Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Tuesday appeared to shut down further talk of using the talking filibuster to push through the SAVE America Act, a key voter ID bill that President Donald Trump has endorsed.

“The votes aren’t there, one, to nuke the filibuster, and the votes aren’t there for a talking filibuster. It’s just a reality,” Thune told reporters. “I’m the person who has to deliver sometimes the not-so-good news that the math doesn’t add up, but those are the facts and there’s no getting around it.”

His comments come after weeks of pressure from members of the House, Senate, and GOP influencers demanding that he use the procedural mechanism to force the legislation past a Democratic filibuster.

His decision, moreover, could have implications for the Texas Senate race. After Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and state Attorney General Ken Paxton reached a runoff last week, Paxton offered to drop out in Cornyn's favor should he pressure Thune and other Republicans to get the SAVE Act passed.

Trump himself has called on the Senate to send the bill to his desk and even threatened to withhold his signature from any bill until the chamber did so.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.