On the House Rules Committee, the GOP-led committee voted 8-4 on Monday to include the SAVE America Act in a much larger $95 billion spending bill that includes defense spending and financial aid for U.S. farmers. The vote is now headed to the floor later this week.
The committee vote was necessary to use budget reconciliation for final passage, since the bill has stalled in the Senate where Democrat opposition and a slim GOP majority has held it up after passing the House.
The bill, supported by President Donald Trump, would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and a photo ID to cast a ballot in federal elections.
Democrats in Congress are angrily denouncing the bill as “voter suppression” and compare it to Jim Crow-era laws, but Republicans have long suspected Democrats depend heavily on cheating — such as ballot harvesting and dead voters miraculously casting a ballot — to win elections and defeat Republican candidates.
Opposition from Democrats is not surprising but Sen. John Thune, the Senate Majority Leader, has been accused by some conservatives of failing to get behind the bill and to whip votes for its passage.
Before the Monday committee vote, President Trump told Republicans to “get AS MUCH of THE SAVE AMERICA ACT as possible in a Budget Bill, along with aid to our incredible Farmers, and funding for our Military."
Interviewed on “Washington Watch” before the Monday vote, Speaker Johnson said he told Thune the House will send an “irresistible” bill that every Republican in the Senate can support, since it includes defense spending and help for struggling farmers.
“I think they’ll pass that and get it to the President’s desk,” Johnson told show host Tony Perkins.
Regarding any GOP opposition in the Senate for the bill, Johnson said there is concern the spending bill will be too "wide open" and it will collapse from too many spending requests. That issue has been addressed in the House, he advised.
"We worked really hard to keep this as a skinny reconciliation bill by necessity," the Speaker said, "because that's what's necessary to get it passed."
Looking ahead to final passage in both chambers, Johnson predicted it will be sent to Trump's desk by the end of August or early September.
