Johnson Unveils New Strategy To Force Senate Vote On SAVE Act
House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a new strategy this week to force Senate action on the SAVE America Act.
The Speaker announced plans to merge the election integrity measure with the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act after conservatives brought House business to a standstill.
The move comes after a group of hard-line Republicans refused to support procedural rules needed to advance legislation unless the Senate acts on the SAVE America Act or the House takes additional steps to pressure the upper chamber.
The SAVE America Act would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and require voters to present identification when casting a ballot.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Johnson said House Republicans would use an unusual parliamentary procedure known as “MIRVing” to package the two bills together before sending them to the Senate.
“We’re going to pass a MIRV, or what’s better known as a merge onto the rule,” Johnson said.
“So what that means is, when Republicans vote for the rule, they’ll be voting not just for the NDAA and everything else is there, but they’ll be voting to merge onto that the SAVE America Act we passed back in February.”
Johnson said the maneuver would ensure the Senate receives both measures together.
“So that will send both of those items together over to the Senate, and so if any Republicans choose to vote against the rule, they will be voting against that outcome. So we think this is another good way to show the resolve of the House.”
The proposal is designed to demonstrate House Republicans’ commitment to election integrity legislation while attempting to increase pressure on the Senate to consider the bill.
Still, Johnson’s strategy faces significant hurdles.
Even if the combined package reaches the Senate, lawmakers there could remove the SAVE America Act from the defense bill before final passage.
The approach also risks complicating consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act, one of Congress’ annual must-pass pieces of legislation that authorizes military programs and defense spending.
Not every Republican is convinced Johnson’s plan goes far enough.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida quickly criticized the proposal, arguing that simply attaching the SAVE America Act procedurally would still allow the Senate to strip it from the final legislation.
“‘MIRVing’ the NDAA plus either SAVE America or Voter I.D. would still allow the Senate to strip out either or,” Luna wrote on X.
“The only way to ensure the Senate passes this is to make sure it’s in the bill text of the NDAA, meaning that my amendment(s) must be made an order.”
“I’m not trying to be difficult, but this is what 80% of Americans want and what we promised the American people, so I stand by my decision.”
Johnson’s proposal could also create new political challenges with Democrats, who have strongly opposed the SAVE America Act and are expected to vote against the NDAA if the election legislation remains attached.
Democrats have argued the bill would create unnecessary barriers to voting, while Republicans contend it is needed to protect election integrity by ensuring that only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections.
The legislation currently approved by the House also does not include restrictions on mail-in voting, one of President Donald Trump’s key priorities in election reform.
Some conservatives indicated they remain open to Johnson’s approach but want additional details before committing their support.
Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee said lawmakers still need to review the proposal.
“We might be able to get everything we want, but as Luna said, we’d need to see it on paper first,” Burchett told reporters.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris of Maryland, however, expressed support for any strategy that advances the legislation, The Hill reported.
“Any way to include the SAVE or SAVE America Act on everything coming out of the House, I’m for,” Harris said.
Trump ‘Briefed With Options’ Amid Stalled Iran Talks
The Trump administration on Wednesday continued to express optimism about negotiations with Iran, even as Iranian officials insist that no direct talks have taken place, according to reports.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister said no face-to-face meeting had occurred in Doha and that no direct negotiations with the United States were currently planned.
Despite Tehran’s position, President Donald Trump described the discussions as “very good,” apparently referring to indirect contacts involving U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner communicating through third-party intermediaries.
Vice President JD Vance struck a firmer tone the same day, warning that the United States could escalate its response if Iran refuses to cooperate or takes actions that further destabilize the Middle East.
His remarks underscored the administration’s message that while it remains open to a diplomatic resolution, additional measures remain on the table if negotiations fail.
“If Iran attempts to rebuild its nuclear program, threaten its neighbors and support terrorism, President Trump has options to deal with it,” Vance noted, without elaborating.
Earlier, a Wall Street Journal report claimed that Trump had been briefed on several military options, including “all-out war,” but Trump said he wanted to give diplomacy more time.
Vance additionally stated that the US “dropped bombs on Iran because it fired on ships, and we used leverage to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”
He went on to suggest that the U.S. could take that course of action again.
Vance also said the current talks are “to discuss the details and flow of maritime traffic.”
The vice president, addressing U.S. military personnel at a naval base in Virginia on Wednesday, also said that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back decades.
“If you look at what our own intelligence says about their nuclear program, they are further away from developing a nuclear bomb than they have ever been since basically the last 20 or 30 years,” Vance said, though he stopped short of Trump’s claim that the program had been “totally obliterated.”
“What the president asks you to accomplish is to destroy the defense industrial base of that country, so that if they ever decided to rebuild their military, or if they ever decided to rebuild that nuclear program, they would be harmless to do it. You did that exactly as well,” Vance added, per the Times of Israel.
The VP went on to say that Trump is now “negotiating from a position of strength because of you.”
“If the Iranians try to rebuild the nuclear program, the President’s got options. If the Iranians try to threaten their neighbors or fund terrorism, we’ve got options,” Vance continued.
“But what we must never do is drop bombs just for the sake of dropping bombs. And that is what the president will never ask you to do,” Vance added.
“He’ll ask you to go to war, yes. But when he asks you to go to war, he’ll tell you exactly what you’re going for,” the veep noted further.
“And I think that is what you should expect out of your political leadership.”
“What I noticed about the people who are attacking the administration for negotiating is that they are the very same people who, for example, encouraged us to just go a little bit further and just drop a few more bombs in places like Afghanistan,” he said.
“If you go back to the mistakes that were made, those very same people refused to say what we were dropping bombs for,” he added.
“We dropped some bombs a couple of days ago… Because the Iranians were shooting at commercial ships… We applied some leverage, and we’ve had free commercial transit for the last three days,” Vance told the naval personnel.
