BREAKING: SAVE Act paired with spending package fails to pass House

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act paired with a stopgap has been a move that House Speaker Mike Johnson as well as Donald Trump have supported in recent weeks. On Wednesday, the package paired with the SAVE Act did not pass the House. The act would prevent noncitizens from voting by requiring that Americans provide proof of citizenship to register to vote.

A total of 14 Republicans as well as 206 Democrats voted against the bill. The Republican House members who voted against it included Reps. Lauren Boebert, Tim Burchett, Elijah Crane, Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Doug Lamborn, Nancy Mace, Cory Mills, Mike Rogers, Matthew Rosendale, Gregory Steube, Beth Van Duyne, Wesley Hunt, and Jim Banks. GOP Reps. Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene voted present during the roll call.

The spending package would have avoided the upcoming government shutdown deadline as well as funded the government up until March 2025. Three Democrats voted in favor of the funding paired with the SAVE Act. These included Reps. Donald Davis, Jared Golden, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

“We’ll draw up another play and we’ll come up with a solution,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said about the vote, per PBS. “I’m already talking to colleagues about their many ideas. We have time to fix the situation and we’ll get right to it."

Johnson announced the plan for the vote on Tuesday afternoon after several GOP House members expressed opposition last week, forcing a delay in the vote. "Because we owe this to our constituents, we will move forward on Wednesday with a vote on the 6-month CR with the SAVE Act attached. I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this county rightfully demand and deserve - prevent non-American citizens from voting in American elections," Johnson said at the time.

A poll from McLaughlin & Associates earlier this year shows that over 80 percent of voters support the statement: "Proof of United States citizenship should be required to register to vote in American elections."