With only three weeks of legislative business left on Congress’s calendar before the election, Capitol Hill has to be creative if they’re going to pass everything on their agenda in that short amount of time. To that end, in a sleight of political gamesmanship, Speaker Johnson is attempting to shepherd a necessary government spending bill through the House of Representatives with an important election integrity measure attached to it.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE Act, was introduced earlier this year by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas 21st) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). Since 2021, over 4.6 million illegal immigrants have been released into the country. Many jurisdictions allow them to obtain driver’s licenses, healthcare, and even vote in local elections. While several states have taken steps to tighten the security of their elections, other locales have, unfortunately, done the opposite. The most recent to do so is the nation’s capital itself, Washington, D.C., which passed a bill in June allowing noncitizens to vote in all non-federal elections.
The SAVE Act would require all states to take the commonsense measure of ensuring that registered voters are American citizens. It would bar any illegal immigrant or foreign national from voting in elections, both federal and local, in the United States. It would also require states to remove non-citizens from their voter rolls. In August, Virginia removed 6000 noncitizens from its voting rolls; the SAVE Act would ensure that every state took up a similar initiative.
The issue with the SAVE Act is not any part the bill itself, but that election reform is a highly partisan issue. Proof of this is that when the House tried to pass the SAVE Act in July, 198 Democrats voted against this extremely basic election integrity measure. With a Democrat-controlled Senate, it has almost no chance of making it to the President’s desk if voted on as a standalone bill.
Speaker Johnson is gambling that it can be passed if it is attached to a must-pass government funding bill. Over the weekend, the Speaker announced that “House Republicans are taking a critically important step to keep the federal government funded and to secure our federal election process. Congress has a responsibility to do both, and we must ensure that only American citizens can decide American elections.”
The bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), would extend current funding levels for the government for six months until March 28. If a funding bill is not passed this month, Congress faces a temporary government shutdown. Although members from both parties have criticized the CR for not including either additional spending or budget cuts, those objections are unlikely to overcome the usual reticence that all legislators have to trigger a shutdown. Which means that the most likely path forward is for the House to vote on this CR with the SAVE Act attached, ensuring that the SAVE Act passes.
All of this is mere conjecture, however. While the vast majority of Americans believe that immigration is a substantial problem and that elections must be secured, the likelihood of Congress passing anything so reasonable can never be assumed, particularly in an election year with so many moving political parts. At Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC), we pray that members of Congress would unite around the cause of ensuring that only Americans can vote in American elections and for the prudence and wisdom of our leaders to get such important measures passed.