House Republicans are considering using a fast-track process to bypass the filibuster and pass President Donald Trump’s sought-after voting restrictions.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said Monday that Republicans are moving forward with a plan to establish a grant program that would incentivize states to adopt stricter election rules outlined in the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (Save America) Act, which includes a new requirement to provide documented proof of citizenship and a photo ID at the time of voting.
The move would use the so-called reconciliation process, designed to overcome the filibuster, because it can be passed with a simple majority in both chambers, bypassing Democrats.
“If you put it into a grant program or something similar, then it does make it part of reconciling the budget,” Johnson told reporters Monday, after meeting with Trump at the White House. “It does ultimately work that way.”
“The only way to get that to the president’s desk, we’ve been shown many times, is to put it on reconciliation,” Johnson said.
Doing so, Johnson argued, would allow the Save America Act to comply with Senate rules.
However it’s not clear whether Trump would be on board with voting restrictions administered through a grant program. And many Senate Republicans have expressed doubt about passing more legislation through the fast-track process this year.
Trump has been trying to pressure Republicans to pass the act, including refusing to sign a bipartisan bill aimed at helping Americans with housing, which was sent to his desk Monday.
Speaking at the White House on Monday, Trump said it is “even more important” that Congress passes the Save America Act and said he doesn’t understand why Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) won’t fire the parliamentarian, a nonelected, independent arbiter who advises the Senate on how to navigate laws and rules.
“[He] has the right to immediately fire her and put somebody else there and it’s not even believable that she’s still there,” Trump complained.
Senate Republican leaders have repeatedly told Trump that the votes are not there to pass his election bill, which would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections and restrict mail-in voting, among other provisions. The House passed a version of the bill earlier this year that did not include all the provisions Trump has demanded.
Under this new plan, House Republicans said they believe that establishing a grant program that incentivizes states to implement the new election restrictions — rather than establishing them outright — should comply with Senate rules and allow them to pass the legislation with Republican votes only.
However, Senate rules would likely prevent much of the Save America Act as written from being included as provisions passed through the process must be budgetary.
At least four Republicans in the Senate have expressed opposition to the Save America Act and previously voted against adding the language to another must-pass measure. It is unclear whether these senators would support the new grant provision.
Johnson said House Republicans will first attempt to pass a procedural rule that would merge the Save America Act and the National Defense Authorization Act, which is an annual defense policy bill, upon passage of the latter and send both bills together to Senate.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) and a group of GOP hard-liners have been holding up most action on the House floor since last week as a protest against Senate inaction on the Save America Act. They have refused to vote for rules, which are necessary to bring most legislation to the floor.
On Monday evening, Luna said she opposes the merger maneuver, and she also expressed skepticism over the grant program. The Florida Republican said Johnson had not spoken to her about either option.
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