President Donald Trump announced over the weekend that he will not sign anything into law until the passage of the SAVE America Act, which would change voter ID requirements ahead of November's midterm elections.
The GOP's signature election reform effort, which passed the House in February, now finds itself at the top of Trump's demands -- saying in a social media post on Sunday that passing the SAVE Act "supersedes everything else" and that he "will not sign other Bills until this is passed."
But to get the bill to the finish line, Senate Republican leaders will have to overcome a 60-vote hurdle. Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, described the legislation as "dead on arrival" after he said it blocks Americans from voting due to lack to specific documents.
Top Republicans aren’t optimistic either.
"You're talking about the need to table what are going to be numerous amendments and an ability to keep 50 Republicans unified pretty much on every single vote, and there's just not, there isn't support for doing that at this point," Senate Majority Leader John Thune said last month. "As I've said, and we will get on it and we will have a vote on the Save Act."
Trump made several claims on the SAVE America Act recently -- including during his State of the Union address -- as debate continues between lawmakers on the bill's effectiveness and potential impact.
Fact Check: False
Trump made the claim in a social media post last week -- and it's a statement he has repeated often.
There has been no credible evidence of widespread fraud in American elections, especially regarding noncitizen voting.
Experts have long insisted that noncitizen voting is a vanishingly rare problem, making up a miniscule fraction of total ballots cast. Voter roll audits before the 2024 elections in Georgia found only 20 registered noncitizens out of 8.2 million registered voters statewide. Nine of those actually cast a ballot.
In Iowa, 2024 audits show similar results. Out of the 2.3 million registered voters, 87 ballots were flagged as cast by individuals who later self-reported as noncitizens.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank and sponsor for Project 2025, found 1,620 instances of voter fraud since 1982, when it began tracking the data. Nearly 1,400 of those ended in criminal convictions.
"It amounts to a vanishingly rare phenomenon that is not going to impact the outcome of our elections in any real way, and where the people who actually are violating the law are held accountable," said Sean Morales-Doyle, a voting rights expert at the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonprofit think tank.
Fact Check: Mostly True
Trump made the claim in a social media post over the weekend.
Polling for voter ID is high across the board, but Trump's number for Democrats is off by around 17%.
An August 2025 Pew Research Center study found that 83% of the more than 3,500 people surveyed are in favor of requiring voters to show government-issued photo ID at the polls.
Of those who identified as Democrats, 71% are in favor, and 95% of Republicans are recorded as supporting voter ID at the polls, according to the same survey.
Voter ID already exists in 36 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The SAVE America Act would require all 50 states to need photo ID before entering the ballot box, or show proof of citizenship if the voter doesn't have photo ID.
Fact Check: Needs context
Trump made the claim during the State of the Union address.
The Democrat's say that the SAVE America Act is discriminatory aligns with statements and data from several human rights groups and think tanks, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Brennan Center for Justice and Human Rights Watch.
The Brennan Center for Justice found that more than 21.3 million Americans don't have proof of citizenship available and "at least 3.8 million don’t have these documents at all, often because they were lost, destroyed, or stolen."
Around 8% of white Americans don't have their documents, according to their research, while the number is higher, at 11%, for Americans of color.
The Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit think tank focused on LGBTQ equality and civic participation, found that 21% of Black Americans and 23% of Hispanic Americans don't have access to a valid driver's license, compared to only 8% of white Americans.
"Laws like this have historically resulted in many eligible citizens being delayed or denied access to the ballot due to paperwork issues, database mismatches, or bureaucratic error," ACLU senior policy counsel Xavier Persad said.
Republicans have likened the use of photo ID at the polls to other common ID requirements such as the purchase of alcohol.
"If you have to use your photo ID to board an airplane, open a bank account or buy a six pack of beer, you should absolutely be required to show photo identification when voting," Republican Rep. Bryan Steil said.
While this is the case for Election Day for an already registered voter, the SAVE America Act's changes to registration adds complexity.
According to data from the State Department, 47% of Americans do not have a valid U.S. passport in 2025, one of the key documents identified in the bill for proving citizenship, and it can cost more than $130 to get one.
Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson of Texas likened the new proposals for voting to a "poll tax."
Even some Republicans have pushed back against the president's demands with Alaskan Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski arguing that the bill is not worth the bureaucracy.
"Election Day is fast approaching," Murkowski said. "Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies likely without the necessary resources."
On the other hand, Republican leaders argues it's a necessary step in ensuring the integrity of U.S. elections and it will not substantially affect voter turnout.
"You have to prove your identity because only U.S. citizens should vote and decide U.S. elections," House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters after the bill passed the House. "It's already in federal law, but there's no mechanism currently to ensure that that law is always followed, and this measure, the SAVE act, will help make sure that it's true."
Others, like Steil, are taking a more middle-ground approach.
"We need to make sure that if there is someone who truly doesn't have the financial means to be able to obtain identification, that they're able to do that," Steil said, adding that "making sure that this is not a financial burden is important, and I think the legislation accomplishes that goal."
Under the SAVE America Act, proof of citizenship documents must match a voter's current legal name or voters will have to follow a process to prove a name change.
The law allows for the use of a passport or to bring "additional documentation to the appropriate election official" in the case of a discrepancy.
Once that election official determines citizenship, they must sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury "affirming the applicant sufficiently established United States citizenship for purposes of registering to vote," according to the bill text.
The proposed process has drawn criticism from Democrats, who say the extra step for women -- whose surnames may have changed as a result of marriage -- means extra chances for disenfranchisement.
"Many people, including some married women and seniors, will be disenfranchised because of onerous identification requirements," Democratic Rep. Dina Titus said on social media.
Republicans, like Republican Rep. Mark Harris, argue it is surmountable.
"The SAVE America Act offers a simple process for name changes, including an affidavit at polls if needed," Harris said. "The SAVE America Act secures elections without barring American voters."
The SAVE America Act has no ban on mail-in voting, though Trump's comments tying the two suggest otherwise.
In his social media post over the weekend, Trump also urged Congress to pass a non- “watered-down” version of the bill, including no mail-in ballots with a few exceptions -- something that is not included in the original bill text for the SAVE Act.
Included in the bill are restrictions on mail-in registration, requiring proof of citizenship to still be presented "in person to the office of the appropriate election official."
A separate bill, the Make Elections Great Again Act, has a total ban on mail-in ballots except for illness, travel or military deployment. It would also require photo ID to vote and that states use auditable paper ballots.