There are just over four months left until the midterm elections in November.
In the House of Representatives, Republicans are fighting among themselves, and President Donald Trump is still pushing for the SAVE America Act.
Advertisement
Along with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), a group of conservatives has promised to stop all bills from being considered on the House floor until the Senate passes the Trump-backed elections bill that has been held up.
As soon as possible, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will open the House floor.
He is also meeting Trump at the White House on Thursday to try to end the standoff.
Advertisement
Before the August break, it will be important for House Republicans to get other important bills passed, such as the annual defense policy bill, government funding bills, and a long-shot third-party-line reconciliation package with safeguards for defense spending and fraud prevention.
The meeting on Thursday comes after the conservative bloc refused to end its blockade on Wednesday, forcing the Republican leadership in the House to cancel several votes.
Advertisement
“We’re not giving up on it yet, but we’re having contingencies in place,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters.
Luna said she will persist, even though she appears unable to persuade the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act or weaken the legislative filibuster.
“The president’s been very clear,” Luna told Fox News Digital in an interview Wednesday. “He’s not playing these games anymore, and I’m going to fully back him, and I have the votes to do it.”
“There’s going to be no votes this week,” Luna added.
Trump has said for months that passing the SAVE America Act is the most important thing he wants to do in Congress.
But there has been no progress because the bill has not gotten enough votes in the Senate (60).
The House has not yet passed a version of the SAVE America Act with Trump-backed rules that limit voting by mail, keep men out of women’s sports, and stop child gender transition.
Trump canceled a signing ceremony for a bipartisan housing bill on Wednesday, showing his anger that the Senate had stalled the bill’s progress.
Johnson likely wanted to break the deadlock when he suggested adding a slimmed-down version of the SAVE America Act to a third package that House Republicans are currently working on.
Johnson’s bill would give states grants to encourage them to require voters to show REAL IDs that have been checked by the federal government.
Luna, on the other hand, warned against passing a weaker version of the elections bill.
“I want to warn the American people that you cannot get SAVE America Act on reconciliation,” Luna said, referring to another GOP-only megabill.
“It’s not possible to be done, so we’re not drinking the Kool-Aid on that. Unless the Senate decides to fire the parliamentarian, nothing will change,” Luna added.
House GOP fiscal hawks have also said that they will only support a third reconciliation bill if it includes “dollar-for-dollar and year-for-year spending cuts” to balance out the impact on the deficit.
The Senate left Washington, D.C., late Wednesday night to start a two-week break, which means the standoff is not likely to end any time soon.
All senators, including the strongest supporters of the SAVE America Act, supported starting the July 4 break early.
“I will not be voting to reopen the floor until the Senate gets back to Washington,” Luna wrote on social media.
President Trump abruptly called off a scheduled signing ceremony for a bipartisan housing bill on Wednesday, stating he would not sign the document until Congress sent him the SAVE America Act.
The unexpected action intensifies Trump’s push for legislation aimed at tightening voter eligibility requirements and puts additional pressure on Senate Republicans.
“Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
