Why Is the SAVE America Act Going Nowhere?

Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. And yet the SAVE America Act, the bill requiring proof of citizenship to register for federal elections, has been sitting in legislative limbo for months. The House already passed it. Polling shows the public overwhelmingly supports it. Common sense says it should be a layup.

It isn’t, and the reason may have very little to do with arithmetic.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) sits on a 53-seat majority and still can’t get the SAVE America Act to the floor for a vote that sticks. The bill, which the House passed 218-213 in February, is remarkably simple: it requires proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and a photo ID to cast a ballot. Heck, it’s not just simple, it’s common sense. It’s the kind of election-integrity measure that should unite both parties. Of course, Democrats are adamantly opposed to election integrity. But Republicans have spent years demanding election integrity, yet for some reason, they’re not united behind the SAVE America Act. Heck, Thune talks about it like it’s a fight worth having while acting like it’s already lost.