President Donald Trump said on July 7 that Congress should prioritize the passage of a $350 billion defense package, alongside the proposed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which would affect voter registration.
“I am calling on House and Senate Leadership to make this their Number One Priority, and ensure that 350 Billion Dollars in Recon 3.0 moves out of the Budget Committee as soon as Congress is back in session,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social, referring to an effort that he called “Reconciliation 3.0.” “The SAVE AMERICA ACT, which everyone is asking for, paired with the full funding of our Great Department of War, can be passed very quickly, ensuring that the United States of America stays FREE for Generations to come.”
A budget reconciliation bill is a legislative tool that Congress can use to speed up the passage of debt limit, spending, or taxing bills. Reconciliation also allows the Senate to bypass the legislative filibuster rule and use a simple 51-vote majority to pass a measure.
Trump said that the U.S. military has remained the world’s most powerful, but he also said, “We need to keep it that way, which is why, when Congress returns, we must pass Reconciliation 3.0, with 350 Billion Dollars for Defense, plus THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.”
The SAVE Act would require all applicants using the federal voter registration form to provide documentary proof of citizenship in person at their local election office. Among the acceptable documents are a valid U.S. passport and a government-issued photo ID card that is presented alongside a certified birth certificate.
On July 5, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told Fox News that the GOP will try to pass the SAVE America bill again through the budget reconciliation bill.
“The president has that as a top priority, and so do I,” Johnson said in the interview. “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.”
Trump’s suggestion comes more than a week after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from enforcing part of an executive order he signed last year that would require proof of citizenship to vote in elections.
Judge Denise J. Casper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts wrote on June 24 that federal law and the Constitution do not give power to a president to manage elections.
“Our Constitution vests control over federal elections in the States, subject to some oversight by Congress,” Casper wrote. “While the Constitution vests the President with ‘executive power’ and commands him to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,’ it does not grant the President any specific powers over elections.”
