By Michael Katz | Thursday, 25 June 2026 09:09 PM EDT
President Donald Trump said some House Republicans are playing into the Democrats’ hands by stalling House business until the Senate passes the SAVE America Act, a GOP-backed voter ID bill.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is leading a coalition of Republicans in the lower chamber to block consideration of any bill until the Senate passes the SAVE America Act. This legislation would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo identification at the polls, while also tightening restrictions on mail-in ballots.
“House Republicans should unify, and stop voting down ‘Rules’ or threatening to do so,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday night after meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. “Giving power to the Radical Left Dumocrats in the House to control what goes up for a Vote will make our outcomes worse, not better. No more grandstanding, please! They are the Dumocrats, and we can’t let them WIN!”
Luna told reporters on Wednesday night that “there will be no votes on the House floor this week. We have a coalition formed of myself and other Republicans that are holding true to their word and our voters, that we want voter ID.”
House GOP leadership postponed a scheduled procedural rule vote Wednesday as the Republican coalition threatened to bring the chamber to a standstill. By Thursday, there was no resolution in sight, forcing Johnson to cancel votes Friday and send the House home for the week without voting on the procedural measure to allow the chamber to resume legislative business.
En route to meet Trump, Johnson told reporters, “We’re in an era with small margins and small majorities, and we’ve got to get things moving.”
“We passed the SAVE Act three times in the House,” Johnson said. “We’ll do it again. We’re working on that, and I’m going to talk with the president about these issues and how to get the agenda moving again—it’s going to be very productive.”
House GOP leaders have been unable to advance key legislation, including two appropriations bills this week. The blockade also threatens consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act next week if the impasse continues.
Johnson has floated including the SAVE America Act in a reconciliation package, which needs only simple majorities in both chambers to pass. But Luna has said that’s a non-starter because Senate reconciliation rules generally prohibit non-budgetary provisions.
Luna wrote Thursday night on X: “Attach SAVE America to FISA or NDAA.” She added: “Suggesting Reconciliation is an insult to our intelligence—everyone knows that will NEVER work. If Speaker Johnson wants us to open the House floor, these are the only options.”
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
