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President Trump is fighting an uphill battle to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, raising questions about why he is investing so much political capital into legislation he has admitted he does not believe will become law.
Trump and his allies said it was even more imperative to pass the legislation following Monday’s Supreme Court ruling upholding a Mississippi law that allows mail-in ballots sent by Election Day to be counted, but at the same time, Trump told reporters he did not believe Congress will approve the measure.
Still, the president is prioritizing it over other pieces of legislation, including a bipartisan housing bill that he was slated to sign last week before he canceled a signing ceremony in anger over the SAVE America Act.
“It’s so unimportant compared to the SAVE America Act,” Trump said Monday of the housing bill, which passed the House and Senate with large bipartisan majorities.
“When I look at the bill, it’s a bill. When I look at the SAVE America Act, it’s about saving America. It’s a yawn,” he continued. “To me, compared to the SAVE America Act, just about everything is a big yawn.”
One source close to the White House raised concerns with Trump’s approach, arguing “no good manager demands a grand slam every at-bat.”
“Singles and doubles win games too. The SAVE Act is being run like a grand slam strategy, and we keep leaving runners on base hoping for one instead of taking the sure hits in front of us. Right now, that’s a losing approach: We’re striking out when we should be scoring,” the source said.
Others argue Trump’s strategy will divide Republicans when they should be united ahead of what will likely be an uphill midterm election.
“You’re creating discord at a time when you’re nearing the 100-day mark out of the midterms. We actually need to be coalescing your base and coalescing your party, and I think that’s the greater frustration,” one Republican strategist said.
Some Republicans say Trump’s uphill push is a part of an effort to continue his unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.
“I think he’s been pretty successful at changing a lot of people’s minds about the validity of the 2020 election,” said Marc Short, who served as Trump’s legislative director during his first term.
“By pushing the SAVE Act, it kind of feeds into that larger notion of stolen elections,” said Short, who also served as chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence.
Others argue the president’s push is an effort to lay blame on Senate Republicans if their party sees widespread losses in November’s midterms.
“He does not want to admit that anything that goes wrong in the midterms is related to him or his brand or his administration; rather, it is the failures of Senate Republicans to nuke the filibuster and get this legislation passed and through,” the GOP strategist said.
“You read ‘The Art of the Deal,’ and it’s you never admit defeat,” the strategist said, referring to Trump’s 1987 book. “Even going back to his loss against [former President] Biden, I think he views election interference or that claim as his way to stick to his mantra of never admitting defeat.”
The White House said the SAVE America Act has “always been a top priority” for Trump when asked about why he is pushing for the legislation despite the uphill climb.
“This is commonsense legislation supported by the vast majority of Americans that will secure our elections for generations to come. The president knows how critical this issue is for the American people, and he will not stop fighting until it is passed,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said.
The Republican National Committee backed up the White House’s sentiment, arguing the legislation needs to be passed “now more than ever.”
“While Democrats want to cheat in our elections, Republicans are leading the fight to fully secure the ballot box,” RNC election integrity communications director Ally Triolo said.
Conservatives in the House, led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), have not given up their efforts on the bill, despite Trump urging them not to grandstand last week.
“I saw the president’s statement today, and I think we are exactly in lockstep with the president, and I share his same frustrations,” Luna told reporters Monday. “It is Senate Republicans that control the Senate, not Democrats, and that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
On Tuesday, conservative hard-liners voted to block a procedural rule that would have merged the language of the SAVE America Act and the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual bill that is considered must-pass legislation by both parties.
Shortly after the failed vote, GOP leaders said the House would leave town for the rest of the week instead of working Wednesday and Thursday. It’s unclear how GOP leaders will get conservatives to drop procedural roadblocks they’ve installed in protest of inaction on the SAVE America Act.
Johnson hit back at the hard-liners on Tuesday, accusing them of voting “against the SAVE America Act.” He vowed to get everybody to a yes vote down the line.
“A couple of the members, if you ask them why they voted no, they’ll say it was out of frustration from Senate Democrats refusing to do the will of the American people and work on election integrity,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday.
“It makes no sense for us to stop our very important progress forward from House Republicans because some Senate Democrats are refusing to do their job. That’s where we are. That’s the reality of it. This is life with a small margin, small majority, and we’ll work through it again,” he said.
Emily Brooks contributed.
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