SAVE Act: Necessary or Discriminatory?

Republicans are pushing for the inclusion of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act in the final funding package for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

SAVE Act: The SAVE Act is a bill that, if passed, would require voters in federal elections to show documentary proof of US citizenship to be registered. The bill passed the US House of Representatives in April but has since been stalled in the Senate.

Push For Inclusion: President Donald Trump approved a $1.2 trillion spending package on Tuesday, ending a partial government shutdown that began Saturday. The end of the shutdown, however, left out funding for DHS due to contention among lawmakers concerning immigration enforcement. Many House Republicans are calling for the inclusion and subsequent passing of the bill as a condition for supporting any DHS bill negotiated by Senate Democrats, following a compromise to remove it from the larger spending package to end the government shutdown on Tuesday.

Trump's Support: Trump also supported the inclusion of the legislation in the DHS funding package and called for elections to be "nationalized." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later explained that Trump was referring to the SAVE Act.

Jim Crow 2.0: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) condemned the act, saying in a post on X that it "is nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0" and that "it would disenfranchise millions of Americans." Schumer insisted that "every single Democrat will vote against any bill that contains it," adding that "Speaker Johnson should tell SAVE Act Republicans to stand down or else this shutdown will be on them." Schumer also called the Act "vicious and nasty," explaining that Republicans are trying to do "the same thing that was done in the South for decades to prevent people from voting."

Americans' Thoughts on Voter ID: Many polls showed that much of the US supports proposals requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification to vote. Pew Research showed 83% of Americans were in favor of the proposal. The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll showed that 71% support it, and a Gallup poll showed 84% support.

Americans Want Voter Integrity: Nicole Russell (Lean Right bias), writing opinion for USA Today (Lean Left), asked, "What's the point of having power in Congress if Republicans don't use it to pass legislation that the American people overwhelmingly support?" Russell added that "If Republicans won't bring the SAVE Act to the Senate floor, they should reconsider why they are lawmakers in the first place." Democrats' unwillingness to support this is something Russell said she "can't understand," explaining that "Americans must present a valid photo ID to travel on an airplane or even purchase alcohol," saying that "this should be a base requirement for election security." The Daily Caller (Right) said that Schumer "doesn't seem to care" that Americans want voter ID.

Chilling Recommendation: Jim Newell, writing opinion for Slate (Left), focused more on what was called Trump's "most recent rant about how Democrats cheat to win elections." Newell said that Trump's call for Republicans to "take over elections" and "nationalize the voting" is a "chilling recommendation." According to Newell, GOP lawmakers have either refrained from commenting or refused the idea outright, but have devised a third plan, saying they "were eager to talk about legislation that would greatly expand the federal role in elections." Pointing to the high public support from Americans over voter ID requirements, Newell said the SAVE Act is more than this, explaining that "it requires 'documentary proof of United States citizenship' in order to register to vote." The Act, Newell said, "applies drastic changes to solve a problem—voter fraud—that is vanishingly rare."

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