Several Republicans have called on their colleagues to support attaching bills to protect elections and require proof of citizenship to a vote on a stopgap spending measure scheduled for late next month.
Prominent conservative senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) wrote on X this week that legislation requiring proof of citizenship before registering to vote in federal elections should be tied to an extension to spending bills to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year.
“There are not enough arguments against attaching the SAVE Act to the September spending bill,” Lee said in one of several posts promoting the idea.
Harris was “positive” about adding seats to the Supreme Court during the 2019 presidential election.
Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee called for the bill to be included in a stopgap spending measure. (Reuters)
Other Republican senators, including Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, also voiced their support for the bill, known as the Protect American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE), in posts on X. But they stopped short of calling for the measure to be taken up as part of a continuing resolution to extend current spending bills.
“The State of Texas announced it has removed more than 6,500 foreign nationals from its voter rolls, including nearly 2,000 who voted illegally in past elections. We cannot ignore this threat to our democratic process. Now is the time to pass my SAVE Act and stop illegal voting,” Scott said.
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A voter casts his or her ballot at a polling station in Fairfax, Virginia, on November 7, 2023. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The SAVE Act originally passed the House of Representatives 221-198 on a vote largely along party lines, with five Democrats breaking away to support the bill: Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), Jared Golden (D-MA), Don Davis (D-VA), and Marie Grussenkamp Pérez (D-WA).
Earlier this month, the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus said it wanted the bill included in next month's stopgap government spending package. If the SAVE Act isn't included in a continuing resolution, budget writers risk losing the Freedom Caucus' support and facing a possible government shutdown.
“The @HouseGOP must force this issue by attaching the SAVE Act to a 6-month funding bill before the September 30th funding deadline,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, wrote Thursday on X. Roy also criticized the Senate, led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), for refusing to bring the bill up for a vote on it alone.
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Vocal conservative lawmakers see the necessary spending measure as an opportunity to force a vote on GOP priorities backed by former President Trump, but a top GOP spending official has cast doubt on its inclusion.
“If it can't pass the Senate, it's not going to be an effective CR,” House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told reporters last month.
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The idea of tying the SAVE Act to a spending bill also doesn't have the support of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. A Senate Republican aide told Fox News Digital that keeping the government open and avoiding a shutdown is paramount to the Kentucky Republican.
It is worth noting that the Biden-Harris Administration is strongly opposed to the SAVE Act, and the President has stated that he will not sign it even if it passes.
“It is already illegal for foreign nationals to vote in federal elections and is a federal crime punishable by imprisonment and/or fines,” an administration policy statement from last month said.
The Trump campaign did not comment on whether the bill should be included in the spending package, but stressed its support for swift passage of the SAVE Act. The campaign pointed Fox News Digital to a Truth Social post from former President Trump last month that read, “Republicans either pass the SAVE Act or go home and cry yourself to sleep.”
