House Republicans on Wednesday passed the Save America Act by attaching it to a state department spending bill, marking the latest attempt to enact new voting restrictions demanded by Donald Trump. The combined measure passed largely along party lines, 217-209.
The Save America Act would ban mail-in ballots and impose new voter identification requirements for registration and casting ballots. The Trump administration argues it is necessary to prevent non-citizens from voting and combat election fraud, but voting rights advocates say there is no evidence of widespread tampering and warn it could disenfranchise eligible voters ahead of November's midterm elections.
The bill has no clear path through the Senate, where top Democrats oppose it and can use the filibuster to block its advancement. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reiterated that the act is “dead on arrival,” calling it a “ghost of Jim Crow.”
Trump has repeatedly pressured Congress to pass the legislation, disrupting the legislative agenda to underscore his demands. He tied its passage to a foreign surveillance law renewal and refused to sign a housing policy bill, which became law last week without his signature.
Conservative House lawmakers, led by Florida Republican Anna Paulina Luna, earlier blocked floor proceedings in protest of the lack of progress. They relented after backing Speaker Mike Johnson's plan to attach the bill to appropriations measures, which typically pass with bipartisan support.
Luna warned that if Senate Majority Leader John Thune strips the bill from the spending package, it would be a betrayal. “His state party should censure him and/or he should be primaried,” she said. The tactic raises the risk of a government shutdown later this year.
