Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., detailed his rationale for refusing to support the SAVE Act in its current form despite acknowledging that voter ID requirements are not “unreasonable.”
“It’s needlessly complicated,” Fetterman said Monday on “Mornings with Maria.”
The Pennsylvania Democrat stressed that while he supports requiring identification to vote, he believes the House-passed bill goes further than necessary and fails to account for the security of existing voting systems, particularly mail-in ballots.
“I have said it’s not Jim Crow, and it’s not extreme things, but mail-in voting is absolutely secure,” Fetterman said. “Some of the best examples in the country are red states like Florida and Ohio.”
TRUMP VOWS BLOCK ON SIGNING NEW LAWS UNTIL SAVE AMERICA ACT PASSES SENATE
Sen. John Fetterman speaks to reporters outside U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works following an explosion at the plant in Clairton, Pa., on Aug. 11, 2025. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Fetterman pointed to Florida as a model, noting the state passed legislation similar in spirit to the SAVE Act while also affirming the integrity of mail-in voting.
“I would remind people watching [that] Florida just passed the essential version of the SAVE America Act, but they also said mail-in voting is absolutely secure, and that’s going to be part of us going forward,” he said.
Host Maria Bartiromo pressed Fetterman on the issue during the interview, noting that he had previously expressed openness to voter ID requirements and asking what would be needed to secure his support for the bill.
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Voters make selections at an early voting site on Oct. 17, 2024, in Hendersonville, N.C. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images / Getty Images)
“No one reached out to have more of a conversation… it is turning into more like [a] theatrical kind of thing,” he said.
“If [Republicans] want to have a real honest conversation, sure, absolutely, but overall, I refuse to engage in the extreme kind of rhetoric on either side…”
Fetterman also reminded viewers that requiring voter identification itself is not controversial among most Americans but argued the current legislation goes beyond that principle.
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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., joins ‘Mornings with Maria’ to discuss the DHS shutdown standoff and his break with Democrats over voter ID.
“It’s not a radical idea for Americans to provide ID, but that’s not what Save America is right now,” he said.
“And they’re attaching all of these other things that is a distraction to the core.”