The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, President Trump’s signature election integrity legislation, appeared to fizzle out and die following a protracted battle in the Senate earlier this year. But a renewed push from the White House to attach the bill to must-pass legislation has given it fresh life – if Republican leaders can rally their caucus behind it.
The SAVE America Act closes glaring loopholes in election law to ensure that only eligible U.S. citizens can vote. The bill specifically requires documentary proof of citizenship – like a REAL ID, passport, or birth certificate – to register to vote; mandates that states verify citizenship status using available government databases and remove noncitizens from voter rolls; and establishes penalties for election officials who knowingly register ineligible voters, strengthening enforcement of federal voter eligibility laws.
Republicans passed the bill through the House, but it stalled in the Senate in March following a marathon floor session. The Senate filibuster rule requires that most legislation have at least 60 votes to pass, meaning that Republicans would need at least seven Democrats to cross the aisle and vote with them – a scenario that simply will not happen.
A group of GOP senators, led by Utah’s Mike Lee, had pushed for the Senate to adopt a “talking filibuster,” meaning that opposing senators would have to physically occupy and speak on the Senate floor to block passage of the bill. That strategy had the endorsement of the White House but not Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who claimed that there were not 51 votes to amend the filibuster rule.
Following the failed floor vote – a scene that many conservatives blasted as coordinated failure theater on the part of Senate Republican leaders – the SAVE America Act took a back seat to other pressing issues like Democrats’ shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security and the Iran conflict. It appeared that the bill was effectively dead, at least for the remainder of this Congress.
But that dynamic now appears to be shifting as President Trump ramps up pressure on GOP leaders to attach the SAVE America Act to must-pass legislation making its way through Congress. “Voter I.D., and Proof of Citizenship, must be approved, NOW,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post this past weekend. “Crooked Mail-In Voting must be stopped!!! PUT IT ALL IN THE HOUSING AND FISA BILLS. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
The two bills Trump is referring to will likely be the last pieces of major legislation passed before the midterm elections. With a Memorial Day recess and the annual August recess coming up, there are precious few legislative days left between now and November.
The “ROAD to Housing Act,” which limits institutional investor purchases of single-family homes, cuts some regulations, and creates new grants to encourage rehabilitation of dilapidated housing, currently has bipartisan support and is set to pass as soon as this week. If the SAVE America Act is attached, however, bipartisan support will collapse and the bill would take longer to clear the House. It would also run into the same filibuster problem in the Senate, and it is not at all clear that seven or more Democrats would vote for the SAVE America Act just to pass the housing bill.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reauthorization bill could be a more likely avenue for Republicans to put pressure on Democrats to allow passage of the SAVE America Act.
FISA, and specifically Section 702 of the law, has long divided both Democrats and Republicans. Section 702 allows for warrantless wiretapping of foreign individuals that often sweeps up Americans’ private data, but it must be continually reauthorized by Congress. With lawmakers deadlocked over reforms to the law in April, Congress passed a short-term extension that expires in mid-June.
With that deadline now rapidly approaching, it could present an opportunity for Republicans to jam Democrats and force their hand on the SAVE America Act. The intelligence community maintains that allowing FISA authorities to expire would present a serious threat to U.S. national security.
A third but more murky option could be yet another reconciliation bill before the August recess. The budget reconciliation process allows legislation related to federal spending to pass with a simple majority in the Senate.
Republicans are currently working on a reconciliation bill to fund immigration enforcement for the rest of Trump’s term, with the President setting a June 1 deadline. Given the expedited timeline, it would be virtually impossible to add the SAVE America Act at this late stage.
However, if that reconciliation bill can pass before June 1, it might be possible for Republicans to rally support for another bill by August. “I wouldn’t bet my house on it, and if it were your house I were betting on, I’d say, ‘Maybe,’” Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) told reporters when asked about it. “I hope that they’re right.”
But if Trump has proven anything over the course of his time in the White House, it’s that he has a knack for delivering the improbable and unexpected. Many observers, even some congressional Republicans, doubted that Republicans could pass the first reconciliation bill, Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” by the July 4 deadline last year, but they did.
A final yet-unknown factor could be the influence of the public and specifically the conservative base on Republican lawmakers. Groups like AMAC Action placed enormous pressure on GOP members to pass the SAVE America Act earlier this year and nearly succeeded in securing the necessary support to institute a talking filibuster to pass the bill.
A renewed effort now with Election Day looming could finally thrust the bill over the finish line and deliver a long-overdue victory for election integrity.
To learn more about AMAC’s efforts to pass the SAVE America Act and sign the petition urging Congress to pass this critical legislation, click HERE.
Shane Harris is the Editor-in-Chief of AMAC Newsline. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.
