President Donald Trump announced he will not sign any other bills into law until the Senate passes the SAVE America Act, also called the Save America Act or SAVE Act. The bill, which passed the House of Representatives in February, would require voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote. This ultimatum sets up a high-stakes confrontation in Congress as other legislative priorities are put on hold.
The SAVE America Act lacks the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster and pass in the Senate due to Democratic opposition. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said there is not enough support in the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act or to eliminate the filibuster for it. Senate Republicans plan to hold an extended debate on the SAVE America Act for a week or more to appease Trump and make Democrats defend their position.
We don't have the votes, either to proceed [to] a talking filibuster nor to sustain one if we got one. That's just a function of math. There isn't anything I can do about that.
Trump has urged Senate Republicans to terminate the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act. Trump wants the Senate version of the SAVE America Act to include additional measures not in the House-passed version, such as bans on mail-in voting with exceptions for military, illness, disability, and travel, bans on transgender surgeries for minors, and bans on transgender women playing women's sports.
Some Republicans, such as Senator Thom Tillis, oppose banning mail-in voting. Democrats are uniformly opposed to the SAVE America Act, arguing it would disenfranchise millions of voters who lack easy access to required documents.
We're going to have the fight on the floor. We're going to vote on this. I can guarantee the debate, I can guarantee the vote, I just can't guarantee an outcome.
There is no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud, including noncitizen voting, in American elections. Noncitizen voting is vanishingly rare; for example, a 2024 audit in Georgia found only 20 registered noncitizens out of 8.2 million voters, with 9 casting ballots. The Heritage Foundation found 1,620 instances of voter fraud since 1982, with nearly 1,400 resulting in criminal convictions.
Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration to compile a national voter file of verified U.S. citizens and restrict mail-in ballots. The executive order on voter files and mail-in ballots is likely unconstitutional, as the president has no authority over elections, which are set by states.
Not realistic.
A partial government shutdown has left the Department of Homeland Security without funding, causing TSA agents to work without pay and leading to long security lines at airports. Trump has deployed ICE agents to major airports to assist with security, such as queue management and crowd control, not immigration enforcement.
Trump urged Republican senators to stay in Washington over the Easter recess to pass the SAVE America Act and fund the Department of Homeland Security. Senate Majority Leader John Thune dismissed Trump's proposal to tie voter ID to Homeland Security funding as "not realistic."
You're talking about the need to table what are going to be numerous amendments and an ability to keep 50 Republicans unified pretty much on every single vote, and there's just not, there isn't support for doing that at this point.
Republican leadership has largely dismissed Trump's strategy of tying voter ID to Homeland Security funding. Thune's blunt assessment highlights the internal GOP resistance to Trump's demands, even as the president continues to pressure lawmakers.
It remains unknown whether Senate Republicans will actually stay in Washington over the Easter recess to work on the SAVE America Act and DHS funding. The exact number of Republican senators who support eliminating the filibuster to pass the bill is also unclear, adding to the uncertainty surrounding its prospects.
As I've said, and we will get on it and we will have a vote on the Save Act.
Further unknowns include how the Trump administration plans to implement the executive order on voter files and mail-in ballots given constitutional and logistical challenges. The specific impact of the SAVE America Act on voter turnout and disenfranchisement if passed is also uncertain, as estimates vary between parties.
Whether a compromise will be reached on DHS funding before the Easter recess to alleviate airport delays and unpaid TSA workers is another key unknown. As the standoff continues, the fate of both the SAVE America Act and DHS funding hangs in the balance, with significant implications for election law and government operations.