SAVE America Is Heading in a ‘Very Favorable Direction’  

Efforts to advance the SAVE America Act received a boost on Wednesday afternoon following what Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, described as a “very productive” Senate Republican meeting. Lee said discussions have moved in a “very favorable direction.”

“We’re talking now much more about how best to do this—not whether to stay and work on the SAVE America Act, but what procedural vehicle to use in order to get this thing done,” Lee said after the meeting.

The procedural vehicle Lee referenced is the $95 billion House-passed budget resolution, a potential reconciliation package in which portions of the SAVE America Act could be included. The holdup is that the Senate must still add its own instructions to the House’s budget resolution.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., envisions a package involving 11 Senate committees, with Homeland Security playing a lead role.

Under the proposal being discussed, only limited SAVE America provisions would be included. The likely option is a grant program to allow states to voluntarily implement voter identification requirements and proof-of-citizenship verification for voter registration.

Lee was once against that approach, arguing that the SAVE America Act couldn’t be a budgetary item. Earlier this month, however, he said, “I think there’s a path.”

“This is a step-by-step process. I don’t want to proclaim victory, but the conversation has moved in a favorable direction,” Lee said. “I want to thank Senate Majority Leader John Thune and our whip, John Barrasso, for leading a very productive discussion today.”

While Lee expressed optimism, Thune sounded more muted after the meeting.

“It’s not clear yet, but it’s getting less cloudy,” the majority leader told reporters.

Thune has previously maintained that there are not enough votes to pass the SAVE America Act through regular Senate procedure. However, by using reconciliation, Republicans would need only 51 votes, not the 60 votes typically required to overcome a filibuster.

Republican senators are urging Thune to keep the upper chamber in session until lawmakers pass voter identification and a proof-of-citizenship measure. In two days, the senators are scheduled to leave Washington for their monthlong August recess.

In a post on X, U.S. Rep. Keith Self provided a list of senators who have “pledged to work through recess to pass the SAVE America Act.”