GOP senators look to tie crackdown on noncitizen voting to must-pass spending bill

Several Republican lawmakers have called on their colleagues to support attaching a bill that would safeguard elections and require proof of citizenship to vote on an upcoming stopgap spending measure due at the end of next month. 

Prominent conservative Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted on X this week pushing for the bill, which would require proof of citizenship before registering to vote in federal elections, to be tethered to a spending bill extension to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year. 

"There isn’t a good argument against attaching the SAVE Act to the September spending bill," Lee said in one of several posts promoting the idea. 

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Sens. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee called for the bill to be included in a stopgap spending measure. (Reuters)

Other Republican senators, including Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., also shared their support for the legislation, known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, in posts on X. However, they didn't go as far as calling for the bill to be taken up as part of a continuing resolution to extend the current spending bill. 

"Texas just announced that it has removed 6,500+ non-citizens from its voter rolls, almost 2,000 of which illegally voted in past elections. We cannot ignore this threat to our democratic process. It’s time to pass my SAVE Act & stop illegal voting," Scott said. 

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A voter casts a ballot at a polling location in Fairfax, Virginia, on Nov. 7, 2023. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The SAVE Act was initially passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 221-198, primarily along party lines. Five Democrats split with their party to support it, including Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, Jared Golden, D-Maine, Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.

Earlier this month, the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus expressed its desire to see the measure included in the stopgap government spending package next month. Without the SAVE Act's inclusion in a continuing resolution (CR), appropriators risk losing the support of Freedom Caucus members and enduring a potential government shutdown.

"@HouseGOP must force the question by attaching the SAVE Act to a 6-month funding bill before the Sept. 30 funding deadline," wrote House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, on X on Thursday. He also hit the Senate, led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for refusing to take up the bill for a vote on its own. 

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While vocal conservative lawmakers see the necessary spending measure as an opportunity to force a vote on the Republican priority, which is backed by former President Trump, a top Republican appropriator has cast doubt on its inclusion. 

"If it can't pass the Senate, it isn't going to be an effective CR," House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., told reporters last month.

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The idea of tying the SAVE Act to a spending bill also lacks the backing of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. A Senate GOP aide told Fox News Digital that keeping the government open and avoiding a shutdown is paramount to the Kentucky Republican.

Notably, the Biden-Harris administration has come out in strong opposition to the SAVE Act, making clear it wouldn't be signed by the president if passed.

"It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in Federal elections – it is a Federal crime punishable by prison and fines," reads a statement of administration policy last month.

The Trump campaign did not provide comment on whether the bill should be included in a spending measure but did reinforce support for the quick passage of the SAVE Act. His campaign pointed Fox News Digital to the former president's Truth Social post last month in which he said, "Republicans must pass the Save Act, or go home and cry yourself to sleep."