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4 hours ago
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Donald Trump threatened not to sign any bills until Congress approves the Save America Act, a curtailment of voting access.
The president, fixated on unsubstantiated claims that noncitizens are stealing US elections ahead of midterm elections that are expected to be bruising for Republicans, said on Truth Social Sunday that the Save America Act “must be done immediately” and “supersedes everything else”.
“MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE. I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed, AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION – GO FOR THE GOLD,” he wrote.
He laid out a list of what he wanted in the bill, much of which is not currently in the proposal: showing voter ID and proof of citizenship, banning mail ballots except for a few instances, and, unrelated to voting, a ban on transgender people participating in women’s sports and gender-affirming surgeries for minors.
The White House previously confirmed that Trump was pushing for measures to be added to the voting bill on trans issues. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said last week that Trump “added on some priorities” for the bill, including a ban on “transgender transition surgeries for minors”.
“We are not gonna tolerate the mutilation of young children in this country. No men in women’s sports,” she said. “The president putting all of these priorities together speaks to how common sense they are.”
The Save America Act is a rebranded name for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or the Save Act, a bill that has been circulating through Congress in some version for more than two years.
The US House passed the bill earlier this year, but it faces steep odds in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to move forward because of the filibuster rule. Republican senators will face heavy lobbying to lift the filibuster to advance the act. Already, Ken Paxton, a Republican contender for US Senate in Texas who is facing a heated runoff with John Cornyn, said he would consider dropping out of his race if leaders in the Senate agreed to lift the filibuster for the Save America Act, though it’s not clear how his dropping out relates to the bill’s machinations in Congress.
In the lead-up to the 2026 midterms, Trump has suggested that the US government should federalize elections, which are run by state and local jurisdictions of all political backgrounds across the country. An executive order he issued that attempted to enact many of the Save Act’s provisions has largely been blocked by the courts. In early February, he suggested Republicans should “take over” and “nationalize” elections in 15 states to protect the party from being voted out of office.
Among the provisions of the Save Act: a requirement to provide documented proof of US citizenship to register to vote (such as a passport or birth certificate); a voter ID requirement for casting a ballot; a prohibition on states registering people to vote unless they provide such documentation at the time of registration; requirements for states to ensure only US citizens are registered; an allowance for private parties to sue election officials if anyone registers to vote without presenting documentary proof of citizenship, as well as potential criminal penalties.
The bill also directs states to turn voter rolls over to the Department of Homeland Security for citizenship verification. The justice department has sought access to voter rolls in many states, including filing lawsuits in some.
Voting rights advocates have said the bill would effectively prevent millions of Americans from voting – only about half of people have a valid US passport, and other documents, like birth certificates, may not match up with people’s names. They have called attention to impacts on married women who changed their names whose documents may not be updated, saying the act could cause additional hurdles to voting for them.
“The SAVE Act would disenfranchise Americans of all ages and races, but younger voters and voters of color would suffer disproportionately,” the Brennan Center for Justice wrote in February.
It would also make voter registration onerous and hinder voter registration drives, which often utilized mail-in forms. To sign up for mail ballots, people would still need to present proof of citizenship in person.
A few states have passed proof of citizenship laws for their elections, though they look different in each state. The Save Act would supersede those requirements for federal elections.
Voting by noncitizens is incredibly rare, but has remained a pet issue for Republicans, and Trump, for years. In many instances when states have attempted to find troves of noncitizens on their voter rolls, they have instead snared eligible voters, including naturalized citizens.
The Bipartisan Policy Center said that “there is no evidence that attempts at voting by noncitizens have ever been significant enough to impact any election’s outcome”. It noted a recent example from Utah, where the state reviewed its voter registration list and found one instance of a noncitizen registering to vote, and none of noncitizens voting.
