President Donald Trump on Sunday said he wouldn’t sign any legislation until the SAVE America Act, which would require voters to present a photo ID and provide proof of citizenship in order to cast their ballot in federal elections, is passed.
“I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed, AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION – GO FOR THE GOLD: MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. & PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS EXCEPT FOR MILITARY – ILLNESS, DISABILITY,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “DO NOT FAIL!!!”
Last week the White House pushed Congress to add multiple transgender policy provisions to the bill that would ban gender conversion surgeries for minorities and transgender participation on sports teams. On Sunday, Trump again demanded that the SAVE America Act include those provisions.
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The president has long pushed for greater voter identification requirements, citing ballots in Georgia he claims were improperly counted during the 2020 presidential election. Earlier this year, Trump’s Justice Department raided Georgia’s local election office and seized thousands of voter records.
The SAVE America Act,, which would require states to enforce a series of standardized voter identification requirements and limit the use of mail-in ballots, passed the House last month but has stalled in the Senate.
Election officials have reported the SAVE Act legislation could pose barriers to voter registration for college students, senior citizens, women who changed their names after getting married, Americans living abroad and those who were adopted. Voters already must be U.S. citizens to vote and the majority of states already require photo identification. Those that don’t cross-reference a voter’s personal information against existing records, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The bill has little to no Democratic support — and will not gain any as a result of Trump’s threat, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote in a statement Sunday.
“The SAVE Act is Jim Crow 2.0. It would disenfranchise tens of millions of people,” Schumer said. “If Trump is saying he won’t sign any bills until the SAVE Act is passed, then so be it: there will be total gridlock in the Senate.”
In a Sunday interview on Fox News, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said “there should be no pushback to any of the commonsense proposals in the SAVE America Act” — including the proposed anti-trans measures Trump is seeking to add.
The president in recent weeks has pushed Senate Majority Leader John Thune to use a talking filibuster to pass the bill, which would force Democrats to speak continuously on the Senate floor in order to delay a vote on the bill. Once Democrats cede the floor, Republicans could circumvent the 60-vote threshold and pass the legislation with 51 votes.
“Great Job by hard working Scott Pressler on Fox & Friends talking about using the Filibuster, or Talking Filibuster, in order to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, an 88% issue with ALL VOTERS,” Trump said in Sunday’s Truth Social post.
“It must be done immediately. It supersedes everything else,” Trump continued. “MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE.”
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