Senate Republicans are planning for days of marathon sessions as they try to put Democrats on defense over their controversial elections bill backed by President Donald Trump.

The strategy, described by two aides granted anonymity to comment on private deliberations, is emerging after GOP leaders signaled they will bring the SAVE America Act to the Senate floor next week.

But it will fall short of the “talking filibuster” that some hard-line conservatives want to force. That’s because leaders are still expected to move to curtail debate at some point by invoking existing Senate rules and setting up a vote at 60-vote margin — meaning it will fail given the opposition from Democrats and even some Republican senators.

Even so, GOP senators are preparing for a lengthy debate that is expected to stretch at least past the end of next week. The strategy could include scheduling overnight sessions and forcing Democrats to stay on the floor to prevent any Republican from calling a final vote on the bill.

Republicans are also preparing amendments that would reflect Trump’s expanded vision for the legislation to include banning transgender women from participating in women’s sports and prohibiting gender-affirming surgery for children.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday that Republicans are also talking through how to address Trump’s broad opposition to mail voting.

Many Republicans represent states that have long offered no-excuse mail voting, something Trump has railed against in recent statements.

“I understand his passion,” Thune said, suggesting Republicans would focus on “ballot harvesting” instead. “We’re working through what that actual proposal might look like and to address what I think is the real problem.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Wednesday suggested that the Justice Department should admit it made a mistake by launching an investigation related to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Asked by reporters about a potential off-ramp to his objections to moving any Fed nominees — including President Donald Trump’s pick for chair, Kevin Warsh — until the DOJ probe is resolved, Tillis responded: “I’m not going to try and help them out of a box canyon.”

“There’s one way out of a box canyon,” he added. “It’s admitting you made a mistake.”

The Justice Department issued subpoenas in January to the Fed, probing Powell’s statements to Congress about the central bank’s headquarters renovations. The probe was revealed by the Fed chair himself in an unprecedented video message where he accused the administration of using the investigation to pressure him to lower interest rates. Tillis has expressed similar fears.

“You got seven witnesses at this alleged scene of the crime — Republican members of the Banking Committee, including the chair, who said no crime was committed,” Tillis said. “What part of this is not reaching the point of the absurd?”

The senator also said in a post on X that he was awaiting clarification from the D.C. District Court, an apparent reference to an effort by the Fed to challenge the subpoenas. Typically, pre-indictment grand jury proceedings remain sealed.

Tillis said it was his hope that the issue would be resolved in time for Warsh to be confirmed to take over as Fed chief when Powell’s term ends in May.

He met with Warsh on Tuesday and said in his post that, “He possesses impeccable credentials and a clear vision for maintaining the Fed’s independence while achieving its dual mandate. It is unfortunate that an ongoing investigation prevents me from voting.”

Connor O’Brien and Kyle Cheney contributed to this report.

DORAL, Florida — House GOP leaders discussed trying to attach military aid to a party-line policy package during a closed-door meeting Tuesday afternoon, according to three people granted anonymity to share details of private conversations.

Speaker Mike Johnson and his team are weighing a variety of options, including the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process, to pass some or all of the tens of billions of dollars in funding they expect the Pentagon to request in the coming days to assist in the U.S. conflict with Iran.

The leadership meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the House GOP policy retreat in Florida this week, comes as Republicans are still weighing whether they can even muster the votes for another megabill given their razor-thin margins and the tight window in which to legislate during an election year.