House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced Monday that he plans to use an uncommon legislative maneuver to advance the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act by combining it with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), as House conservatives continue blocking floor action in an effort to push the election integrity measure forward.
The move comes after a group of hard-line Republicans vowed to oppose procedural rules needed to bring legislation to the House floor until the Senate acts on the SAVE America Act or the House takes additional steps to advance the bill. The legislation would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and require voters to present identification when casting a ballot.
Johnson said the House will use a procedure known as “MIRVing,” or “merge onto the rule,” which allows separately passed legislation to be packaged together before being sent to the Senate.
“We’re going to pass a MIRV, or what’s better known as a ‘merge onto the rule,’” Johnson explained. “So what that means is, when Republicans vote for the rule, they’ll be voting not just for the NDAA and everything else in there, but they’ll be voting to merge onto that the SAVE America Act we passed back in February.”
Johnson argued the approach would demonstrate House Republicans’ commitment to advancing the voter eligibility measure while increasing pressure on lawmakers to support the procedural rule.
“So that will send both of those items together over to the Senate, and so if any Republicans choose to vote against the rule, they will be voting against that outcome,” Johnson said. “So we think this is another good way to show the resolve of the House.”
Despite the strategy, significant hurdles remain. The Senate could still remove the SAVE America Act from the defense bill, where it faces unified Democratic opposition. The maneuver also risks complicating passage of the NDAA, legislation that is widely viewed as essential and traditionally receives bipartisan support.
Not all Republicans were immediately convinced the proposal would accomplish its goal.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who previously submitted an amendment seeking to attach the SAVE America Act directly to the NDAA through the House Rules Committee, criticized Johnson’s plan shortly after it was announced.
Posting on X, Luna argued that simply merging the two bills would still leave the Senate free to remove the election measure before final passage.
“‘MIRVing’ the NDAA plus either SAVE America or Voter I.D. would still allow the Senate to strip out either or,” Luna wrote. “The only way to ensure the Senate passes this is to make sure it’s in the bill text of the NDAA, meaning that my amendment(s) must be made an order.”
Luna added that she was standing by her position because she believes it reflects promises made to voters.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) also expressed caution, saying he wanted to review the proposal before fully backing it.
“We might be able to get everything we want, but as Luna said, we’d need to see it on paper first,” Burchett told reporters.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.), however, signaled support for Johnson’s effort.
“Any way to include the SAVE or SAVE America Act on everything coming out of the House, I’m for,” Harris said.
The proposal also threatens to further erode Democratic support for the NDAA. Democrats have strongly opposed the SAVE America Act, arguing it would create additional barriers to voting. The House-passed version of the bill that Johnson plans to attach also does not include restrictions on mail-in ballots, one of President Trump’s key priorities.
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