House Republicans Tie Save America Voting Restrictions to Spending Bill

On July 15, 2026, the House of Representatives approved a combined measure linking the “Save America Act” to a bill authorizing State Department and related agency spending. The combined package passed 217-209, largely along party lines. The Save America Act would ban mail-in ballots and add new identification requirements for voter registration and casting ballots.

The Guardian

The effort follows a February House vote that approved the Save America Act but offered no viable path in the Senate, where Democrats can employ the filibuster. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pressed Republican leaders to enact the voting-restriction bill, even tying its passage to the renewal of a foreign-surveillance law that recently expired. He also withheld his signature on a bipartisan federal housing policy bill to pressure Congress, though the housing measure became law without his signature.

The Guardian

Speaker Mike Johnson agreed to combine the voting-restriction proposal with the appropriations bill to keep the House agenda moving. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that Democrats would block the measure, stating the bill has no chance in the Senate. The Trump administration frames the legislation as a safeguard against non-citizen voting and election fraud, despite a lack of evidence for widespread tampering.

The Guardian

Voting-rights advocates argue the Save America Act would disenfranchise large numbers of eligible voters ahead of the November midterm elections. Democrats contend the bill revives “the old ghost of Jim Crow.” Lawmakers fear that continued attempts to attach the measure to must-pass spending legislation could jeopardize funding and trigger a government shutdown later in the year. Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who helped block the House floor earlier, placed blame on Senate Republican John Thune if the bill is removed in the Senate.

The Guardian

“I don’t care how Republicans try to package their plan to resurrect the old ghost of Jim Crow – we will kill it.” — Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader

The Guardian

“His state party should censure him and/or he should be primaried if he wants to betray his constituents in this manner. That is the nature of politics.” — Anna Paulina Luna, Representative from Florida

The Guardian