House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Sunday that House Republicans are preparing another effort to advance the SAVE America Act by including it in a budget reconciliation package, arguing that the approach offers the best chance of getting the legislation through the Senate and onto President Donald Trump’s desk.
Appearing on Fox News with host Shannon Bream, Johnson said election integrity remains a top priority for both House Republicans and the president, noting that the House has already approved the legislation multiple times.
“The president has that as a top priority, and so do I,” Johnson said. “We passed it three times in the House. We’re going to try one more time on a budget reconciliation bill, and I think that will be the way to get it through the Senate, and finally, to the president’s desk.”
Johnson described the House version of the SAVE America Act as the foundation of the election legislation Trump wants enacted.
According to the speaker, additional provisions sought by the president—including restrictions on mail-in voting with certain exceptions—could be included. However, Johnson said the central focus of the legislation remains requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote and requiring voters to present photo identification before casting a ballot.
He characterized those provisions as the bill’s core elements.
“That eliminates the problem, all the fraud and everything that everybody’s concerned about in our elections, particularly, frankly, in these blue states,” Johnson said.
Johnson also addressed recent comments from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who has pledged to challenge Republican leadership unless the SAVE America Act is attached to must-pass legislation in an effort to pressure the Senate into taking up the measure.
Last month, Luna wrote on the social platform X that she would block procedural rule votes allowing House business to move forward unless the legislation was attached to a larger bill, adding, “I don’t care who in this chamber hates me for it.”
Johnson downplayed any suggestion of conflict within the Republican conference, saying he and Luna ultimately share the same objective.
“Nobody’s mad at Anna, we all want the same thing,” Johnson said. “She’s a team player, she’s a good friend of mine. We’re going to get this done, and I reminded her when she said herself, you know, we have done this in the House now three times already. We’re going to do it again, and I’m going to put it in a reconciliation bill so that we can get it through the Senate.”
Luna has proposed attaching the legislation to the National Defense Authorization Act, legislation reauthorizing the nation’s intelligence authorities, or another party-line budget reconciliation bill.
Johnson acknowledged that the legislation’s biggest obstacle remains the Senate, where Republicans currently hold 53 seats.
He argued that attracting Democratic support for the bill is highly unlikely.
“There is zero chance, Shannon, that seven Democrats are going to help us on election integrity because, as the president, who says all the time, they count on this,” Johnson said. “I think some of them will allow for some cheating in elections because they can’t win on other policies.”
Democrats have strongly opposed the SAVE America Act, arguing it would amount to a return to Jim Crow-era laws and warning that it could disenfranchise women, Black voters, and college-age voters.
The legislation also faces skepticism from within the Senate Republican conference.
Last week, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the measure lacks a viable path forward without enough time to make changes to election laws before the upcoming midterm elections.
“Unless they do the work to get to the 60 votes, they know it’s dead, and so all this is theater,” Tillis told The News & Observer, a North Carolina newspaper.
Despite those concerns, Johnson said House Republicans intend to make another push for the legislation, expressing confidence that including it in a budget reconciliation package could provide a path to Senate approval and ultimately secure the president’s signature.
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