GOP senator's gambit exposes false Dem claims about supporting voter ID

Democratic leaders say they don't oppose voter ID laws, but they blocked a bill to impose a nationwide requirement Thursday.

Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, attempted to pass a standalone voter ID bill through unanimous consent Thursday night, but Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., blocked the measure on the Senate floor. 

"I've heard my Democratic colleagues say that they don't oppose photo ID laws," Husted said during a floor debate. "I heard Senator Schumer say, 'Our objection as Democrats is not to photo ID. I heard Senator Fetterman say he supports a photo ID law."

"If I could quote him, 'If the GOP wants real reform over a show vote, put out a clean standalone bill and I'm in aye," Husted continued, referring to a social media post Fetterman released Tuesday. "Well, that's what I'm doing tonight."

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The measure would have enacted a nationwide voter ID requirement, though 36 states already have similar rules on the books. The Ohio Republican said citizens could use a state-issued driver's license, a U.S. passport or valid military or tribal ID to meet the requirement.

Husted, who is running to fill out the remainder of Vice President JD Vance's Senate term in November, slammed Democrats' opposition to the voter ID measure in a brief interview with Fox News Digital on Friday.

"So apparently they would like people to believe that they're for photo ID, but when it comes down to it, they didn't appear to be," the Ohio Republican said.

Husted's voter ID gambit came as the Senate is currently in the midst of a multi-day floor fight over the SAVE America Act, a Trump-backed elections bill aimed at preventing noncitizens from voting.

The marathon debate schedule is a move by Republicans to pin blame on Schumer and Democrats for blocking the bill. 

But it's not the same floor takeover, called a talking filibuster, that President Donald Trump, a cohort of conservatives in the Senate GOP and a fervent right-wing social media campaign have pressed for the conference to pursue.

That's because not enough Senate Republicans supported the move, which would require a near-unified front to successfully execute. And without Democratic support, the bill is doomed to fail at the end of the floor fight.

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A Fox News poll released in September 2025 found that 84% of registered voters said photo ID should be required to prove citizenship before voting.

Still, Democrats could move to filibuster a standalone voter ID bill if Republicans were to hold an up-or-down vote on the measure over the coming days.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who notably opposes the SAVE America Act over provisions that would restrict mail-in ballots, has called on the Senate to pass a standalone voter ID bill. 

"Stop turning this into a Christmas list and attacking vote-by-mail," Fetterman wrote Tuesday. "If GOP wants real reform over a show vote - -put out a clean, standalone bill and I'm AYE."

One of the core components of the SAVE America Act is providing proof of citizenship to register to vote, something Democrats have pushed back against more fiercely than the voter ID provision.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who is leading the SAVE America Act in the Senate, questioned why Democrats would say they want one without the other. 

"I'd love to hear their reasoning, why they would support voter ID but not proof of citizenship," Lee told Fox News Digital.