Trump Calls for Senate to Stay in Town Until SAVE America Act Is Passed

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Senate Democrats will block the election integrity bill, calling it ‘dead on arrival.’

President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the East Room of the White House on July 16, 2026. Saul Loeb/Pool - Getty Images

President Donald Trump on July 27 called on the Senate to delay recess until it has passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) “should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes.”

As an alternate suggestion, Trump called on senators to terminate the filibuster.

“Republicans can then quickly pass everything they ever dreamed of, including a full and deep throated SAVE AMERICA ACT, the Budget, and the ever looming Debt Ceiling disaster, 1929,” he wrote.

Trump has pushed Republicans to pass the legislation for months, and it was approved by the House of Representatives earlier this year but was rejected by the Senate.

Thune has said he does not have the votes to pass it or to overturn the legislative filibuster so the bill could pass with a simple majority.

The proposed law would require proof of citizenship for new voter registrations and photo identification for voting. It would also restrict the use of mail-in ballots in some situations nationwide.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) responded in a July 27 post on X, saying: “It’s a new week in Washington, but one thing remains the same: The SAVE Act is dead on arrival in the United States Senate. It will not pass—not now, not ever.”

Democrats cite possible voter suppression as the main reason for their opposition.

Senate conservatives, such as Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), supported the president’s call for action before the August recess.

“No results, NO RECESS,” Scott said in a post on X. “Pass SAVE America NOW!”

Lee, who introduced the legislation, warned Thune in a post on social media this past week that he would “object to any effort to put the Senate into recess in August—at least until such time as the Senate has passed the SAVE America Act.”

Concerns Over Noncitizen Voting

The push to delay recess comes after days of headlines about noncitizens being registered to vote. On July 17, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin issued a news release saying that New Jersey and three other states—California, Pennsylvania, and Nevada—had more than 250,000 noncitizens registered to vote. He said New Jersey may have “as many” as 35,000 noncitizens on its rolls.

On July 21, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, announced that more than 6,600 noncitizens were registered to vote in her state because of an alleged software glitch and that “fewer than 400” had voted.

Earlier, Trump put off signing a federal housing bill on June 24, saying that the SAVE America Act had to pass first.

“[The] Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Congress had already passed the housing bill, and it later became law without Trump’s signature.

Trump said the housing bill “pales in comparison to passing the SAVE America Act.”

Many House conservatives have long pushed for House leaders to pressure the Senate to pass the bill.

Trump has marketed the bill as a “common sense” measure to require photo ID to register to vote and ensure that only eligible voters cast ballots.

Critics of the bill say that it would make it harder for Americans on both sides of the political aisle to vote, imposing strict rules that would require most Americans to have either a U.S. passport or a copy of their birth certificate to vote.

House conservatives have pushed for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to force Senate action on the issue.

Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate have vowed to oppose the bill, while its prospects with the upper chamber’s Republicans are unclear.

In view of these difficulties, Republicans are also pursuing passage of a grant-style program that would provide rewards for states that pursue programs similar to the SAVE America Act.