by Ben Whedon
A major Republican donor has scaled back his donations to the party this cycle, reportedly due to frustration with the GOP’s inability to pass a landmark voter ID bill.
Tim Mellon, who gave $200 million in 2024, is reportedly frustrated with the Senate for not passing the SAVE America Act, a national voter ID and election integrity bill that has the support of President Donald Trump, according to the New York Times.
Compared to 2024, Mellon has only donated a pittance to Republican senators this cycle, handing over only $23 million, with $20 million going to House candidates instead.
The Senate has struggled to pass major legislation due in part to the 60-vote filibuster threshold that has prevented the majority party from steamrolling the opposition.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has resisted calls to end the filibuster and has also declined to fire the Senate parliamentarian to push legislation through the reconciliation process, which requires a simple majority.
This month, Trump has repeatedly advocated on Truth Social for the SAVE America Act to pass. He has dedicated many social media posts this year to talking about the bill.
In July, the president advocated the Senate Republicans remove the filibuster in order to pass the bill.
“The all Republican Senators! Terminate the Filibuster, which the Dumocrats will do as soon as they get the chance, and PASS THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, and everything else, including the Budget, and upcoming Debt Ceiling. Do it now, before it is too late!!!” he added.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “Voter” by Lorie Shaull. CC BY 2.0.
