Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stood in the way of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) this week, claiming that it represents ‘Jim Crow’ segregation laws, leading many on social media to bring up his identical claim about a Georgia voting law that resulted in record Black turnout.

Schumer pushed back on a Republican plan to add the SAVE Act, which would require states to obtain proof of citizenship in-person when people register to vote and remove non-citizens from voter rolls, to the spending package being debated in Congress.

‘I have said it before and I’ll say it again, the SAVE Act would impose Jim Crow-type laws to the entire country and is dead on arrival in the Senate,’ Schumer said on Monday. ‘It is a poison pill that will kill any legislation that it is attached to… The SAVE Act is reminiscent of Jim Crow era laws and would expand them to the whole of America. Republicans want to restore Jim Crow and apply it from one end of this country to the other. It will not happen.’

Many on social media quickly pointed to Schumer previously calling a Georgia election integrity law ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ before the law resulted in record Black turnout in the 2022 state election.

‘Schumer used the same line to describe Georgia laws that indisputably expanded voter access back in 2022,’ commentator and writer AG Hamilton posted on X. ‘It’s incredibly offensive and unserious to pretend that every voting law equates to a renewal of Jim Crow.’

Many Democrats, from Schumer, to President Joe Biden, to failed Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, warned that the Georgia voter integrity law would be ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ and Major League Baseball even pulled its All-Star Game from Atlanta in 2021 amid public pressure.

Ultimately, the Georgia Secretary of State revealed that the law did not suppress turnout, but rather increased it, particularly among minority voters.

‘Chuck Schumer sounds like a broken record,’ Honest Elections Project Executive Director Jason Snead told Fox News Digital. ‘When Georgia passed a new voting law in 2021, Schumer labeled it ‘Jim Crow’ even though the state went on to see explosive turnout in 2022.’

Snead pointed to a University of Georgia poll after the 2022 election finding that 0% of Black respondents had a poor experience voting. 

Snead continued, ‘Now, Schumer is smearing the SAVE Act the same way because he has no legitimate excuse for opposing a law that makes sure only American citizens are voting—which more than 80% of Americans support. Schumer’s smears were false then, and they are false now.

‘Schumer and the Democrats keep trying to rig the rules of our elections by pushing failed, California-style election laws that invite chaos and fraud. That’s not what Americans want.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s office for comment.

A Senate Republican suggested Wednesday that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., had his feelings hurt by not being included in the Trump-Schumer deal to fund the government. 

The House passed the five-bill funding package, along with a two-week funding extension for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), on Tuesday. Jeffries and most House Democrats, save for 21, voted against it as the partial government shutdown entered its fourth day. 

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said it was because Jeffries was ‘butt hurt’ that he was not looped into the deal brokered between Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and President Donald Trump. 

‘He’s butt hurt that President Trump didn’t call him, too,’ Marshall told Fox News Digital. ‘But I think that’s on Schumer.’

Marshall described the scene in the Oval Office last week, where top-ranking Senate Republicans met with Trump as the funding deadline neared, and Senate Democrats were digging in deeper into their demands to renegotiate the DHS funding bill. 

‘The president says, ‘Get Schumer on the phone.’ They get Schumer on the phone. They broker a deal,’ Marshall said.

‘So really, it’s on Schumer that he agreed to this deal, really, before bringing Hakeem in,’ he continued. ‘And really it comes down to that Hakeem’s feelings are butt hurt, and to him, he’s fighting for his political life and really struggling.’

While the deal does fund 11 out of the 12 agencies under Congress’ purview, DHS remains an open question.

Senate Democrats, following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti during an immigration operation in Minneapolis, demanded that the bipartisan bill to fund the agency be sidelined in order to cram in more restrictions and reforms for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

Turning to a two-week continuing resolution (CR) to further negotiate the bill has Republicans concerned that they will end up in the same position within the next few days, given the truncated timeframe to hash out major issues with one of the most politically perilous funding bills.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said that negotiations with Senate Democrats would be carried out by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who chairs the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. 

He acknowledged, however, that Trump would be the deciding factor. 

‘Ultimately, that’s going to be a conversation between the President of the United States and the Democrats here in the Senate,’ he said.

But Schumer insisted that Thune needed to be in on the negotiations. 

‘If Leader Thune negotiates in good faith, we can get it done,’ Schumer said. ‘We expect to present to the Republicans a very serious, detailed proposal very shortly.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer and Jeffries for comment.

The Iranian president, who just days ago accused President Donald Trump of provoking unrest and trying to ‘tear this country apart,’ is now striking a softer tone regarding talks about its nuclear program, following a warning from Trump. 

Trump said at the White House on Monday that the U.S. is talking with Iran and that he would ‘like to see a deal negotiated.’  

‘And if we could work something out, that’d be great,’ Trump added. ‘And if we can’t, probably bad things would happen.’ 

Masoud Pezeshkian then took to X on Tuesday and wrote, ‘In light of requests from friendly governments in the region to respond to the proposal by the President of the United States for negotiations: I have instructed my Minister of Foreign Affairs, provided that a suitable environment exists — one free from threats and unreasonable expectations — to pursue fair and equitable negotiations, guided by the principles of dignity, prudence, and expediency.’

‘These negotiations shall be conducted within the framework of our national interests,’ Pezeshkian also said. 

Axios has reported that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Istanbul on Friday. However, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News on Tuesday that Iran wants to move the discussions to Oman.

Pezeshkian told state television on Saturday that Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and European leaders ‘rode on our problems, provoked, and were seeking — and still seek — to fragment society,’ according to Reuters.

‘They brought them into the streets and wanted, as they said, to tear this country apart, to sow conflict and hatred among the people and create division,’ Pezeshkian reportedly added about the anti-government protests and deadly crackdown that recently swept through Iran. ‘Everyone knows that the issue was not just a social protest.’   

Then in a series of posts on X on Tuesday, Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, ‘The United States wants to devour Iran; the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic prevent this,’ and, ‘Iran stands firm and will continue to stand firm, and — God willing — will put an end to the United States’ mischief and harassment.’

‘The recent sedition was orchestrated by Zionists & the US. I was informed through a certain channel that the CIA & Mossad deployed all of their resources into the field!’  Khamenei also claimed, without providing any evidence.

Trump said last week that ‘time is running out for Iran.’

In a Truth Social post last Wednesday, Trump wrote, ‘A massive Armada is heading to Iran.’  

‘It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose. It is a larger fleet, headed by the great Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln, than that sent to Venezuela. Like with Venezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary. Hopefully, Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal — NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS — one that is good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!’ the president warned. 

Iran has requested that nuclear talks with the United States be held in Oman on Friday, a source familiar with the discussions told Fox News, as Tehran pushes for changes to the structure of renewed negotiations.

The request comes as Axios reported that Iranian officials are also pressing to limit the talks to a bilateral U.S.-Iran format, excluding other Arab and regional countries — a move that could complicate U.S. diplomatic efforts in the region.

The State Department has not publicly confirmed whether any talks are scheduled or what format they would take.

Reuters reported Monday that Tehran is examining the possibility of renewed nuclear talks with the United States, with Turkey emerging as a potential venue and regional mediators, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, playing an active role, after President Donald Trump said he was hopeful a deal could be reached to avert military action against Iran.

Trump has reportedly been weighing his options on a possible military strike on Iran amid widespread protests and violent crackdowns inside the country. Trump announced last week that a ‘massive Armada is heading to Iran,’ led by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that talks between the U.S. and Iran are still scheduled, confirming special envoy Steve Witkoff remains engaged in diplomatic discussions.

‘Oh, look, I just spoke with special envoy Witkoff. And, these talks as of right now are still scheduled. President Trump is always wanting to pursue diplomacy first, but obviously it takes two to tango. You need a willing partner to achieve diplomacy. And that’s something that special envoy Witkoff is intent on exploring and discussing,’ Leavitt said.

Leavitt added that Trump continues to keep military options on the table.

‘As always, though, of course, the president has a range of options on the table with respect to Iran. As commander in chief, I think they learned that quite well last year with the strike in Operation Midnight Hammer, which was wildly successful and obliterated their nuclear capabilities. But those talks will continue later this week as far as we’re concerned. Right now,’ she said.

The news comes after six Iranian gunboats unsuccessfully attempted to halt a U.S.-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The security firm Vanguard Tech told its clients on Tuesday that the Iranian vessels were armed with .50-caliber guns, and they ordered the oil tanker to turn off its engines and prepare to be boarded. Instead, the tanker sped up and was ultimately escorted to safety by a U.S. Navy vessel, according to the Journal.

In addition, the U.S. military shot down an unmanned Iranian drone Tuesday after it ‘aggressively approached a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier with unclear intent,’ a U.S. Central Command spokesman told Fox News. No U.S. service members were injured and no U.S. equipment was damaged during the incident.  

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom and Greg Norman contributed to this report.

The House of Representatives passed a federal funding bill aimed at ending the partial government shutdown on Tuesday, which will bring the four-day standoff to a close shortly after the legislation gets to President Donald Trump’s desk.

The funding bill, which passed the House 217-214, is a compromise struck between Senate Democrats and the White House that would fund roughly 97% of the federal government through the end of fiscal 2026.

Trump played an integral role in hashing out the new deal and quelling a subsequent rebellion by conservative lawmakers to get it over the finish line.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., signaled he was strongly against the plan, despite his Senate counterpart’s role in putting it together. But 21 Democrats bucked his concerns in the end to vote in favor of it.

Jeffries and his top lieutenants in the House Democratic Caucus all voted against the bill, however.

On the GOP side, 21 Republicans voted against the legislation while 196 were in favor.

Democrats had initially walked away from a bipartisan House deal to finish funding the federal government through the end of fiscal 2026 on Sept. 30, rebelling against a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over Trump’s handling of unrest in Minneapolis.

Their mutiny left roughly 78% of the government’s yearly funding hanging in the balance because the DHS bill was lumped into a wider package authorizing budgets for the departments of War, Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Education.

The deal struck between Senate Democrats and the White House would fully fund those remaining areas while only extending current funding levels for DHS through Feb. 13, in order to give Democrats and Republicans time to hash out a longer-term bipartisan plan.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters on Tuesday that the legislation would succeed, though he hinted at some dissatisfaction with how negotiations played out.

‘This is not my preferred route. I wanted to keep all six bills together,’ Johnson said. ‘But listen, the president agreed with Schumer that they would separate Homeland, and we’ll do that, and we’ll handle it.… The Republicans are going to do the responsible thing.’

The Senate’s federal funding deal survived an important hurdle late Tuesday morning, clearing a House-wide ‘rule vote’ to allow for lawmakers to debate the measure and set up a vote on final passage by early afternoon.

It comes after a pair of House conservatives announced they would be backing off their threats to sink the legislation during the rule vote if the legislation was not paired with an unrelated election integrity bill called the SAVE America Act.

Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., warned they would not support the bill during the rule vote without the SAVE America Act attached but pivoted on Monday night after a conversation with the White House.

‘As of right now, with the current agreement that we have, as well as discussions, we will both be a yes on the rule,’ Luna said. ‘There is something called a standing filibuster that would effectively allow Sen. Thune to put voter ID on the floor of the Senate. We are hearing that that is going well, and he is considering that… so we are very happy about that.’

The SAVE America Act would require voter ID at the polls and create a new proof of citizenship mandate in the voter registration process.

But it appears Luna’s insistence that Thune had embraced the standing filibuster, a little-known and antiquated legislative maneuver, was not quite accurate.

Still, Thune said there were Senate Republicans who ‘expressed an interest in that, so we’re going to have a conversation about it. But there weren’t any commitments made.’

He noted that forcing the standing filibuster to try and pass the SAVE America Act, or any of its variations coming from the House, would be a massive drain on time in the Senate.

Doing so ‘ties up floor time indefinitely,’ Thune said. That’s because of rules that guarantee any senator gets up to two speeches on a bill. That, coupled with the clock being reset by amendments to the bill, means that the Senate could effectively be paralyzed for months as Republicans chip away at Democratic opposition.

‘There’s always an opportunity cost,’ Thune said.

‘Well, at any time there’s an amendment offered, and that amendment is tabled, it resets the clock,’ he continued. ‘The two-speech rule kicks in again. So let’s say, you know, every Democrat senator talks for two hours. That’s 940 hours on the floor.’

It’s not immediately clear when Trump will sign the funding bill, but it’s expected the White House will want to move fast. The longest government shutdown in history, which lasted 43 days, just ended in November.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be deposed by the House Oversight Committee at the end of this month.

Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., announced Hillary Clinton will sit for a closed-door transcribed interview on Feb. 26, and Bill Clinton will appear on Feb. 27 under the same terms.

Both interviews will be filmed, Comer’s press release said. 

It comes after weeks of back-and-forth between the former first couple and the House GOP-led committee about whether they would testify in the chamber’s probe into Jeffrey Epstein, and under what terms.

The Clintons were both facing contempt of Congress votes in the House this week if they did not agree to come to Capitol Hill for in-person interviews with the Oversight Committee.

Those votes were likely to succeed as well. Late last month, nine Democrats on the House Oversight Committee joined all Republicans in voting to advance Bill Clinton’s contempt of Congress resolution to a House-wide vote. Three Democrats voted to advance the resolution against Hillary Clinton.

A contempt of Congress vote would refer both Clintons to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal prosecution.

A contempt of Congress conviction is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $100,000 and up to a year in jail.

‘Republicans and Democrats on the Oversight Committee have been clear: no one is above the law — and that includes the Clintons. After delaying and defying duly issued subpoenas for six months, the House Oversight Committee moved swiftly to initiate contempt of Congress proceedings in response to their non-compliance,’ Comer said in a statement.

‘Once it became clear that the House of Representatives would hold them in contempt, the Clintons completely caved and will appear for transcribed, filmed depositions this month. We look forward to questioning the Clintons as part of our investigation into the horrific crimes of Epstein and Maxwell, to deliver transparency and accountability for the American people and for survivors.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Bill Clinton’s spokesman for comment.

The Clintons were two of 10 people subpoenaed for testimony before the committee as it probes the federal government’s handling of Epstein’s case. So far just two people subpoenaed by the committee, former Attorney General Bill Barr and ex-Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, have appeared in person.

Their attorneys wrote to Comer last month calling his subpoenas legally invalid and a violation of separation of powers, arguments the Kentucky Republican rejected.

‘President and Secretary Clinton have already provided the limited information they possess about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to the Committee. They did so proactively and voluntarily, and despite the fact that the Subpoenas are invalid and legally unenforceable, untethered to a valid legislative purpose, unwarranted because they do not seek pertinent information, and an unprecedented infringement on the separation of powers,’ the letter read.

The two sides then went back-and-forth discussing various terms as Comer continued to forge ahead with contempt proceedings.

Comer twice rejected offers for himself and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the committee, to travel to New York with limited staff to interview Bill Clinton. 

Meanwhile, Democrats had accused Comer of pursuing the contempt charges for political motivations rather than to get closure for Epstein’s victims.

Bill Clinton was known to have a friendship with Epstein before his federal criminal charges and is among many high-profile names to appear in the trove of files being released on the late pedophile by the DOJ. But there has been no implication of wrongdoing by either of the Clintons as it relates to Epstein.

With a looming vote that could have set up an unprecedented criminal prosecution, the Clintons’ attorneys wrote to the committee on Monday, ‘[M]y clients accept the terms of your letter and will appear for depositions on mutually agreeable dates. As has been the Committee’s practice, please confirm the House will not move forward with contempt proceedings, as the Chairman stated in his letter this morning.’

The end of the current government shutdown is in sight on its fourth day after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., managed to corral nearly all of his House GOP lawmakers to advance the legislation.

The Senate’s federal funding deal survived an important hurdle late Tuesday morning, clearing a House-wide ‘rule vote’ to allow for lawmakers to debate the measure and set up a vote on final passage by early afternoon.

It comes after a pair of House conservatives announced they would be backing off their threats to sink the legislation during the rule vote if the legislation was not paired with an unrelated election integrity bill called the SAVE America Act.

A rule vote is a House-wide test vote of sorts for most bills before they are considered for final passage. They normally fall along partisan lines even if the underlying bill has bipartisan support.

The same is true in this case, where at least several House Democrats are expected to support the funding bill during final passage — despite House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., strongly coming out against it.

But for Johnson, that meant navigating a razor-thin one-seat majority to get nearly all House Republicans to vote in lockstep to advance the legislation.

Democrats had initially walked away from a bipartisan House deal to finish funding the federal government through the end of fiscal year (FY) 2026 on Sept. 30, rebelling against a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over President Donald Trump’s handling of unrest in Minneapolis.

It left roughly 78% of the government’s yearly funding hanging in the balance. The DHS bill was lumped into a wider package authorizing budgets for the departments of War, Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Education.

A new deal hashed out between Senate Democrats and the White House would fully fund those remaining areas while only extending current funding levels for DHS through Feb. 13, in order to give Democrats and Republicans time to hash out a longer-term bipartisan plan.

And despite most House Republicans coming on board — some more reluctant than others over the prospect of dealing with Democrats — Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., warned they would not support the bill during the rule vote without the SAVE America Act attached.

The SAVE America Act would require voter ID at the polls and create a new proof of citizenship mandate in the voter registration process.

But that would require it to be sent back to the Senate for additional approval, where Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said it was dead on arrival.

However, Luna told reporters on Monday night that she and Burchett both changed their minds after getting assurances from the White House that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., would force a vote on the SAVE America Act.

‘As of right now, with the current agreement that we have, as well as discussions, we will both be a yes on the rule,’ Luna said. ‘There is something called a standing filibuster that would effectively allow Senator Thune to put voter ID on the floor of the Senate. We are hearing that that is going well, and he is considering that…so we are very happy about that.’

House lawmakers will now debate the underlying bill, which will see a final vote around 1 p.m. ET.

Authorities overseeing some of Britain’s most famous countryside landscapes are launching targeted outreach programs aimed at ethnic minority communities, after a government-commissioned review warned rural areas are widely perceived as a ‘white’ and unwelcoming space.

‘The countryside is seen by both black, Asian and minority ethnic groups and white people as very much a ‘white’ environment,’ the report stated, ‘We are all paying for national landscapes through our taxes, and yet sometimes on our visits it has felt as if National Parks are an exclusive, mainly white, mainly middle‑class club, with rules only members understand and much too little done to encourage first time visitors.’

Critics say the initiative reflects misplaced government priorities. Michael McManus, director of research at the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital: ‘At a time of low growth, high taxes and stretched public services, it’s astonishing that ministers are spending time and money worrying about the ‘whiteness’ of the countryside. Government exists to grow the economy and fix real problems, not to indulge in culture war distractions that deliver nothing for working people.’

The initiatives stem from the 2019 Landscapes Review, commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and led by author Julian Glover. The review concluded that England’s protected landscapes often feel disconnected from large parts of the population.

The review also criticized the leadership of protected landscapes, arguing that governance bodies do not reflect the country they serve. ‘Of the almost 1,000 people on National Park and AONB boards today, the great majority are male… and a tiny fraction are of black, Asian or minority ethnicities,’ the report said, calling that imbalance ‘wrong for organizations which are funded by the nation to serve everyone.’

Following the review, organizations representing National Landscapes, formerly known as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, have published updated management plans outlining steps to attract more diverse visitors. According to individual plans published between 2024 and 2025, and as reported by U.K. outlets including LBC and GB News, the measures apply to landscapes including the Cotswolds, the Chilterns, the Malvern Hills and others.

Under those plans, the Chilterns National Landscape will launch targeted outreach programs in Luton and High Wycombe, areas with large Muslim populations. One barrier cited in follow-up research was concern among some visitors about unleashed dogs in rural areas.

The Cotswolds National Landscape referenced the DEFRA findings directly, saying it is seeking to broaden its appeal to reach ‘the widest demographic.’

In its own management strategy, the Malvern Hills National Landscape said many minority communities lack a generational connection to the countryside because parents and grandparents ‘did not always feel welcome in it.’ The plan added that while many white English visitors value solitude, ethnic minority visitors may be more inclined toward group or family-based activities.

Other landscapes raised similar concerns. Nidderdale National Landscape in North Yorkshire warned that ethnic minority visitors may worry about how they will be received in unfamiliar rural settings. Dedham Vale, Surrey Hills, and Suffolk and Essex Coast Heaths said they aim to identify and address barriers limiting access for under-represented groups, including people without English as a first language.

Together, the plans signal a broader shift in how Britain’s publicly funded countryside is managed, as landscape authorities face growing pressure to demonstrate cultural relevance to a changing society, even as critics warn the focus risks sidelining economic priorities and traditional conservation goals.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs in England for comment but did not receive a response before publication.

The Senate’s top Republican leader threw cold water on President Donald Trump’s desire to nationalize elections, arguing he was in favor of ‘decentralized, distributed power.’ 

Trump, during an appearance on former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino’s podcast, contended that it was ‘amazing Republicans aren’t tougher’ on elections. 

‘The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over, we should take over the voting in at least many — 15 places,’’ Trump said. ‘The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. We have states that are so crooked.’

But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., rejected the notion. He said that while he was supportive of only citizens voting and showing identification at polling places to do so, he was not in ‘favor of federalizing elections.’

‘That’s a constitutional issue. You gotta be a citizen to vote in our elections,’ Thune said. 

Trump’s ability to morph and shape the election landscape runs into constitutional barriers, notably that elections are run by state and local officials in all 50 states. The federal government has a limited role in that process. 

Thune also noted that echoes of the idea were once pushed by congressional Democrats years ago — something that Senate Republicans resoundingly crushed.

‘But there are other things that the Dems had in their proposal to federalize elections which are really bad outcomes for the country,’ he said. ‘I’m a big believer in decentralized, distributed power. And I think, you know, it’s harder to hack 50 election systems than it is to hack one.’ 

Congressional Republicans strongly pushed back against pushes by their counterparts to pass election reform legislation, notably the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For the People Act, which they argued at the time would effectively nationalize elections and give Democrats control of the election system across the country. 

Trump’s suggestion came after the FBI raided an election hub in Fulton County, Ga., where federal law enforcement officials were authorized to seize election records, voting rolls and other data tied to the 2020 election.

It also comes as congressional Republicans wrestle with the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which previously passed the House but has not gotten a vote in the Senate. 

That legislation would require states to obtain proof of citizenship in-person when people register to vote and remove noncitizens from voter rolls. A modified version of the bill gaining steam among conservatives would require photo ID when voting.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., slammed Trump’s comments and the SAVE Act and affirmed that the bill would never pass through the Senate. 

‘Now as for the SAVE Act itself: it has nothing to do with protecting our elections and everything to do with federalizing voter suppression,’ Schumer said. ‘The SAVE Act is nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0.’

Thune rejected the idea, citing constitutional concerns about federalizing elections