John Thune

Are you being paid by...

We don't have the votes either to proceed, get on a talking filibuster, nor to sustain one if we got on it.

But that is just a function of math.

And there isn't anything I can do about that.

I mean, I understand the president's got a passion to see this issue addressed, as we all do.

Does he understand that, though?

Well, we've conveyed that to him, but we'll continue to make that argument because I think it's important that everybody understand that this really is about the votes.

It's about the math.

And for better or worse, I'm the one who has to be the clear-eyed realist about what we can achieve here.

And so we'll continue to convey that.

We're going to have a fight on the floor.

We're going to vote on this.

We're going to put it out and we'll give the Democrats the opportunity to cast their vote on whether or not they think non-citizens ought to vote in American elections.

And so that debate will happen.

But like I said, I can guarantee the debate.

I can guarantee a vote.

I just can't guarantee an outcome.

I think there are a lot of there are a lot of optimistic views about what Democrats may or may not do.

We all know because we deal with them every day.

that the Democrats are not all of a sudden going to decide that this is something they want to be for.