WATCH: Democrats admit when they'd eliminate the filibuster as SAVE Act fight heats up

Trump wants Thune to blow up the filibuster or cancel the August recess until the SAVE Act passes, and suddenly a bunch of Democrats who have spent years insisting the filibuster is sacred are on camera admitting they'd nuke it themselves in a heartbeat if it served their interests. That's the actual story here. Not the SAVE Act itself, which just requires proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, something most countries on earth already do without controversy. The story is the tell.

Every time Republicans propose touching the filibuster, we get lectured about Senate tradition and minority rights and the fragile machinery of American democracy. Then a reporter sticks a microphone in front of a Democrat and asks the honest question, and the answer comes out fast: sure, we'd kill it too, if it were our bill. No hedging, no hand-wringing about precedent. That's not principle. That's a rule people love when it protects them and hate when it doesn't.

None of this means Thune should actually go nuclear on the filibuster. There's a real argument for keeping it intact precisely because power changes hands and today's convenient tool becomes tomorrow's weapon against you. But let's not pretend the other side is defending some noble institution. They're defending whatever gets them the outcome they want, and the SAVE Act fight just proved it on tape.

If Republicans do decide the recess needs to go until this bill gets a vote, fine. Voter ID for federal elections shouldn't be the hill anyone dies on to protect a Senate procedure that both parties treat as disposable the moment it's inconvenient.