Trump’s SAVE America Act Heads Toward September Showdown as Midterms Approach

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s effort to overhaul federal election rules is heading toward another major confrontation in Congress as Republicans prepare to revive key provisions of the SAVE America Act when the Senate returns to Washington in September.

The legislation, formally known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship for federal voter registration and establish tougher identification requirements for voting.

A version of the measure passed the Republican-controlled House earlier this year, but the legislation has stalled in the Senate, where Republicans do not currently have the 60 votes normally required to overcome a filibuster.

Trump has made passage of the legislation one of his major election-integrity priorities ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The president spent weeks pressuring Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Republican senators to remain in Washington during August rather than leave for their summer recess without approving the measure.

That effort ultimately failed.

The Senate adjourned earlier this month without passing the SAVE America Act. Senators are scheduled to return September 14, setting up a compressed legislative battle less than two months before Americans vote in the midterms.

But Republicans have not abandoned the legislation.

Instead, GOP senators have discussed trying to advance portions of Trump’s election agenda through a new budget reconciliation package. Reconciliation is significant because qualifying legislation can pass the Senate with a simple majority rather than requiring 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Ron Johnson and other Republican senators discussed the strategy with Trump shortly before lawmakers departed Washington.

Under proposals being considered, Republicans could direct billions of dollars toward election-security measures and attempt to incorporate portions of the SAVE America Act dealing with citizenship verification and voter identification.

Whether those election provisions can legally survive the Senate’s strict reconciliation rules remains uncertain. Under the chamber’s Byrd Rule, provisions considered primarily policy changes rather than budgetary measures can be removed from reconciliation legislation.

That creates one of the biggest obstacles facing Republicans.

Trump has also urged senators to consider changing or eliminating the legislative filibuster if necessary to enact stronger election laws, but Thune and a number of Republican senators have resisted such a move.

The administration argues that requiring voters to establish citizenship when registering and provide identification when voting would strengthen public confidence in elections and reduce the possibility of ineligible voters entering federal voter rolls.

Federal law already prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections.

Critics of the SAVE America Act argue that requiring documentary proof of citizenship could make registration more difficult for eligible American citizens who do not readily possess documents such as passports or birth certificates.

The political fight is occurring as Trump simultaneously pursues election changes through executive authority.

On August 24, the Supreme Court allowed parts of a separate Trump executive order concerning mail voting to move forward after concluding that the states challenging the directive had not established standing at the current stage of the litigation. Other legal barriers remain, meaning that ruling did not itself enact the SAVE America Act or settle the broader constitutional fight over federal election authority.

The distinction is important: the SAVE America Act is still legislation pending in Congress and has not become federal law.

The approaching September session could therefore become decisive.

Republicans will have only a limited number of legislative weeks before the November midterms, and Trump has made clear that he wants Congress to act before voters head to the polls.

For the White House, the issue is straightforward: American elections should be limited to American citizens, and voters should be required to prove their eligibility.

For Senate Republicans, however, the challenge is turning that political objective into legislation capable of surviving both Senate procedure and almost certain legal challenges.

The SAVE America Act may have failed to reach Trump’s desk before the August recess, but the battle surrounding it is far from finished.

September is shaping up to be the next major test.