Politics and views in the United States

Senate Republicans grapple with the SAVE Act as Democrats resist. A GOP-linked group funds Super PAC efforts in Democratic primary races, and U.S. – Iran ceasefire remains in flux.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Three out of four Americans, regardless of political party, want to make it easy to vote, hard to cheat.

That's what the House Pass Save America Act does, and the Senate needs to be willing to do the hard work to make sure that that happens.

Utah Senator Mike Lee is among Republicans trying to build public support for legislation to sharply limit mail-in voting and impose nationwide voter ID rules.

The House approved the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act in February, but it's been stalled in the Senate since.

Lee agrees with President Donald Trump that Republicans should abolish the filibuster to pass it.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says neither the bill nor the bid to change Senate rules have enough support because the SAVE Act is thinly disguised voter suppression.

This is this horrible thing, the SAVE Act, one of the worst, most anti-election democracy things that's ever been proposed.

They say it's, oh, it's all about ID, voter ID.

It's not.

They will remove 25 million people off the rolls.

Trump has stalled several important measures to try to force it through.

House conservatives, including Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna, are threatening to block a bipartisan housing bill the Senate just passed, unless it includes the SAVE Act.

The housing bill is up for a vote this week.

New federal election commission filings show a Republican-linked group is the sole funder for two super PACs that advertised heavily in recent Democratic primaries.

Real Change PAC and Lead Left spent more than $4.3 million in Texas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Nebraska, and Maine.

The conservative Americans PAC was founded three years ago and used the two front groups to back candidates viewed as less competitive.

U.S.-Iran negotiations are in doubt because of clashes in Lebanon, which for now seem paused.

Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz again if the U.S. doesn't stop Israel from attacking Hezbollah.

The White House pressure seems to have paused those clashes, but not before Trump threatened to resume strikes on Iran itself if Tehran doesn't rein in the powerful Lebanese militia.

Former President Barack Obama has said the U.S. may be worse off because of the Iran war.

Speaking at the opening of his presidential library in Chicago, he said the U.S. can't just bully the world.

We've learned that we can't solve every conflict or solve or stop every atrocity around the globe.

But at our best, the United States has been an undeniable force for good in the world.

President Trump accuses vandals of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, dumping in chemicals and contributing to algae blooms.

He says five have been arrested, but the pool may need to be drained again.

Trump granted a no bid multimillion dollar contract to a campaign donor to resurface and restore the pool.

It's still plagued by peeling paint and discolored by algae growth.

I'm Mary Sherman for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.