Dems Vote against SAVE America Act Amendment Protecting Girls' Sports

S.A. McCarthy : Mar 23, 2026
The Washington Stand

"Seems like Groundhog Day to me, because I've been here six years and this is the fourth time that I've had this bill on the floor. I'm still trying, and I'm gonna continue to try till I'm gone. I can't believe that this is even an issue. Every single time that we've voted on this, I have not gotten one single Democrat to vote for it." -Senator Tommy Tuberville

[WashingtonStand.com] The Senate is engaged in heating debate and dispute over a key election integrity bill—and the amendments that Republicans are trying to add to it to bolster protections for the American people. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) brought the SAVE America Act to the floor last week, more than one month after the legislation had been approved by the House of Representatives and amidst increasing pressure from both the House and President Donald Trump to approve the bill. On Saturday, Senate Democrats shot down a proposed amendment that would have barred biological males from competing in girls' sports. (Image: iStock-SDI Productions)

The proposed amendment would have barred federally-funded educational institutions from allowing biological males to compete in girls' athletic events. The amendment was advanced by Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). While 49 Republicans voted in favor of the provision, 41 Democrats voted against it, leaving support for the amendment under the 60-vote threshold needed to advance.

Barring biological males from competing in girls' sports is an issue with broad bipartisan support among voters. A Center Square/Noble Predictive Insights survey this month found that 68% of voters (including 88% of Republicans, 65% of Independent voters, and 49% of Democrats) would support a US Supreme Court ruling upholding state laws barring biological males from competing in girls' sports. A New York Times/Ipsos survey in January found even broader bipartisan support: 79% of voters (including 94% of Republicans, 67% of Democrats, and 64% of Independent voters) said that biological males "should not be allowed" to compete in girls' sports.

A Gallup poll last year found that 69% of voters (up from 62% in 2021) support measures ensuring that biological males do not compete in girls' sports, with Democratic and Independent voter support for allowing athletes to compete according to their gender identity falling 10 points each since 2021. Likewise, a 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that 66% of voters favor measures requiring transgender-identifying athletes to compete according to their biological sexes, up from 58% in 2022.

"Seems like Groundhog Day to me, because I've been here six years and this is the fourth time that I've had this bill on the floor," Tuberville said of the proposed amendment Saturday. "I'm still trying, and I'm gonna continue to try till I'm gone. I can't believe that this is even an issue," he added. "Every single time that we've voted on this, I have not gotten one single Democrat to vote for it."

Senate Democrats have also voiced their opposition to the SAVE America Act's election integrity reforms, which would require voters to show proof of US citizenship when registering to vote and would mandate photo identification when casting a ballot. Those provisions have proven similarly popular in polling. Rasmussen Reports found last month a majority of likely voters are concerned about noncitizens voting in American elections: 55% of voters say that it's likely that noncitizens vote in American elections (including 32% who say that it's very likely), while roughly one third (34%) of respondents say that it's either not very likely or not at all likely that noncitizens cast ballots in American elections.

A 2025 Pew Research Center survey found that 83% of Americans (including 95% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats) support mandatory photo ID for voting, while a 2024 Gallup poll found that 84% of Americans (including 98% of Republicans, 67% of Democrats, and 84% of Independent voters) support requiring a photo ID in order to vote and 83% (including 96% of Republicans, 66% of Democrats, and 84% of Independent voters) support requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

Senate Democrats have also been sparring with their Republican colleagues over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), even amidst national security concerns related to the ongoing war with Iran. According to Punchbowl News, Thune has floated brokering a deal with Democrats to fund DHS components such as Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) without funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency Democrats have made the focal point of their concerns related to aggressive tactics in effecting the president's promised mass deportation agenda. Thune proposed providing funding for ICE later on in a separate reconciliation bill.

Trump rejected Thune's proposal, instead urging Senate Republicans to continue pressing their Democratic counterparts to fund DHS fully and to pass the SAVE America Act. "I don't think we should make any deal with the Crazy, Country Destroying, Radical Left Democrats unless, and until, they Vote with Republicans to pass 'THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,'" the president said in a Truth Social post Sunday night. "It is far more important than anything else we are doing in the Senate, and that includes giving these same terrible people, the Dems (who are to blame for this mess!), a Five Billion Dollar cut in ICE funding, a deal which, even when disguised as something else, is unacceptable to me and the American people," he continued, "UNLESS it includes their approval of Voter ID, (with picture!), Citizenship to Vote, No Mail-In Voting (with exceptions), All Paper Ballots, No Men In Women's Sports, and No Transgender MUTILIZATION of our precious children."

The president called on Republicans to stay in Washington, DC for the upcoming Easter recess in order to push for DHS funding and the passage of the SAVE America Act. He reportedly offered to host all Republican senators and their families for Easter dinner at the White House. Trump further called on Thune to publicize the names of Republican senators siding with Democrats "against AMERICA" so that they could be primaried and removed from office. He pledged, "They will never be elected again!" Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.