House Speaker Mike Johnson said Republicans are considering a new reconciliation package to move the SAVE America Act after President Donald Trump declined to sign a housing bill until lawmakers act on the voter ID measure.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that Republicans may use a new reconciliation bill to advance the SAVE America Act, a major voter ID proposal that has stalled in the Senate.
Johnson made the comments after President Donald Trump canceled a signing ceremony for a housing bill that had passed both chambers of Congress with overwhelming support. Trump refused to sign the housing measure until lawmakers approved the SAVE America Act.
The voter ID bill has been blocked in the Senate by the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has so far declined to change the filibuster rules or remove the Senate parliamentarian in an effort to pass the legislation through reconciliation.
Johnson said Republicans are looking at a budget-related route that would link election integrity efforts to a federal grant program for states.
“[Y]ou have to put it on a reconciliation bill. We believe that if you create a grant program that ties it to reconciling the budget, and you allow blue states, if they come to their senses and they want to avail themselves of election integrity proposals and ideas and policies, they can draw down from a federal fund, and use those funds,” Johnson told reporters. “We’re willing to invest heavily in that, and House Republicans will put together a reconciliation bill, reconciliation 3.0, that will have that.”
Johnson also indicated that Trump wants lawmakers to make progress on the proposal.
The reconciliation process can allow certain budget-related legislation to pass the Senate with a simple majority, bypassing the usual 60-vote threshold. Republicans are now weighing whether a grant program tied to election-related funding could provide a pathway for the SAVE America Act to move despite Senate resistance.
The debate comes as Trump and House Republicans continue pressing for federal action on voter ID and election integrity measures, while Senate procedural barriers remain the main obstacle to final passage.
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