Rep. Julie Fedorchak will introduce legislation Thursday that aims to give Republicans a chance of incorporating some aspects of the GOP’s controversial elections overhaul into their next party-line bill that is set to be released in the coming weeks.
The North Dakota Republican’s bill, known as the “SAVE America Through REAL ID Act,” will try to meet strict Senate rules for the budget reconciliation process by establishing a grant program encouraging states to require federally mandated REAL IDs to vote. That would be an alternative to the proof-of-citizenship and voter-ID mandates in the original SAVE America Act that would likely be excluded from a party-line bill by the Senate parliamentarian.
REAL ID refers to federal verification standards for state-issued photo identification that ensure the holder is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident. It could serve as a backdoor way to implement a citizenship requirement, though legal permanent immigrants can legally hold REAL ID cards but cannot vote in federal elections. The bill would allocate $50 million each year from 2027 through 2031 for the program.
Congressional Republicans have struggled to pass the SAVE America Act, with one version stalled in the Senate despite repeated demands for action from President Donald Trump. Turning to reconciliation would sidestep a Democratic filibuster, but it would limit the GOP’s policy options given the strict fiscal rules governing the process. Fedorchak said in an interview the legislation aims to address a major concern she hears from critics about the SAVE America Act — that lower-income Americans won’t be able to afford REAL ID-compliant credentials.
“In order to address that one issue, we’ve created this grant program for states to use to help people who meet the income qualifications … to be able to get a free REAL ID,” she said.
That budgetary impact should allow the measure to be included in a reconciliation bill, she argued.
Speaker Mike Johnson also raised the topic in a closed-door meeting with about a dozen House Republicans of the Republican Governance Group caucus at their lunch Wednesday, according to three people inside the meeting.
Johnson indicated leaders were exploring how and if they could add some aspects of the SAVE America Act to the new GOP-only bill that House Republicans are racing to shape in the coming weeks.
The speaker briefly gauged interest among more centrist-leaning Republicans in the room on the topic as well as other proposed pieces of the forthcoming party-line package.
Fedorchak has discussed the elections legislation with Johnson and other key Republicans, including members of the House Administration Committee. GOP Rep. Laurel Lee, a former secretary of State in Florida, has also been working on the legislation and plans to co-sponsor the bill, Fedorchak said.
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