The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, also known as the SAVE America Act, requires proof of citizenship to register to vote and identification to vote at a local precinct.
It has twice passed the House but is currently blocked by a filibuster in the Senate. It has failed twice in 2026, April 23 and June 4, when components of it were presented as an amendment to budget reconciliation bills. Both votes were 50-48 with Republicans Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) and Thom Tillis (North Carolina) joining Democrats in opposition.
An interesting twist currently is whether McConnell would be around to vote against a measure including parts of the SAVE Act. The Kentucky senator is currently away on medical leave.
The budget reconciliation process allows the majority party to pass legislation without facing the Senate veto that currently stalls the SAVE Act.
But reconciliation requires that any such legislation deal strictly with spending issues. The SAVE Act does not, and the Senate parliamentarian has previously ruled the complete piece of legislation ineligible for the reconciliation process.
Parliamentarian is an advisory position. Republican Senators could vote to ignore the advice, but traditionalists fear the precedent that would set.
“People want to put something like that (SAVE Act) in there. I’m not going to oversell it. Eventually the determination will be made by the parliamentarian as to whether that is something that belongs in a reconciliation package,” Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wisconsin) said on “Washington Watch” Monday.
There’s been no indication that Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, appointed by Democrat Harry Reid in 2012, is ready to change her mind on the SAVE Act’s eligibility.
Still, it’s possible the Senate could vote to proceed with the SAVE Act as part of a reconciliation bill.
“Then each senator’s going to have to look at their own conscience as to whether we should do that,” Grothman told show host Tony Perkins.
Senators ignoring parliamentarian advice “would be a break from the past,” Grothman agreed, “but I don’t think we’ve ever had someone potentially as powerful as Donald Trump driving to get it done.”
One other SAVE Act avenue that has been discussed has been as an attachment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense spending bill.
Republicans are feeling the political pressure.
“I wouldn't say it's not a viable path because politicians like to get reelected, and I think a lot of the public is quite irate that we have kind of slapdash rules that we're conducting elections under in a lot of states,” Grothman said.
There likely will be a consolation prize available for Americans who want to prevent illegals from voting in federal elections.
“There will be some spending on encouraging states to have cleaner elections,” Grothman said.
“We may encourage states to adapt photo ID (at voting precincts). That is possible, but that’s a lot, I think, less than we want.”
