By NewsOne staff
On Sunday, President Donald Trump posted on social media that he wouldn’t sign any more legislation unless Congress passes the SAVE America Act.
According to NPR, Trump took to Truth Social, demanding that the SAVE America Act “be done immediately” and “supersedes everything else.” While Republicans have tried to position the SAVE America Act as a simple voter ID bill, the changes the bill would make to voting would disenfranchise millions. The voter ID aspects would require a voter to provide two forms of ID that prove citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate. This could create problems for married women who could have a different name on their birth certificate than on their driver’s license.
The bill would also place a blanket ban on mail-in ballots except for military and people with disabilities. The GOP’s justification for all these changes is that it’s intended to prevent noncitizens from voting, despite all evidence showing that’s an incredibly uncommon occurrence. Trump and the GOP seem to think these changes will exclusively hurt Democrat voters, despite 1 in 3 voters using mail-in ballots.
“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. The Guardian reports that Trump also demanded new provisions be added to the bill that would ban transgender people from participating in women’s sports and gender-affirming surgeries for minors.
Trump is a deeply unpopular president, as more and more voters disapprove of his handling of the economy, the tactics employed by ICE in their mass deportation campaign, and the war in Iran, which is already having a pronounced, negative impact on the American economy. It was already looking like the Democrats would flip the House last year, which is why Trump pushed several red states to engage in mid-decade redistricting efforts. Several blue states, most notably California, began redistricting efforts of their own to neutralize the gains.
So now Trump is trying to make it that much harder to vote in the hopes that the GOP maintains its narrow majority in Congress. In addition to pushing for the SAVE Act, Trump has also called for the transfer of control over elections from states to the federal government. Several of Trump’s advisers are reportedly drafting an executive order that would declare a national emergency and allow the president to make changes to how elections are conducted.
While the SAVE America Act passed in the House, it’s facing significant pushback in the Senate, where it needs to clear a 60-vote threshold to pass. The GOP has only a 53-47 majority in the House, meaning several Democrats would need to vote for the bill. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has publicly stated that no Democrats will vote for the bill.
Additionally, a study by the Brennan Center found that 21.3 million Americans lack immediate access to proof of citizenship, meaning nearly a quarter of eligible voters could be disenfranchised. “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.
“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,” Schumer posted on X Sunday. “Senate Democrats will not help pass the SAVE Act under any circumstances.”
Tag: SAVE Act
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Newswire : President Trump refuses to sign bills until SAVE America Act passes
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Newswire : SAVE Act: A new weapon against Black and Brown voters
By Stacy M. Brown BlackPressUSA.com Senior National Correspondent
Since the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, Republicans have worked relentlessly to chip away at protections for voters — particularly Black Americans, other people of color, and women. Those efforts reached a fever pitch after Barack Obama’s historic victories in 2008 and 2012, which sparked what many observers say was the modern white supremacist movement and reignited GOP efforts to suppress the vote.
Now, with Donald Trump’s return to the White House and Republicans emboldened by a far-right agenda, the House has passed one of the most aggressive voter suppression bills in decades — the so-called SAVE Act, or “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act.” The legislation, passed by a 220–208 vote, would require in-person documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote — a move voting rights experts warn will disenfranchise millions of eligible voters, especially women and people of color. What’s more, four Democrats — Jared Golden, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Henry Cuellar, and Ed Case — broke ranks and supported the bill.
Trump, who once promised on the campaign trail that his supporters would never have to vote again, now appears to be halfway to delivering on that threat. The SAVE Act, introduced by Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, would amend the National Voter Registration Act to require in-person citizenship verification using documents such as a birth certificate, passport, or naturalization certificate. It would effectively end online and mail voter registration, severely restrict voter registration drives, and allow lawsuits against election officials who do not enforce the new rules.
Voting rights advocates say this would create enormous hurdles for poor people, rural residents, Black Americans, naturalized citizens, and the nearly 70 million women whose current legal names differ from those on their birth certificates due to marriage. “This is a dangerous and unnecessary attack on voting rights that could block millions of eligible citizens from voting,” said Molly McGrath, director of the ACLU’s national democracy campaigns. “This isn’t about protecting voters or our elections. It’s about politicians who want to protect themselves and pick and choose their voters. But that’s not how democracy works.”
Critics also point out that it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections — a crime punishable under law. Federal law mandates that registrants swear under penalty of perjury that they are citizens. Noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare, and courts have repeatedly blocked states from adding proof-of-citizenship requirements in federal races. The ACLU condemned the bill, citing its resemblance to a now-defunct Kansas law that purged more than 30,000 voters before it was struck down in federal court. The group urged the Senate to reject the measure, which they say would destabilize election administration and disproportionately impact naturalized citizens, Native American voters, first-time voters, and those with limited access to personal documentation.
The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) also slammed the legislation. “The SAVE Act erects a discriminatory barrier to the ballot while pretending to ‘solve’ a problem that does not exist,” said Janai S. Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of LDF. “Its true purpose, rooted in fear of the multiracial democracy the United States can and must become, is to limit access to the ballot and stifle the political power of our increasingly diverse electorate.” Under the bill’s provisions, rural residents without access to government offices, married women whose identification does not match their birth certificates, and young voters without driver’s licenses would face some of the steepest barriers to registration.
Studies show that only half of all Americans — and just one-third of Black Americans — hold valid U.S. passports. Nearly half of all Black Americans under 30 do not have a driver’s license with their current name and address. “The SAVE Act would cause nothing but harm to Black communities, rural communities, and so many others who would be stripped of their right to vote if it becomes law,” Nelson said.
The law’s potential effects extend beyond individuals. Voter registration drives, which have long played a crucial role in expanding access to the ballot in marginalized communities, would be all but destroyed. And with racial turnout disparities widening over the last decade, advocates say the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Rep. Joe Morelle of New York, the ranking member of the House Administration Committee, denounced the bill. “My Republican colleagues crafted and passed one of the most damaging voter suppression bills in modern history. There’s no doubt that women, military members, and people of color will be disproportionately impacted,” he said. “The fight to stop this bill — to protect Americans’ sacred right to vote — is not over. I will do everything in my power to ensure every eligible American has access to the ballot box.”
The Senate’s path forward on the SAVE Act remains uncertain. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has introduced a companion bill with 20 Republican co-sponsors. However, Senate Republicans would still need at least 60 votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster and send the bill to Trump’s desk.