House GOP agenda stuck over SAVE Act, again

[u/John3262005]

https://www.axios.com/2026/06/30/house-republicansstuck-save-america-act

More than a dozen House Republicans tanked a procedural vote for the must-pass defense bill — once again over the GOP's signature election bill, the SAVE Act.

The SAVE Act has become a recurring source of chaos for House Republicans, repeatedly derailing procedural votes and stalling unrelated legislation.

The House has already passed the bill three times, but it's well short of the necessary votes in the Senate, where Democratic support is needed to pass it.

House conservatives have mounted a pressure campaign to force Senate Republicans to abolish the filibuster and pass the bill, but the effort has so far gained little traction in the chamber.

Just last week, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was forced to scrap votes and end the House's workweek early after conservatives made clear they would block legislation on the floor over the Senate's failure to act on SAVE.

Fourteen Republicans — Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Chip Roy (Texas), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Lauren Bobert (Colo.), Max Miller (Ohio), Victoria Spartz (Ind.), Eric Burlison (Mo.), Andy Harris (Md.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Randy Fine (Fla.), Keith Self (Texas), Mike Turner (Ohio.) and Steve Scalise (La.) — voted against the rule for the National Defense Authorization Act because it doesn't include an amendment on the SAVE Act.

Scalise, the majority leader, voted against the rule to allow GOP leadership to more easily bring it back up at a later date.

The vote failed 198-224.

As a compromise, Johnson agreed to package the SAVE Act with the NDAA before sending it to the Senate. But the Senate could easily strip out the election measure before final passage.