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President Donald Trump posted on his favorite social media platform Monday morning, seemingly acknowledging that the entire SAVE America Act — the voter suppression bill he and his MAGA allies have been pushing Congress to pass — will not be in the third budget reconciliation bill Republicans are hoping to pass.
“Thank you to our Great Speaker, Mike Johnson, the House Budget Chairman, Jodey Arrington, and the members of the House Budget Committee … for launching an effort to get AS MUCH of THE SAVE AMERICA ACT as possible in a Budget Bill,” Trump posted on Truth Social Monday morning.
Trump’s post comes as House Republican leadership is gearing up for a floor vote this week on the budget resolution the House Budget Committee released and quickly advanced out of committee last week.
Because Senate Republican leadership has refused to cave to Trump’s demands around the SAVE America Act — he’s both directed Senate Republicans to change filibuster rules in order to pass the bill and suggested Senate Republicans should fire the Senate Parliamentarian — Republicans have, for months, been weighing whether to try to stuff some provisions of the voter suppression bill into another reconciliation package to appease him.
Fueled by Trump and his far-right MAGA allies’ singular obsession with passing the SAVE America Act ahead of the midterms, the budget blueprint includes instructions to put $10 billion towards election-related matters, among other things. That is not equal to the House-passed SAVE America Act or the beefed up version Trump has been pushing for that would implement a near total ban on mail-in ballots. The budget reconciliation simply does not allow Republicans to include anything in a reconciliation bill that is not related to the budget. Forcing states to change election administration rules mandating voters show proof of citizenship and photo ID in order to cast a ballot, just a few months out from the midterms, of course, has nothing to do with the budget.
So, House Republicans are hoping to include the next best thing in their upcoming party-line bill: create budget-related incentives using that $10 billion to try and encourage states to adapt their restrictive rules voluntarily. One option would involve including language in the bill that would effectively offer states federal grants to help them voluntarily implement their own restrictive rules.
Democrat-led states may opt out of those grants and avoid implementing those voter suppression rules Republicans are pushing for — making it impossible for the Trump administration to force the sweeping restrictions all across the U.S.
As Trump acknowledges the reality of what I described as SAVE America Lite over the weekend, it remains to be seen whether congressional Republicans can come together to even pass the budget resolution — the first step to starting the party-line budget reconciliation process.
The House is expected to vote on it this week and Trump is already making it clear to House Republicans that he wants this passed.
“I am asking all House Republicans to VOTE YES this week on the Budget Resolution, which is an important first step towards getting a Budget Bill. House Republicans must UNIFY, and fight for THE SAVE AMERICA ACT!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social post.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) wants the Senate to pass it on their end before their August recess.
“That’d be news to me,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said Thursday when asked about Johnson’s timeline.
On top of that, a host of Senate Republicans and leadership sources reportedly told Politico the House’s plan is “half-baked,” “not a serious attempt” and ultimately “not viable.”
Though they don’t seem to be on the same page, Republicans in the upper and lower chamber will have to come together at some point if they want to start writing their budget reconciliation bill. The budget resolution will have to be adapted by both chambers for committees to write their instructions for a budget reconciliation bill using that blueprint.
This story originally appeared on Talking Points Memo.
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