Johnson's strategy to bypass Democrats' SAVE Act blockade survives key vote, handing GOP big win

Fox News ^ | 7/20/26 | Elizabeth Elkind

[Libloather]

Speaker Mike Johnson's latest bid to skirt Democrats’ opposition to an election integrity bill backed by President Donald Trump survived a key hurdle on Monday evening.

The Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act has faced significant headwinds in Congress despite having Trump’s full-throated support. While it passed the House, the legislation has struggled in the Senate where at least several Democratic votes are needed to break a filibuster and advance to final passage.

But the new plan by Johnson, R-La., which would allow key parts of the bill to skirt Democrats entirely, is one step closer to getting a House-wide vote sometime this week.

Republicans would erase the need for any Democratic buy-in by putting key elements of the SAVE America Act into a larger budget reconciliation bill. The reconciliation process allows the party in power to pass sweeping fiscal policy reforms without input from their opposition by lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage to line up with the House’s simple majority requirement.

But there are strict guidelines for what can be in a reconciliation bill. Such legislation must deal with yearly federal spending and revenues, meaning issues that do not directly affect fiscal policy are generally excluded.

House Republicans are aiming to use this reconciliation bill to fund states’ election integrity efforts, replenish military funding amid the U.S. war with Iran, and dole out aid to American farmers.

In total, the legislation would set the stage for $95 billion in new federal spending across the next 10 years.

The first chamber-wide step in the reconciliation process is to pass a framework that directs the relevant committees to then craft details dealing with their allocated budgets. Those details are then put back into a single sweeping bill that must pass the House and Senate before getting to Trump’s desk...

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Conspiracy; History; Local News
KEYWORDS: gop; johnson; save; vote

[volare737]

The parliamentarian is a nothing more than another highly paid, big government, BOONDOGGLE job. Heck, no one even knows who it is without looking it up.

I guess the job is to provide some “adult supervision” —and the senate could not operate without it.

[SharpRightTurn]

“Senate parliamentarian will kill it. That’s my bet.”

I think there is a very good chance of that. Again, a failure by John Thune in not replacing the Dem. parliamentarian with a conservative one. The guy is Mitch McConnell 2.0, but without the knowledge and ability to use the archaic Senate rules to get things done.

[USS Alaska]

Senate parliamentarian will kill it. That’s my bet.

You win, but if thune had any balls she'd fire that bitch and ignore her ruling.

Well, that ain't gonna happen.

[volare737]

My last comment about the Senate not being to operate without it,,,,was, of course, sarcasm.

It’s amazing, though, that the parliamentarian’s salary is not made public. That, too, speaks volumes—it’s good work, I guess, if you can get it…lol

[Miami Rebel]

Correct. Johnson is powerless to advance this past the Senate. That’s been clear for months.