‘They want illegals to vote’: GOP uses lies in push for SAVE America Act as House prepares final vote

With a final House vote expected Wednesday, Republicans are intensifying a coordinated push to pass the SAVE America Act, which experts say would be the most restrictive voting bill ever passed and could disenfranchise millions.

If the measure passes, it will head to the Senate, where it faces steeper odds and unified Democratic opposition.

In the run-up to the vote, Republican leaders have doubled down on inflammatory rhetoric, falsely accusing Democrats of trying to “cheat” and allow undocumented immigrants to vote.

“They want illegals to vote. That’s why they opened the border wide for four years under Biden and Harris and allowed in all these dangerous people,” Speaker Mike Johnson said in an interview with Fox News Wednesday. “They feel they’ve got to allow illegals to participate in elections so they can continue to win. We’ve got to stop that.”

Those false accusations have become the centerpiece of the GOP’s closing argument, even though federal law already makes it illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.

“The Democrat Party knows that cheating is their only path to victory,” Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) said during procedural debate ahead of the final vote. “Their goal is to replace the votes of American citizens with those of illegal aliens.”

Other Republican representatives echoed those charges. 

“They oppose this bill because it chips away at their voting base,” Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) said on the House floor. “For years conservatives warned that this was the radical left’s goal, and we were mocked for it. But that’s exactly what Democrats are doing right now — fighting to allow illegal aliens to vote.”

The SAVE America Act would fundamentally change how Americans register to vote in federal elections and go further than the original SAVE Act. 

It would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship — such as a passport or certified birth certificate — in order to register. It would also impose strict photo ID requirements for voting in federal races and require states to conduct ongoing voter roll checks using federal immigration databases overseen by the Department of Homeland Security.

Voting rights advocates warn that those requirements could block eligible voters who do not have ready access to passports or certified birth records — including military families who move frequently, naturalized citizens, women whose married names do not match their birth certificates and voters who otherwise don’t have easy access to required documents, including seniors and rural voters.

“Make no mistake: The SAVE Act would stop millions of American citizens from voting,” Brennan Center president Michael Waldman wrote this week. “It would be the most restrictive voting bill ever passed by Congress. It is Trump’s power grab in legislative garb.”

“19 states across the United States have illegals getting driver’s licenses. And of those 19 states, 15 employ automatic voter registration. This is a real issue with real consequences,” Republicans said in a video posted Wednesday urging Congress to pass the bill. “The American people gave President Trump a mandate, and gave this Congress a mandate, to secure our elections. We gotta be tough, we gotta be strong, and we gotta support President Trump and support all of our election integrity efforts.”

Meanwhile, anti-voting activists arrived in D.C. to ramp up pressure on Senate Republicans to treat the SAVE America Act as a political litmus test. 

“SAVE America Act or bust to anyone that wants to keep their job. If we do not get our beautiful Senate colleagues to make sure that this piece of legislation is on President Trump’s desk to sign into law, we are going to be absolutely slaughtered this November,” anti-voting activist Scott Presler said in a Republican committee meeting before debate, while joined with GOP lawmakers and election denier Cleta Mitchell. “The Republican Party that wants to keep their majority, either pass the SAVE America Act or you’re going to be in the minority. So it’s your game. It’s your choice.”

The U.S. House vote is expected to fall along party lines. But even if the bill passes, the Senate presents a much tougher landscape, where Democrats are expected to filibuster the measure.