Which senators publicly declared their positions on the SAVE Act during floor debate in May 2025?

1. Alex Padilla — the visible floor blocker who publicly opposed the SAVE Act

Senator Alex Padilla (D‑Calif.) took a highly visible floor role in May, using procedural holds and floor remarks to block Republican attempts to pass the SAVE Act and framing the bill as a threat to millions of eligible voters; his office published multiple press releases documenting a May 1 floor block and a May 21 action that stopped Senator Mike Lee’s effort to pass the bill by unanimous consent and characterized the legislation as disenfranchising ^{[2] [1]}.

2. Chuck Schumer — party leadership denouncing the bill as voter suppression

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer publicly denounced the SAVE Act as an extreme voter‑suppression measure — calling it “noxious” and vowing Democratic unity against it — in floor remarks made at the end of April and amplified during the May floor fight, positioning himself and Senate Democrats as unified opponents who will insist on 60 votes to move the legislation ^{[3] [4]}.

3. Jack Reed — joining Democrats on the floor against SAVE

Senator Jack Reed (D‑R.I.) joined Padilla and other Democrats in May floor actions opposing the SAVE Act, participating in the public floor block events and statements that characterized the measure as part of broader Republican attacks on election integrity, according to Padilla’s May rollout of floor activity ^[2].

4. Mike Lee — Republican sponsor seeking unanimous consent

On the other side, Senator Mike Lee (R‑Utah) was publicly identified as the Republican trying to advance the bill on the Senate floor, including attempting to pass the SAVE Act by unanimous consent in May before Padilla blocked that move, an action reported in Padilla’s office statement and tied directly to the May floor standoff ^[1].

5. John Thune and GOP leaders — publicly committed to bringing the bill and signaling support

Senate Republican leaders signaled that the SAVE Act would come to the floor and that they backed advancing it; Majority Leader John Thune said he intended to bring a more restrictive version of the bill to the floor and discussed procedural tools to force debate, and press reporting captured Thune’s public statements that the Senate GOP would pursue the measure and consider rule maneuvers to overcome Democratic opposition ^{[5] [6]}.

6. Wider contours: who spoke and who remained publicly silent

Reporting shows the most explicit on‑the‑record floor declarations in May 2025 came from Padilla, Schumer and Reed opposing the bill and from Lee and GOP leadership (Thune) pushing to advance it ^{[1] [2] [3] [5] [6]}. Several other actors—House sponsors, outside groups and some Senate Republicans—pressed for a vote via public statements and advocacy, but the sources provided do not comprehensively enumerate every senator’s floor remarks in May; beyond the cited names, the record in the provided reporting does not establish additional senators making on‑the‑record floor declarations during that month ^{[7] [8]}.

7. What the public declarations meant politically and procedurally

The public exchanges in May signaled both partisan opposition and GOP intent to force a vote: Democrats framed the SAVE Act as a voter‑suppression measure and used floor procedure and public statements to block or slow it, while Republican leaders publicly committed to bringing the bill up and exploring procedural strategies (including a standing filibuster) to overcome Democratic resistance and secure consideration ^{[1] [2] [3] [5] [6]}. The available reporting shows an active floor fight but does not provide a full roll‑call of who spoke during every minute of debate, so the named senators represent those explicitly documented in the provided sources ^{[1] [2] [3] [5] [6]}.