A proof of citizenship and voter ID bill is hitting the floor for the third time in the House, granting Republicans another opportunity to push one of its strongest, election-tested messages as the party scrambles to recapture public opinion on immigration.
Eyes will also be on House Democrats to see whether they support the bill, entitled the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, America Act. The legislation is an altered version of the SAVE Act, which has passed the House twice and required proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The SAVE America Act requires both citizenship proof and voter ID at the time of registration, and eliminates mail-only registrations, as well.
Democrats have mostly come out against both of these bills, expressing concern that the bills would impede individuals from voting, such as women who changed their name upon marriage and those who don’t have birth certificates. Many lawmakers have also said it opens the door for immigration agents and officers hanging out around polling places.
It comes as public support plunged for deportation operations carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. A recent survey from PBS News/NPR/Marist Poll found 6 in 10 people disapprove of ICE’s work. While 73% of Republicans approve of the agency’s work, 66% of independents and 91% of Democrats do not.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has called the bills “Jim Crow 2.0,” which caused some backlash in GOP circles. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) called the SAVE America Act “worse” than the original SAVE Act.
“Republicans have adopted voter suppression as an electoral strategy,” Jeffries told reporters on Monday. “That’s what the so-called SAVE Act is all about.”
But Republicans have been quick to point out data from recent polls that show a majority of the public supports requiring identification to vote. A survey from Pew Research in August 2025 found 83% of U.S. adults support requiring some form of government ID to vote, including 71% of Democrats and 95% of Republicans.
Republicans had a winning immigration message in the 2024 elections, with border security remaining a top priority among voters. The party’s immigration stance was one of the significant factors that pushed President Donald Trump to victory against former Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as helped Republicans flip the Senate majority to secure a GOP trifecta.
The vote on the SAVE America Act is set for Wednesday, given the bill can get through a Rules Committee panel on Tuesday. Four Democrats — Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Ed Case (D-HI), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), and Jared Golden (D-ME) — voted for the SAVE Act the last time it came up for a vote in April 2025.
Cuellar would not say how he planned to vote when asked, telling the Washington Examiner that he is “still looking at it.”
Case, Perez, and Golden did not respond by publication time to requests from the Washington Examiner on whether they would vote for the legislation this week.
When asked if leadership would urge members not to vote for the bill, Jeffries said Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) would make the final decision.
“We’ll have a conversation about it in the caucus tomorrow,” the leader said, referring to House Democrats’ caucus-wide meeting held once a week.
Most Democrats are unlikely to support the SAVE America Act, especially as the party has largely banded together to protest ICE operations in cities such as Minneapolis, which resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens.
The most recent death of Alex Pretti, a Veterans Affairs ICU nurse, led to Senate Democrats demanding a short-term spending deal on Homeland Security funding so negotiations on ICE restrictions can take place.
The House had passed all 12 appropriations bills, but the shootings and demands from Democrats have pushed appropriators back to the drawing board on DHS funding, with a deadline of Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown. If a deal cannot be reached, ICE and other immigration agencies are still funded through the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but agencies such as FEMA and TSA would see their funding stalled.
Conservative Republicans had threatened to shut down operations of the House if the Senate did not pass the SAVE Act. Despite passing the House twice, the 60-vote threshold to break the filibuster meant the legislation lacked the support to pass in the upper chamber.
Jeffries pointed to this, stating that if the SAVE America Act “squeaks by the House, it’s dead on arrival in the Senate.”
“They’re wasting time,” the minority leader said.
House Republicans such as Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), as well as Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), are pushing for the Senate to use a method called a “talking filibuster” that would require members to actually speak on the floor of the Senate to block a bill. Once the number of members speaking runs out, then the bill can pass by a smaller margin.
But Senate Republican leadership, as well as a handful of establishment rank-and-file Republicans, have been wary of eliminating the 60-vote filibuster, arguing Democrats will take full advantage of its absence when they are back in power. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters on Monday the SAVE America Act could get a vote in the Senate “in the not-too-distant future.”
If the Senate cannot pass the SAVE America Act on its own, Luna has long suggested it be added to must-pass legislation, such as the annual National Defense Authorization Act.
LEADER JEFFRIES COULD BE ‘SPEAKER JEFFRIES’ SOON. WHAT CHALLENGES COULD HE FACE?
Conservatives had briefly pushed for it to be attached to the appropriations bill and 10-day DHS continuing resolution last week. But words from President Donald Trump on social media and in private conversations tamped down a possible rebellion, allowing the legislation to pass.
Thune said it’s likely the SAVE America Act would not be attached to any negotiated DHS deal this week, but “people will have the opportunity to go on record one way or the other.”