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Senate conservatives allied with President Trump are open to attaching the president’s top priority, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, to a stopgap measure funding the government past Sept. 30, but it is getting strong pushback from GOP colleagues who are worried it will lead to a shutdown.
Trump ratcheted up pressure on Senate and House Republicans to make another last-ditch attempt to pass the elections legislation during a primetime speech to the nation in which he asserted that 278,000 noncitizens are registered to vote in federal elections.
Incoming Senate Budget Committee Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is one of several Trump allies open to attaching the SAVE America Act to a short-term government funding measure.
“However we could pass it I’d be in favor of,” Johnson told The Hill. “Exactly how we do that, we’ll see.”
Asked about attaching the legislation to a continuing resolution, Johnson said, “Sure,” but noted that Democrats would likely vote against such a package.
“That’s why I’m for ending the filibuster,” he said.
Republicans have also discussed moving the SAVE America Act through a budget reconciliation process, which would sidestep the filibuster.
A Republican senator who requested anonymity said colleagues are looking more seriously at the continuing resolution as a vehicle, however, even though it could risk another government shutdown.
“It’s a path that people are trying to find to take, but I don’t know what makes that happen,” the GOP lawmaker said.
Congress needs to move a spending bill by the end of September to avoid a shutdown.
Brian Darling, a Republican strategist and former Senate aide, said a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government “definitely” could be chosen as another vehicle to move the SAVE America Act.
“The House can put it on a CR, send it over the Senate and dare Democrats to shut down the government because they don’t want to have basically provisions of the SAVE America Act enacted into law,” he said. “It’s something that has widespread support if you look at the polling.”
“The American people want to have election integrity, and they’d like to see more resources used for that purpose. Putting it on a CR would put Democrats in a tough spot,” Darling continued.
“I think the president seems intent on getting it passed no matter what, whether it be reconciliation, a CR or trying to find another vehicle. I think House Republicans are going to push it, and I think the Senate is going to be forced to vote on it,” he added.
Linking the SAVE America Act to a government funding bill could put more pressure on GOP senators to vote to eliminate the filibuster — something that Trump is urging Senate Republicans to do.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has repeatedly declared there aren’t enough votes to abolish the filibuster.
Trump allies earlier this year embraced the idea of attaching the SAVE America Act to another must-pass bill: legislation extending the enhanced authorities of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that lapsed on June 12.
But some Senate Republicans are pushing back hard on risking another government shutdown by attaching the SAVE America Act to a funding stopgap.
“It’s a waste of time,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), warning there isn’t enough time to implement the SAVE America Act before the Nov. 3 election.
“It’s not going to happen. Period. Full stop. Even if it was passed, it couldn’t possibly be implemented. And if we even tried it, we would be responsible for one of the most confusing, dangerous decisions coming out of this body just ahead of an election,” he warned. “It can’t be implemented. There are 10,000 different [state and local] entities that got to get it done.”
Tillis also criticized a House Republican proposal to include $10 billion to fund election reforms in a third budget reconciliation package.
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said that while some GOP colleagues want to use the continuing resolution as leverage, he wants to focus instead on passing the regular appropriations bills and then moving a “clean” continuing resolution to avoid a possible shutdown.
“That is certainly some senators and House members,” he said of Republicans who would favor using the continuing resolution as a vehicle to pass the SAVE America Act, but added, “My view is that we need to get our appropriations bills done.”
“September is not that far away now, and I hope that we can do what we traditionally call a clean CR, along with the things that have to be done to keep government functional,” Moran said.
Other Republicans, however, would like to force Democrats — including Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), a top GOP political target — to vote again on popular reforms such as requiring people to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote and present a photo ID when casting a ballot.
A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll from March showed that 81 percent of Americans favor voter ID, including 79 percent of independents and 70 percent of Democrats.
The Harvard CAPS/Harris survey showed that 71 percent of Americans support the SAVE America Act, including 69 percent of independents.
Trump is seeking to capitalize on popular support for election reform at a time when his approval rating is hovering around 40 percent and 61 percent of U.S. adults are pessimistic about the state of the economy, according to a new CNBC All-America Economic Survey published Friday.
“These reforms are urgently needed to stop the vulnerabilities that I’ve mentioned. To all Americans, I ask you to pick up your phone tomorrow, call your representatives in the House and Senate and demand that they pass the SAVE America Act without delay,” Trump said during his special address to the nation Thursday.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) warned last week that attaching the SAVE America Act to a government funding bill would likely lead to another shutdown.
“Trump said Republicans have to terminate the filibuster, or we’ll have a shutdown in September. Mr. President, the SAVE Act ain’t passing. It ain’t passing in the Senate, it ain’t passing with Democrats, and it ain’t passing in the courts,” he said. “It’s not happening so give up on that.”
“Trump said the quiet part out loud, he’s willing to shut down the government to get his way,” Schumer added.
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