Republicans wish this Trump-backed bill would die — but it keeps coming back

Aggressively promoted by President Donald Trump, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (AKA the SAVE America Act or SAVE Act) is drawing strong criticism not only from Democrats, but from some GOP lawmakers as well. Four Senate Republicans, in early June, joined Democrats in voting against advancing the bill: Maine's Susan Collins, North Carolina's Thom Tillis, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky). But according to NOTUS reporter Al Weaver, the SAVE America Act refuses to die — even though some Republican lawmakers wish that it would.

"The SAVE America Act just won't go away for Senate Republicans, no matter how many times they think it's dead and gone," Weaver reports in NOTUS. "Republican lawmakers have been locked in a monthslong battle over the conservative voting bill as it has become evident they don't have the votes in the upper chamber to pass the bill, no matter the avenue. This has left members miffed — they want to finally turn the page, but are again faced with a zombie."

If it became law, the SAVE America Act would require voters to prove that they are U.S. citizens. Regular state-issued driver's licenses would not be enough to prove citizenship; voters would have to present another document as well, such as a U.S. passport or a birth certificate. But critics of the bill are noting that many Americans don't own passports and that millions of married women would lose their right to vote, as their married names likely differ from the names on their birth certificates.

A Senate Republican, interviewed NOTUS on condition of anonymity, said of the SAVE America Act, "It just keeps coming back. It's like the 'Night of the Living Dead'…. There is a frustration. It's not just the president. We have other members who keep pushing this when they know.… we don't have the votes. I don't know how you can be more clear than that. I don't know why they keep pushing something that's basically not possible."

Trump, Weaver observes, "tried to resurrect the issue last week by calling for it — alongside hundreds of billions of dollars in defense priorities — to be part of a third party-line budget reconciliation package."

Another Senate Republican, also interviewed on condition of anonymity, told NOTUS, "I don't know why they keep pushing something that's basically not possible. It doesn't get us votes. Literally, we lose votes with it."

On February 11, the SAVE America Act passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, 218–213, along largely partisan lines. Only one House Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), voted with Republicans. But the bill stalled after reaching the Senate.

A Senate GOP aide told NOTUS, "We agree on voter ID, but the bill Trump wants is far beyond that scope…. It's taken on a life of its own. It's not rooted in reality and it’s not rooted in what we can actually achieve."

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