Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna is advancing a strategy to pass the SAVE America Act, a voter identification bill championed by former President Donald Trump, by attaching it as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA is scheduled for consideration in the Rules Committee on Monday, with Luna indicating her amendments are expected to be publicly available by Monday afternoon.
This move comes shortly after Trump urged hardline Republicans to end legislative obstructionism. Last week, Trump had previously suggested that the SAVE Act should not derail other Republican priorities, following a meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson. Trump had publicly stated his refusal to sign a landmark housing bill unless the SAVE Act was passed, a stance that appeared to shift after his meeting with Johnson.
Luna, however, described the legislative process as "how the sausage is made," suggesting that attaching the SAVE Act to a must-pass bill like the NDAA is a pragmatic approach to ensure its passage. "My task for this week is to get this done on behalf of the American people, literally an 80-20 issue," Luna stated.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who met with Trump at the White House on Thursday, confirmed the renewed legislative effort. He explained the strategy to attach the SAVE Act to a "reconciliation bill" to circumvent the need for 60 votes in the Senate, a hurdle that has previously hindered its progress. Johnson noted that the bill, which requires proof of citizenship for voter registration and an ID at the ballot box, passed the House multiple times but faces Democratic opposition in the Senate.
Johnson had previously addressed Luna and other Republican colleagues, emphasizing the importance of not halting legislative progress due to Senate Democrats' refusal to advance certain measures. The SAVE America Act, in its current form, requires identification such as a passport, birth certificate, or REAL ID, excluding student IDs and utility bills. Its previous iterations required 60 votes for Senate passage, a threshold that proved difficult to meet given the chamber's dynamics.