House Votes Against Adding SAVE Act to NDAA

The House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to reject the inclusion of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The vote ended with a count of 198 against it, while 224 voted in favor.

Among those who opposed it were several Republican representatives, including Anna Paulina Luna from Florida and Chip Roy from Texas. Interestingly, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise also cast a “no” vote, but his reasoning was procedural. This could pave the way for a new vote later, typically after some negotiations.

Representative Luna had put forth an amendment to integrate the SAVE Act with the NDAA, even suggesting that she might withdraw support from all rules votes unless her proposal found a place in the legislation. The House Rules Committee had moved forward with Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to connect SAVE America with the NDAA through a process called “MIRVing,” which essentially means bundling unrelated bills together.

Speaker Johnson addressed reporters afterward, remarking that there were indeed several Republican members who chose not to support the SAVE Act, pointing out that they initially passed it unanimously in February. He mentioned the need for these two pieces of legislation to merge as they approached the Senate together.

Luna expressed her frustration with this strategy, contending that the Senate would likely strip the SAVE Act from the overall package. She insisted that the only viable option was to include SAVE’s provisions directly in the NDAA.

“The current approach being suggested is just a procedural trick. It essentially allows the Senate to remove SAVE America easily,” Luna stated on social media. She urged House Republican leadership to either include specifics about voter ID and proof of citizenship or genuinely amend the NDAA.

After the voting concluded, Luna reiterated her belief that the SAVE Act relates to national security and should indeed be part of the NDAA. She indicated that she was willing to vote for the rules if her amendments on voter ID were accepted—something she found was ultimately denied.

Accompanied by Roy and a few other like-minded representatives, Luna threatened to withdraw support from any legislation coming from the Senate unless the SAVE Act got passed. A scheduled rules vote was postponed due to the refusal of the holdouts, according to a source familiar with the ongoing situation.

On a related note, Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern from Massachusetts introduced an amendment during a recent Rules Committee meeting aimed at removing the language linking SAVE America to the NDAA, but it was rejected by Republicans.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump postponed a signing ceremony related to the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act until the SAVE Act could be successfully passed. He urged Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster or find ways to attach the SAVE Act to other legislative proposals. Notably, Republican Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, and Mitch McConnell previously voted against integrating this bill into the Immigration Enforcement and Reconciliation Act signed into law a few months back.