House GOP moves to require proof of citizenship, photo ID to vote in federal election

House GOP leaders are forging ahead on legislation aimed at imposing new federal guardrails to ensure only U.S. citizens vote in national elections.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., confirmed to Fox News Digital that the chamber would vote on the SAVE America Act introduced by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, next week.

It comes after conservatives threatened to extend the partial government shutdown earlier this week if the legislation was not included in Congress' bipartisan funding bills. But those lawmakers backed off their demands after getting assurances from the White House that the Senate would give the bill serious consideration.

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The House's vote next week hikes the growing pressure on the Senate to take up the bill, where it will face long odds of passing. Its backers are hoping a little-known maneuver called a "standing filibuster" will be key to breaking through Democratic opposition, however. 

"These are common-sense measures that protect American voters," Scalise explained to Fox News Digital on Thursday.

"Only Democrats in Congress could oppose these basic requirements that prevent voter fraud, and that's because they want illegal aliens to vote in our elections. Why else would they support open borders, oppose deporting illegal aliens, and oppose election security like picture ID?"

The SAVE America Act is an updated version of Roy's Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which passed the House in April 2025 but was never taken up in the Senate.

Whereas the SAVE Act would create a new federal proof of citizenship mandate in the voter registration process and impose requirements for states to keep their rolls clear of ineligible voters, the updated bill would also require photo ID to vote in any federal elections.

"It's all the same concept, right? I mean, you want citizenship, and then you want to guarantee that the person voting is the person voting. Photo ID is, I think, a critically important element to that, and we want to require that for federal elections," Roy told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

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The bill is expected to easily pass the House - the original SAVE Act got support from all Republicans and four Democrats - but its survival in the Senate is more complicated.

Most legislation needs 60 votes to break through a filibuster, meaning at least seven Democrats will need to vote with Republicans to advance the bill. 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., led a small coalition of conservatives threatening to extend the most recent government shutdown if the SAVE America Act was not attached to the funding bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on Tuesday.

Luna told reporters she spoke with the White House on Monday night where she got assurances that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is looking at using a maneuver called a "standing filibuster" to ensure a vote on the bill.

It would restore antiquated filibuster rules in the Senate that require opponents of a bill to be physically present in the chamber and speaking continuously to delay its consideration. 

The move would also eliminate the need for 60 votes to break a filibuster, which currently does not require lawmakers to be present in the chamber until a vote - rather, it would end when opponents were done speaking. Each senator can give a maximum of two speeches, though without any time constraints.

The downside of such a move is that it would grind Senate proceedings to a halt until the filibuster was over. But Roy argued that any such delay in the upper chamber's duties would fall squarely on Democrats' shoulders.

"What we're trying to say is that for something as important as sovereignty in our elections, we should force that question," Roy said. "If Democrats want … a long, drawn-out, talking filibuster, then let them explain that to the American people."

Scalise told Fox News Digital, "Once House Republicans pass this bill - and we will - I urge the Senate to quickly put it on the floor so we can send it to President Trump's desk. The American people are demanding action - Congress must answer their call and pass this critical legislation."