House Republicans will give Democrats another “opportunity” to pass the SAVE Act, a measure to prevent noncitizens from voting in American elections, that will also, if tied to a continuing resolution, “responsibly fund the government,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Tuesday.

“Only U.S. citizens should vote in U.S. elections, and the Democrats apparently don’t agree with that,” Johnson said at the weekly House Republican Leadership press conference. “When we put [the SAVE Act] on the floor in July, 198 House Democrats voted against it. Well, we’re going to give them another opportunity.”

He added he believes “we can do both things.”

“I believe that we can fund the government responsibly, and I believe that we can do right by the American people and ensure the security of our elections,” Johnson said. “I defy anybody to give me any logical argument why we shouldn’t do that.”

After the press conference, Johnson said Republicans will “put the SAVE Act and the CR together, and we’re going to move that through the process … we’re not looking at any other alternative,” NBC News reported.

He added almost 90% of Americans believe in the principle of allowing only citizens to vote, and “that’s why we’re going to stand and fight.”

The SAVE Act is vital, Johnson said during the news conference, because the United States is an era of “razor-thin election margins.”

“If you have a few thousand illegals participate in an election in the wrong place, you can change the makeup of Congress, and you can affect the presidential election,” he continued.

“The American people understand this. It is an 87% issue. Almost 90/10, and doesn’t matter what party people are in. They demand, and they deserve us to take this action and make sure that illegals cannot taint the election.”

The House is expected Tuesday to vote on a rule to dictate debate time and how the continuing resolution will come to the floor, NBC reported.

The combined vote, though, is coming with some opposition from at least a half-dozen Republicans who say they will vote against the measure, including Reps. Jim Banks, R-Ind., Cory Mills, R-Fla., and Matt Rosendale, R-Mont.

But Johnson said the SAVE Act is a response to the immediate threat of noncitizens voting. 

“They say it’s not really a problem,” he said. “Democrats say it’s already against federal law. It is against federal law, but so is minors buying alcohol, but we still require identification to do it. Why? Just because something’s on the books doesn’t mean people are going to comply.

“It is an exceedingly logical thing to require the states to request proof of citizenship before they sign somebody up to vote.”

The SAVE Act:

• Requires state elections officials to request proof of citizenship for every person registering to vote, while giving them access to federal databases to confirm citizenship status.
• Requires state officials to clean up their voter rolls, while requiring the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to determine whether to conduct deportation proceedings for immigrants illegally in the country who register to vote.
• Allows officials to accept a wide variety of documents as identification and to establish an alternative procedure for people who have lost their papers.
• Requires the Department of Homeland Security to notify state chief elections officials if a person has been naturalized, to allow the nation’s newest citizens to vote.

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