Republicans Inch Closer to Salvaging the SAVE Act

The US House of Representatives on the evening of July 20 moved one step closer to voting on an appropriations bill that combines funding for the Iran conflict and aid for American farmers with elements of the SAVE America Act. The House Rules Committee shunted the bill toward the finish line, giving GOP efforts to enact certain election integrity measures a boost. There is still work to be done, however.

The Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act, commonly dubbed the SAVE America Act, faced a remarkable amount of resistance – and not just from Democrats. Why is the hesitancy on Capitol Hill remarkable? Because most voters, Republican, Democrat, and independent, support action on election security, including a voter ID requirement. Polls have indicated that this isn’t even a close call, with more than 70% of Democrat voters indicating they favor a voter ID rule.

Still, for whatever reason, some Senate Republicans have no stomach for protecting federal elections, it seems.

Workarounds to Rescue the SAVE Act

In response, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) devised a plan to stuff certain components of the SAVE America Act into budget reconciliation bills. This avoids what would be the impossible task of getting the bill through a Senate filibuster and the 60-vote threshold. Spending bills need only a simple majority to pass.

The bill in question is now expected to be put to a test vote on the House floor on July 21, with the real final vote coming as early as the following day, before it goes to the Senate.

Democrats, meanwhile, have kept up their attacks on election integrity measures. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) insists there is no need for tighter regulation of elections because there is no election fraud. He described it as “a phony issue that Donald Trump is creating,” despite the now considerable amount of evidence that thousands – and perhaps tens of thousands – of ineligible ballots have been cast in multiple previous elections.

Also, without evidence, Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) continue to claim that the SAVE America Act was created to suppress certain voting blocs – particularly black voters. No Democrat has yet explained what in the SAVE Act makes it harder for blacks to vote, beyond repeating the ridiculous claim that black people are not able to obtain government IDs.

Should the bill make it to President Donald Trump’s desk, it would mean $95 billion in new spending over 10 years.

Several Democrat-run states have refused to clean up their voter rolls – or even subject them to scrutiny. At the very least, that gives the public the impression that the political leaders in those states are fully aware that those rolls contain significant numbers of deceased individuals, names of people no longer living in those states, and perhaps even illegal aliens or others ineligible to vote. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has threatened to withhold federal funding from states not in compliance.