By Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is signaling a willingness to revisit one of the Senate’s most entrenched procedural traditions as pressure mounts to advance a key election bill backed by Donald Trump.
In a notable shift, Cornyn said he would support changes to Senate filibuster rules if necessary to pass the SAVE America Act, legislation the president has identified as his top priority. Cornyn laid out the position in a Wednesday op-ed in The New York Post titled “Why the SAVE Act matters more than the filibuster.”
“After careful consideration, I support whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary for us to get the SAVE America Act and homeland security funding past the Democrats’ obstruction, through the Senate, and on the president’s desk for his signature,” Cornyn wrote.
The Texas senator, long known as a defender of the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, suggested several possible adjustments short of abolishing the rule entirely. Among them was reviving the so-called talking filibuster, which would require senators blocking legislation to physically hold the floor and argue their case.
“This could be a ‘talking filibuster’ that removes the obstructionists’ free pass and makes them defend their indefensible views on the Senate floor, or it could be a different reform,” he added.
The SAVE America Act—already passed by the House—would impose new federal election requirements. The proposal would mandate proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, for voter registration; require photo identification for both in-person and mail voting; and direct states to compare voter rolls with a Department of Homeland Security database to identify and remove noncitizens.
Federal law already prohibits noncitizen voting, and documented cases are rare.
Trump has also pressed lawmakers to incorporate additional measures, including tighter limits on mail-in voting and provisions preventing transgender individuals from competing in women’s and girls’ sports.
The bill faces a steep procedural hurdle in the Senate, where Democrats have pledged to block it through the filibuster. Overcoming that barrier would normally require 60 votes—far more than Republicans currently hold.
John Thune (R-S.D.), the Senate majority leader, suggested Wednesday that most Republicans remain reluctant to weaken the rule.
“Sen. Cornyn is one of 53 Republican senators, and the opposition to nuking the filibuster runs very, very deep in our conference,” Thune said.
Thune said he intends to bring the bill to the floor for debate and a vote but acknowledged that Democrats would likely prevent it from advancing.
Cornyn’s shift comes as he faces a politically charged Republican primary runoff against Ken Paxton, Texas’s attorney general and a close Trump ally. Paxton has sharply criticized Cornyn’s past defense of the filibuster and has argued that Republicans should abolish it entirely to enact the election measure.
Paxton has said he’d drop the save if the Senate passed the SAVE Act.
JUST IN – Ken Paxton says he would consider dropping out of the Texas Senate race if Senate leaders agree to end the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act. https://t.co/2wh8HGlxv1 pic.twitter.com/wrwjLFnV3x
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) March 5, 2026
Trump himself has heightened the stakes. The president, who appeared close to endorsing Cornyn just days ago, has since delayed that decision while pressing Congress to pass the SAVE America Act.
BREAKING🚨: President Trump delays his endorsement in the Texas Senate race between Ken Paxton and John Cornyn to pressure Senate GOP to pass the SAVE America Act, per Fox.
pic.twitter.com/fRZhB0weES— Officer Lew (@officer_Lew) March 11, 2026
Asked Wednesday whether his evolving position on the filibuster was tied to the prospect of securing Trump’s backing, Cornyn pushed back.
“I would say that’s not true,” he told NBC News.
The senator acknowledged that his stance marks a departure from previous years, when he vigorously defended the rule. In 2022, during Democratic efforts to change Senate procedures for voting legislation, Cornyn warned that altering the filibuster would be “a wrecking ball” to Senate norms.
“That’s what the filibuster does. It requires us to work together,” he said at the time.
In his new op-ed, Cornyn argued that the political landscape has shifted.
“I spent years defending the filibuster because the 60-vote threshold was a net benefit to Texas and our nation. Before moderate Democrats went extinct, the rules worked. … The Democrats’ recklessness and radicalism have changed the landscape.”
When reporters later pressed him about the apparent contradiction between his past warnings and his new openness to reform, Cornyn insisted he had always left room for adjustments.
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