Analysis by WorldTribune Staff, November 11, 2026 — Real World News
The same Senate Republicans who as the majority party joined Democrats in a passive-aggressive block of President Donald Trump’s overwhelming popular election integrity package, opened the floodgates for the Blue tsunami. Now they are returning to lead the party in the next Congress.
As they head into the minority in the 120th Congress in January, not only did the GOP conference on Tuesday choose to keep Senate Majority Leader John Thune in charge, but it also reelected his entire leadership team.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: ‘Safeguarding the electoral process to improve oversight and prevent unlawful influence has been a top priority for my administration.’ / Video Image
All ran unopposed and were elected by acclamation, meaning there was no official vote or ballot, like the House had earlier in the day in choosing Rep. Jim Jordan for Minority Leader in January.
The only senator to display a semblance of backbone, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, attempted to delay the Senate Republicans’ leadership election and failed in a 15-31 vote. As promised, he walked out, choosing not to participate in the proceedings.
President Donald Trump had pleaded continuously during this past election season with Thune and his team to pass the SAVE America Act to require voter ID and proof of citizenship to cast a ballot in federal elections.
If Thune and company wanted an example to follow, they only needed to look to Florida.
In April of this year, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Florida SAVE Act into law.
The Florida law:
• Requires verification of U.S. citizenship using REAL ID data for new and updated voter registrations.
• Requires voting to be conducted using paper ballots, ensuring a verifiable record of every vote.
• Requires all driver’s licenses issued in Florida to indicate if the individual is a non-citizen.
• Updates identification requirements to ensure only secure, government-issued IDs are accepted.
• Establishes a clear process to identify and remove potentially ineligible noncitizens from voter rolls.
• Allows individuals to provide documentation to confirm eligibility.
• Adds explicit notice that submitting false voter registration information is a felony.
• Enhances coordination between state and local agencies to identify potentially ineligible voters.
• Requires supervisors of elections to investigate and take appropriate action.
“Safeguarding the electoral process to improve oversight and prevent unlawful influence has been a top priority for my administration since my first days in office,” DeSantis said on April 1, 2026. “Today I signed the election integrity bill, also known as the Florida SAVE Act. This legislation strengthens the security, transparency, and reliability of Florida’s election system. In Florida, we will always stand up for election integrity.”
DeSantis also responded to a question on why any noncitizen would have a driver’s license: “Illegal aliens are ineligible for drivers licenses in Florida,” he said. “They are also ineligible for other forms of government ID, and nonprofits are prohibited from issuing ID to them as well. Florida also doesn’t recognize out-of-state IDs for illegal aliens. Lawful permanent residents can get a drivers license in Florida and in every other state.”
PJ Media’s Catherine Salgado noted: “That means that in states like Texas or California that do not verify registrants’ citizenship, it would be all too easy for dishonest noncitizens to vote — or obtain other benefits that are supposed to be for citizens. The Trump Administration is looking into at least 300,000 voter fraud cases, and many of them are noncitizens who technically have some legal status to be here.
“Sadly, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other useless U.S. Senate Republicans failed to pass the national version of the SAVE America Act, or even the budget resolution workaround version that the House passed.
“And Senate Republicans quickly put all the same people back into top leadership post-election for their minority coalition. So it almost seems at this point as if Senate Republicans wanted to lose the majority and are happy to be back to whining about Democrats and accomplishing absolutely nothing. They must hate the responsibility and pressure of having power to enact reform.”
Florida SAVE Act!
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) November 10, 2026
