Democrats keep grandstanding against what Americans want | Opinion

Honest question: Why do Democrats spend so much time grandstanding against what the vast majority of Americans want? 

Because it doesn’t make sense to me. 

Case in point – Republicans in Congress want stricter voting requirements, such as voter ID and proof of citizenship. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (also known as the SAVE America Act) has already passed the House and is now before the Senate. 

At his State of the Union address on Feb. 24, President Donald Trump specifically called on the Senate to take up the bill.

"Congress should unite and enact this commonsense, country-saving legislation right now," Trump said. "And it should be before anything else happens."

While most Republicans in the Senate are allegedly on board, Democrats are holding out. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, has promised to bring the legislation to the floor, even as early as this week. 

“I’m for it,” Thune has said. 

Yet, Democrats – at least most of them – are against it. And some Democratic support in the Senate will be essential to meet the 60-vote threshold needed to pass it in that chamber. 

The SAVE Act is 'Jim Crow 2.0'? Really, Chuck?

As with most political issues these days, the rhetoric has gone over the top.

Let’s first take a quick look at what the SAVE Act would actually do, if it became law. 

It would require states to obtain proof of citizenship “in person” from anyone registering to vote for the first time in a federal election – or after a move or name change. If you've gotten a REAL ID (what's required to get on a plane), you'd need to provide similar documents, such as a passport or birth certificate, and proof of a name change, if applicable. 

It’s already the law for voters to attest to citizenship (under penalty of perjury). This bill simply adds another layer of proof, which seems a perfectly reasonable way to further safeguard our elections and make sure only U.S. citizens are casting votes.

Democrats love to say that noncitizen voting never happens, but it does. 

Americans also overwhelmingly support having a voter ID requirement. According to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey, 83% of Americans support showing a government-issued photo identification to vote. That includes 95% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats. 

Puzzlingly, that broad support hasn’t stopped Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, from saying some inflammatory things about the legislation. 

During an interview with MS NOW, when asked about the popularity of voter ID, even among Democrats, Schumer said this: “It’s Jim Crow 2.0. ... This is vicious and nasty. And I said to our Republican colleagues, it will not pass the Senate. You will not get a single Democratic vote in the Senate.”

Trying to frame this as a GOP attack against minorities falls flat, however, when you consider that “at least seven-in-ten adults across racial and ethnic groups favor requiring … photo identification requirements” for voting, Pew found. Among Black voters, 76% support voter ID. (Plus, Schumer in the 1990s was a proponent of ID checks to prevent welfare fraud among illegal immigrants.)

The scare tactics trying to make it sound like the bill would disenfranchise married women are similarly silly – and false. 

Democrats keep getting on the wrong side of 80-20 issues

The latest feigned horror among the left at securing our elections made me think of their similar outrage over ensuring that boys don’t play on girls’ sports teams. 

Much like with voter ID, most Americans – 79%, according to a New York Times poll from 2025 – don’t think transgender women should compete in women’s sports.

This was an issue that Trump ran on in 2024 and has followed through on as much as he can, without the help of Congress. 

A year ago, House Republicans passed a bill that would prohibit federally funded schools from allowing transgender athletes to play in women’s sports. 

Yet, much like the voting bill, it faced Democratic opposition in the Senate. And Democrats blocked it.

The inability of Democrats to read the country’s mood is a big part of why they lost in 2024 – and it could hurt them in November's midterm elections, too. 

Will they ever learn?

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques