules, use the speaking filibuster, fill the amendment tree as Rachel Bovard was just talking about. Get rid of any opportunity for Democrats to interfere. Oh, but Vince, what if they present something that's like an uncomfortable vote for Republicans? If that happens, then vote it down. Say up front that all Republicans are going to stand there shoulder to shoulder, vote down everything. We're voting no on any garbage. We're voting on a clean bill. We're getting this through. We're doing this for the American people. It can be achieved with 51. As John Thune just said, they just don't have them. They don't have the votes. And again, if he's worked at all to achieve that, he's never told the rest of us. Have you noticed he's never once been like, yeah, I've worked really hard, dude. I've been twisting arms. I'm trying to get people on board. It's tough. It's like herding cats. Nothing, nothing. It's just like, it just throws his hands up. I don't know what to do. How about your job? How about. I know it's frustrating, deeply frustrating, which is why the pressure needs to stay on. And now I don't know who this is. A real reporter. I say this is a real reporter because listen to the wording of this question. Why don't we get questions like that? First of all, congratulations, Brett. Brett did a fine job talking to Jonathan yesterday. But a real reporter in the Congress walks up to John Thune yesterday at his press conference and asks him the core question. Why is the filibuster more important than stopping illegal aliens from voting? Cut eight. Watch this exchange.

[John Thune]

Why is the filibuster more important than stopping illegals from voting? Well, look, I mean, I think that the. There are many ways in which you can stop illegals from voting, and a lot of states have some of those measures already in place. But I do think that the filibuster, or maybe more specifically the concept that the founders had for the United States Senate was that it would be one body that was majoritarian and one that wasn't. And so they divided power in a way that enabled the United States Senate, which we have six year terms staggered Terms more of a methodical way about going about solving the country's problems and generally in ways that ensure that there are bipartisan majorities in which to accomplish that.

[Vince (continuation or co-host)]

Okay, so he goes back to some, like, explanation of American history. He's right. The founders intended for the United States Senate to be the more deliberative body, to be the. What is it, the cooling dish for the teacup? Yeah, they're trying to. There's a role for the Senate that the founders envisioned. No question about it. But we're not asking you to ram anything through. We're asking you to use the talking filibuster. I'm straight up asking you to stop the Senate's business for maybe months to work on this important piece of legislation. That's it. Not asking you to blow up the rules. We're asking you to follow them. But there's a point at which you move so slow you go backwards. What in the hell are you even talking about? We're supposed to move very slowly. The guy asked you, why is the filibuster more important than stopping illegal aliens from voting? That's the question. Why does it seem like you're more committed to protecting illegal alien votes than doing your job? That's the question. Good for. I don't know who that was, but he gets the Reporter of the Day award. That was a. That was a great question. Why can't more reporters sound like that? Just say it. Say it out loud. Say it out loud. You know, years ago, remember when Obama just randomly granted amnesty to millions of people. Dreamers is what he called them, with dreamers. And when. When he was standing there in the Rose Garden and he made that announcement, there was one reporter, my White House correspondent, Neil Monroe, at the time working for the Daily Caller. These days, he works for Breitbart. Neil Monroe. And as the President seemed to be stopping speaking, Neil yells out a question. Why do you favor foreigners over American workers? Do you remember this? Does anybody remember this chat? Why do you favor foreigners over American workers? Now, for that, Neil should be thrown a parade. Neil's a hero for yelling that question. Now he's a hero. He did. It was. It was. He actually performed journalism in front of the President of the United States. And what he was. The reaction to it, though, was madness. Was madness. First of all, Obama got angry at him, and he said he interrupted his speech. Well, Obama speaks so slowly, you don't even know if he was done yet. So Neil wrongly assumed he was done speaking because the guy has the. The most pregnant pauses imaginable. And he yells out, why do you favor foreigners over American workers? And Obama starts scolding him as a right. It's the right thing to do. It's the right thing to do. Next time, let me finish speaking before I ask your question. He's like screaming at him. And then the media chased Neil away from the White House. Neil came back to our offices. He was being tailed by the press running after him, demanding to know why he had heckled the President of the United States when he was the only one with the testicular fortitude to ask a damn question that had any relevance to protecting the interests of the American people in the Rose Garden that day. That kind of journalism shouldn't be rare. It should be common. That kind of journalism is why we have the First Amendment of the United States, to protect the ability of journalists, real journalists, to ask real questions and speak truth to power on behalf of the American people who they're supposed to serve. That's why. That's why it exists. A refreshing reminder of what it's all about yesterday. And when Neil asked that great question. All right, we'll keep fighting for the truth here on the program and we'll keep fighting for the Save America Act. I don't care what the odds look like. I'm staying in the fight and so should you. Thank you for being here with me, as always. The best audience anywhere. We've got the big national radio show going on today. TheVin Show.com is where you can find your local radio listings for anybody who was listening yesterday across our affiliates across the country. I was getting messages yesterday that, hey, Venta, your program is being preempted or somebody else is on the air. What's going on? We had some satellite issues yesterday. I don't know what was going on exactly, but it was only because of your attentiveness that I became aware of it, that I reached out to our guys and go, what's going on? Like, we got satellite issues. We're working on them across the country. Hopefully everything got cleaned up. We should be back up and running. We're available at all these great hundreds of affiliates across the country. TheVin Show.com to get your local radio affiliate. And if you'd rather see me face to face, you can do that on Rumble rumble at 1pm Eastern each day. We do it with the live stream there. We got the great chat. Everybody gets together. It's awesome. We will do that. Also coming up today, dan Bongino. That's 10 o'. Clock. That's on rumble. Rumble.com Bongino 10 o' clock Eastern Time and then noon Eastern time. Hayley Caranilla has her great program, Haley with two wise. Why? Because she is great. Rumble.com Haley at noon. And I'll be back with you, of course, this afternoon and tomorrow on both shows. Thank you for being here, as always. Oh, and one more thing. I'm sorry. I know I got a lot to share with you. We always have a lot of business to deal with. One more thing. You ready for two more big shows this week? You ready for two huge ones? You know who's on the show tomorrow? Don Jr. Donald Trump Jr joins us on the podcast tomorrow. And on Friday, Dr. Oz is here from the center for Medicaid and Medicare Services. He's digging up all the fraud in Los Angeles. Gavin Newsom says he's racist for doing it. We've got a lot more to get to this week on THIS edition. This edition, this show. I've talked enough. Talk to you soon.