Trump pressures Republicans to back proof of citizenship voting rules

Donald Trump met with Speaker Mike Johnson at the White House on Thursday as Republicans struggled to break a standoff over the SAVE Act, the proof-of-citizenship voting bill Trump has made a test of party loyalty. Johnson said he wanted to talk with Trump about “how to get the agenda moving again,” while Trump later posted that House Republicans should unify and stop voting down “Rules,” adding, “No more grandstanding, please!”

The fight centers on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, introduced Jan. 3, 2025 by Rep. Chip Roy of Texas as H.R. 22. Congress.gov says the measure would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register for federal elections, would force states to identify and remove noncitizens from voter rolls, and would create criminal penalties and a private right of action for violations. The House passed it 220-208 on April 10, 2025, but the Senate has not moved it through, even after five failed attempts since March.

Trump’s push has sharpened a procedural clash inside his own party. Hard-right House Republicans led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna have been blocking floor action until the Senate acts, threatening to vote down procedural rules and effectively halting business in the chamber. Johnson has said he planned to send Trump the bipartisan housing bill that Trump had canceled a signing ceremony for, but Trump has pressed Senate Republicans to take up the election measure first.

The stalemate has now spread beyond one bill. Reuters and Politico said the deadlock has frozen both chambers, put fiscal 2027 spending bills and the annual defense policy bill at risk, and interrupted other GOP priorities at a moment when Johnson can afford to lose no more than two Republican votes on party-line measures. Senators left Washington early for a July 4 recess and are not due back until July 13, giving the Senate little time to resolve the fight before the summer schedule closes in.

Republicans had hoped to use the housing measure to show voters they were serious about affordability heading into the November 2026 midterms. Instead, Trump’s insistence on the SAVE Act has turned the issue into a direct test of whether House and Senate Republicans can govern while he demands election restrictions as the price of movement on the rest of the agenda.