The inability to move on the SAVE America Act — which requires proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID to cast a ballot — caused House Speaker Mike Johnson get creative with the legislation this week.
The bill, twice passed by the House, remains chained by a Democrat filibuster in the Senate. Johnson sought to attach the SAVE America Act as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual military spending bill.
The effort failed Tuesday in a 224-198 rules procedural vote when 14 Republicans joined Democrats in opposition.
Some conservatives, including Florida Republican Anna Paulina Luna, voted against the plan because they believed the Senate would easily strip the SAVE Act from the merged package, while others objected to unrelated issues like pension restorations. Following the defeat, Johnson canceled remaining votes for the week and sent lawmakers home early for the Independence Day recess.
“A couple of the members, if you ask them why they voted no, they’ll say it was out of frustration from Senate Democrats refusing to do the will of the American people and work on election integrity,” Johnson said. “It makes no sense for us to stop our very important progress forward from House Republicans, because some Senate Democrats are refusing to do their job. That’s where we are. That’s the reality of it.”
Rep. John McGuire (R-Virginia), appearing on “Washington Watch” Tuesday, said the GOP’s version of the NDAA is vital to the protection of the country.
The SAVE America Act is also important.
“We need to restore faith and fairness in our elections. We need election integrity,” McGuire told show host Tony Perkins.
Because the NDAA is essential for funding and authorizing the Department of Defense and has historically passed every year for over six decades, it attracts a wide array of amendments that might not survive as standalone legislation.
Johnson has indicated that he’ll work to gain the votes and pass the rule then make another run at attaching the SAVE America Act to the NDAA, according to BorderReport.com.
“I think if you put 100 everyday Americans that are Democrats in a room, a majority of them would say, ‘yes, you should be a U. S. Citizen only to vote in a U. S. Election. I think they would also agree that you have to have a photo ID. Whether they're Democrat, Republican or independent, it is critical,” McGuire said.
The Fiscal Year 2027 NDAA is valued at $1.5 trillion. Far and away the most expensive in history, it’s a roughly 44-48% increase over the 2026 NDAA.
The bill includes approximately $1.1 trillion authorized through the standard NDAA process.
There’s an additional $350 billion requested via the budget reconciliation process (separate from the standard NDAA text) to fund specific priorities like munitions stockpiling, defense industrial base expansion and elimination of maintenance backlogs.
The Senate is preparing its own version, and the final dollar amount may shift during conference negotiations later this summer.
The new NDAA reflects continued work to stamp out woke defense policies of the Biden administration.
“There are more changes and more reforms. The big thing is the military should be merit-based. We’re looking at everywhere we can find it in the Department of War, and to give President (Donald) Trump credit, anywhere he can find it in the federal government,” McGuire said.
U.S. defense fell behind its enemies during the Biden years, he said.
“We were focusing on stupid, woke ideologies which go against our Christian values and are anti-American, and the Chinese were focusing on building more ships, more tanks, more airplanes.”
This NDAA gets the U.S. back on track, McGuire said.
“We have to have peace to strength, and when we’re strong, we have peace. When we’re not strong, we have war. We’ve got to do both, and we’re working hard.”
