Fourteen Republicans paralyze House floor over SAVE America Act concerns
Fourteen House Republicans opposed a procedural vote too attach the SAVE America Act to a $1.15 trillion defense spending bill, leading to its defeat with a vote of 198-224.Notable opponents included Representatives Anna Paulina luna and Chip Roy, among others, while House Majority Leader Steve Scalise voted “no” to keep the option open for future consideration. Luna advocated for including her amendment on voter ID and proof of citizenship in the legislation and expressed frustration over the deal made to merge the priorities, which she opposed. The vote highlighted ongoing GOP disagreements and legislative gridlock on key bills, with some members pledging to block legislation until the Senate passes the SAVE America Act. The legislation’s addition to the NDAA was expected to face difficulties in the Senate due to procedural hurdles like the filibuster. House Speaker Mike Johnson attempted to navigate the divisions by presenting a revised plan, but the split remains a significant obstacle, emphasizing the ongoing legislative challenges faced by House Republicans amidst broader political contention.
Fourteen House Republicans took down a procedural measure to attach the SAVE America Act to the the $1.15 trillion defense spending bill.
The procedural rule vote failed 198-224. Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and Chip Roy (R-TX) led the charge to defeat the rule vote, which included 12 other GOP members. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) voted “no” to allow for a procedural loophole to bring the vote back up for consideration at a later time without referring the measure to the House Rules Committee.
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“I’m saying, ‘I will vote for the rule if you allow my amendment for voter ID plus proof of citizenship to be placed into the text of the NDAA,’” Luna told reporters after the vote failed. “They’re saying they won’t, so now that you saw what happened.”
The defections included Reps. Max Miller (R-OH), Victoria Spartz (R-IN), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Eric Burlison (R-MO), Randy Fine (R-FL) , Andy Harris (R-MD), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Keith Self (R-TX), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Thomas Massie (R-KY), and Mike Turner (R-OH), in addition to Luna, Roy, and Scalise.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) unveiled the revised plan to advance the legislation and merge the two priorities after meeting with different factions of his caucus, in an effort to end the gridlock that has plagued the House floor in recent weeks. Johnson could only afford to lose three votes due to his slim majority.
“There’s a lot of really good programmatic priorities that we had in the bill, including about 65 of the Trump administration’s priorities and executive orders that would be included in the bill,” Johnson said after the vote failed. “We had a handful of Republicans that voted against advancing that. They also, as you know, by consequence, also voted against the Save America Act.”
For weeks, a GOP blockade has effectively prevented them from advancing key legislative items, including two appropriations bills this week, and would have threatened the passage of the annual defense bill.
Luna, along with a small coalition, pledged to vote against procedural measures to bring legislation to the House floor until the Senate passes the SAVE America Act. She was unhappy with the deal made to merge the two priorities, claiming she wanted her amendment to the SAVE America Act added instead. The Florida Republican engaged in an animated conversation with the speaker and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), who also voted against the legislation.
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The addition of the SAVE America Act to the NDAA would likely have doomed the legislation in the Senate, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has been unable to bring the measure to the president’s desk. Thune has chalked up the failure of passage to the semantics in his chamber, particularly the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
This marks another step in the fight on Capitol Hill, as the House remains frustrated with the Senate’s failure to pass this legislation.
“It makes no sense for us to stop our very important progress for House Republicans because some Senate Democrats are refusing to do their job,” Johnson said after the vote.
Hailey Bullis contributed to this report.
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