Trump presses Senate to vote on SAVE America Act as part of funding bill
by Lindsey McPherson · The Washington TimesPresident Trump is pushing Senate Republicans to vote on an election integrity bill that would largely ban mail-in ballots, as such votes are delaying calls in key California primary races.
Republicans appear willing to comply and offer it as an amendment to the filibuster-proof $70 billion immigration enforcement funding bill they were debating on the floor Thursday.
“The president wants us to vote on the SAVE [America] Act. We voted on it once. He’s entitled to ask again. We’re letting him draft it, and we’re going to vote on it,” said Sen. John Kennedy, Louisiana Republican.
The SAVE America Act requires proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID to cast a ballot, plus forces states to clean up their voter rolls using a federal citizenship database.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly pushed for a version that also bans states from automatically sending out absentee ballots to all registered voters.
He has said the only people who should be able to vote by mail are active duty military and others who have legitimate reasons for not being able to vote in person, such as disability, illness or travel.
His latest sales pitch comes as a late surge of mail-in votes in California’s jungle primary held Tuesday is delaying final results in close races, where the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the general election in November.
“Look what’s happening in California, the Dumocrats, right before our very eyes, are stealing the Vote,” the president posted on Truth Social. “I hope the Republicans are watching so that they can finally pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT!”
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In April, Mr. Kennedy offered a SAVE America Act amendment to the budget resolution that kicked off the filibuster-proof reconciliation process Republicans are using to pass the immigration enforcement funding bill.
The amendment failed, with four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — joining all Democrats in opposition.
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Lindsey McPherson
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