House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that Republicans will move quickly to try to pass President Donald Trump's signature election bill through the budget reconciliation process after lawmakers return from the July Fourth recess, despite lingering doubts in the Senate over whether the measure qualifies under the chamber's rules.
Johnson said passing the SAVE America Act is his top legislative priority alongside Trump's and vowed to bring a reconciliation package to the floor this month, reports CNN.
"I just decided it was best to send everybody home to go celebrate July Fourth in their districts. We'll come back, gather everybody together," Johnson said Sunday. "The big urgency is to get SAVE America passed. The president has that as a top priority, and so do I."
The House recessed early last week after a small group of conservative Republicans, led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., blocked a procedural vote in protest over Congress' failure to send the SAVE America Act to Trump's desk.
Trump has increased pressure on Republican lawmakers to pass the legislation, delaying an intelligence nomination and declining to sign a bipartisan housing bill while urging Congress to act on the elections measure.
Speaking Saturday during the nation's 250th anniversary celebration on the National Mall, Trump renewed his call for the legislation.
"America is back, and we want to keep America great, and we will do so by approving the SAVE America Act," Trump said.
Johnson said the House has approved versions of the bill multiple times and argued that using the budget reconciliation process, which requires only a simple majority in the Senate, offers Republicans their best chance to overcome the chamber's 60-vote filibuster threshold.
"We're going to try one more time on a budget reconciliation bill, and I think that will be the way to get it through the Senate, and finally to the president's desk," Johnson said.
The SAVE America Act would impose new voter identification and proof-of-citizenship requirements for federal elections.
However, Senate Republicans remain divided over whether the legislation can survive the chamber's strict budget reconciliation rules. Earlier this year, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that the bill did not qualify for inclusion in a reconciliation package.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has resisted Trump's calls to dismiss MacDonough or eliminate the filibuster, although some Republicans, including Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, have argued the GOP should abolish the rule before Democrats eventually do.
"I understand it's a legitimate reason to have a filibuster when Democrats have control, but you have to be realistic, when Democrats get control, they will end it. So we ought to do it first," Ron Johnson said Sunday.
The speaker said he has spoken frequently with Thune and believes Senate concerns stem in part from uncertainty over whether Trump would seek to expand the bill beyond its core voter identification provisions to include restrictions on mail voting and transgender athletes participating in women's sports.
Johnson said the reconciliation package would focus primarily on the House-passed voter identification measure.
"What we're planning to do is send over a bill that will be irresistible for any Republican, really incredible piece of legislation that will get the job done, meaning that we will continue to increase affordability, we will reduce fraud, waste, and abuse in government, and we'll secure elections," he said.
Johnson also said he is considering linking the SAVE America Act to the annual National Defense Authorization Act, although Thune has warned that such a move could jeopardize passage of the must-pass defense bill in the Senate, where Democrats and some Republicans oppose attaching the elections measure.