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Hello, friends. We are in the thick of the dog days of summer, and things are getting hot (and sticky) here in Washington. One lawmaker is even pleading with Capitol staffers to remember to shower.
We’re inching closer to the annual August recess where the House and Senate will be out of session until the first week of September. Republicans are racing to get some of their top priorities done before then.
Chief among the list: the SAVE America Act. But is it already too late for them to get that done before the midterms?
— Cami Mondeaux
The Big Idea: Is the SAVE America Act running out of time?
Republicans are getting anxious to pass the SAVE America Act. House GOP leaders are planning to attach the proof-of-citizenship and voter ID bill to every must-pass piece of legislation they send to the Senate.
They’re hoping to get some provisions passed through a partisan budget procedure in the Senate. And they have President Donald Trump using every opportunity he gets to promote the legislation during his speeches.
Trump has really wanted to get SAVE America Act — the main priority of which is to remove noncitizens from voter rolls — done before the midterms. That timeline was ambitious even at the start of this year.
But time is running out, and it might not even be possible at this point.
The National Voter Registration Act dictates that when a state administers a program to “systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters,” it has to be done 90 days before a primary or general election. Election Day is on Nov. 3, so that deadline would be the first full week of August.
And while Congress has the authority to set the parameters of elections, Utah Sen. Mike Lee has acknowledged that it would be “difficult to implement major changes without giving states enough time to abide by them.”
“If we want to ensure citizen-only voting in 2026, we need a runway for states to comply,” he told me.
Remember: The House is scheduled to leave July 23 and not return until the first week of September. The Senate will still be here the first week of August, coinciding with that deadline, but then they leave until mid-September.
So time is not on their side. And the math that has stalled the SAVE America Act in the Senate — 60 votes to overcome the filibuster, which would require Democrats, who staunchly oppose — has not changed.
Lee has suggested keeping the Senate in session until the election bill is passed, even if that means delaying the recess period.
“I would happily give up August recess if it means a real fight to pass the SAVE America Act. American voters want to see us fight for them, and tend to reward people and parties who do,” Lee said.
But Senate GOP leaders don’t seem to be convinced, noting they just don’t see a pathway.
“Well, if I thought there was a path to getting a positive result or a positive outcome, I’d want to do just about anything, as I think we all would here, in favor of the SAVE America Act,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said on Wednesday. “The folks that have consistently blocked it and voted against it are all the Democrats in the Senate. I think that’s unlikely to change, and it’s also very unlikely that Senate Republicans are going to vote to get rid of the legislative filibuster.”
Some other Republicans have pointed out that even if the bill were to pass tomorrow, it’d be almost impossible to implement those changes — especially in states where election administration procedures are already underway.
“Do y’all have any idea how many governmental entities have to implement these changes before November? More than 10,000. … If we had passed this last year, it couldn’t have been implemented in time,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said this week. “They’re being disingenuous to suggest to the American people they could possibly be operational by this election. And so then it begins to make me wonder ... if we’re just beginning to undermine the underlying integrity of any of our elections.”
“I think that’s dangerous and I think that’s wrong,” he added.
But just because it may not be done in time for the midterms doesn’t mean Republicans are ready to give up on it.
“In some ways, the process is already getting started for 2026. But you don’t pass a piece of legislation because you think you’re going to immediately benefit from it,” Vice President JD Vance told us reporters in the Capitol this week. “You pass a piece of legislation because you think the American people are going to benefit from it over the long haul. We have to do it. SAVE America is not mainly about 2026. It’s actually about saving America’s elections well into the future.”
Lee, for his part, tells me he has no plans of giving up.
“The best time to pass SAVE was two years ago, the next best time is today, and the third best time is tomorrow,” Lee said. “I don’t mind making Democrats defend the indefensible — their opposition to proof of citizenship for voting — between now and November. But as Vice President Vance recently said, this is bigger than the 2026 elections: It’s about securing America’s elections for generations to come.”
That means continuing his pressure campaign to revive the talking filibuster and undergo marathon debate until Democrats fold, a strategy that some Republicans say wouldn’t work, and pushing to add the bill to other legislation. House Republicans have been heavily hitting that second option, attaching SAVE to must-pass spending bills and other bills to try and ensure its passage.
“I favor an ‘all the above’ approach,” he told me. “We should be willing to exhaust Democrat obstruction through a talking filibuster, while at the same time putting the broccoli back on their plate by including SAVE in major must-pass bills until they’re forced to eat it.”
— Cami Mondeaux
Stories Driving the Week
- Monumental debate: President Donald Trump signed two orders on Monday, removing nearly 3 million acres of the public land designation for Bears Ears and Grand-Staircase Escalante combined. Tribal leaders say they weren’t consulted ahead of time.
- Election preview: Vice President JD Vance assured reporters on Wednesday that Republicans will accept the results of the midterm elections in November even if Congress doesn’t pass sweeping legislation to enact proof-of-citizenship and voter ID requirements.
- Warring factions: Utah Sen. John Curtis said Congress must assert its authority on whether to declare war in Iran just days after Trump notified lawmakers that military operations have been restarted. Curtis suggested the resumed operations do not restart the 60-day clock as a new conflict.
House Republicans want to punt government funding until after midterms
The House could vote on a resolution to extend government funding levels until after the midterm elections as GOP leaders hope to avoid another shutdown fight while they fight to defend their slim majority.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., confirmed on Thursday that the “current plan” is to put the funding extension, known as a continuing resolution, or CR, on the floor next week — 2½ months before the Oct. 1 deadline. It’s not clear how successful Johnson’s gambit will be, as some of his conservative members continue their blockade over the SAVE America Act, but it underscores Republicans’ desires to take a threat of a government shutdown off the table heading into November.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said he thought that plan was a “good idea” and that he imagines the resolution will be “a very clean CR.” Meaning, it will just have funding attached and no unrelated policies.
It also isn’t clear how long lawmakers will seek to extend government funding, but Cole predicted it would be before the end of the year — likely around Thanksgiving, he said.
This strategy is also beginning to take foot in the Senate. As I’ve previously reported, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is circulating a plan to other Senate Republicans to consider passing a continuing resolution to extend spending until after the midterm elections, hoping that it won’t snarl campaigns.
Of course, this plan would need buy-in from Democrats in the Senate — who Scott says don’t want to help keep the government open.
And to be fair, who knows what the appetite for Democrats will be. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters this week that President Donald Trump is the one who is threatening a September shutdown, and that Democrats want to keep the government funded.
“Republicans have been trying to say we want a shutdown. We don’t. We’ve been fighting it,” Schumer said. “Trump said the quiet part out loud. He’s willing to shut down the government to get his way. Democrats want to fund the government, avoid a shutdown, but that requires bipartisan, serious negotiations, not lopsided partisan spending bills that pour more taxpayer money into Trump’s disastrous war (and) will do nothing to lower costs for working families.”
An update on where we’re at: Only three of the 12 annual appropriations bills have been passed by the House, and the remaining nine have been approved by committees and are awaiting a final vote. None have been passed in the Senate or approved by individual committees.
Each bill needs to be identical and passed by both chambers before they can go to the White House for Trump’s approval.
— Cami Mondeaux
Quick Hits
From the Hill: Daylight saving time has representatives debating around the clock — literally. … Congress revives momentum on Lindsey Graham’s Russia sanctions bill after his death. … Trump reveals Lindsey Graham’s last call was about Sen. Lee’s election security bill.
From the White House: Trump reportedly considers putting boots on the ground in Iran but says things are going well. … Trump’s intelligence nominee grilled by Democratic senators in confirmation hearing. … Trump signs executive order shrinking 2 national monuments in Utah.
From the courts: Utah residents sue Kevin O’Leary for defamation over AI data center comments. … Supreme Court justices detail security threats as they ask for budget increase. … After week in courtroom, Erika Kirk tells TPUSA leaders: ‘Your choices matter.’
What’s next
The House returns on Monday afternoon as GOP leaders hope to tee up votes on government funding as well as the party’s latest defense supplemental resolution. The Senate will return to pending nominations, including whether to advance Trump’s pick for attorney general.
As always, feel free to reach out to me by email with story ideas or questions you have for lawmakers. And follow me on X for breaking news and timely developments from the Hill.