Trump to stop signing legislation until voting bill passes

HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) — President Donald Trump said Sunday he will not sign any legislation until a voting bill is passed.

He wrote in a social media post that the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or the SAVE America Act, “supersedes everything else.”

The bill requires potential voters to show proof of citizenship before registering, as well as photo identification when casting ballots. It also directs states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls.

“MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE,” Trump wrote on Truth social. “I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed, AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION – GO FOR THE GOLD.”

The president demanded that the bill also include a ban on mail-in ballots and restrictions on transgender healthcare and athletic competition.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said last month that the chamber would decide on voter identification legislation at some point, but he dismissed the idea of eliminating the filibuster to do so. Sixty votes are needed to pass most bills in a process Trump has attacked.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote in an X post on Sunday that Democrats won’t help approve the president’s demanded legislation under any circumstances.

“The SAVE Act is Jim Crow 2.0. It would disenfranchise tens of millions of people,” Schumer said. “If Trump is saying he won’t sign any bills until the SAVE Act is passed, then so be it: there will be total gridlock in the Senate.”

It is rare for noncitizens to vote in elections. Republicans have argued that voter identification requirements are nonetheless necessary to prevent election fraud, which Trump and some lawmakers have maintained – without evidence – led to the president’s 2020 loss.

“America’s Elections are Rigged, Stolen, and a Laughingstock all over the World,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post last week. “We are either going to fix them, or we won’t have a Country any longer.”

The GOP may lose its majority in the House after November’s midterm elections. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who supported the president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, has spoken about the SAVE America Act in a similar tone as Trump.

“Proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote. Everyone in the country understands the necessity of that, understands how simple it is and how important it is,” Johnson told reporters last month. “And the only people that oppose it are people who want to cheat our system, who want to participate in our elections illegally, unlawfully.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has rejected the speaker’s allegations, asserting that Republicans are trying to suppress voting to protect themselves in the midterm elections.

Have questions, concerns or tips? Send them to Ray at rjlewis@sbgtv.com.