DORAL, Fla. \u2013 President Trump on Monday pushed for the passage of a GOP voting requirements bill, telling House Republicans that enacting the legislation will \u201cguarantee the midterms\u201d and reiterating that he won\u2019t sign any other bills until it gets passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt will guarantee the midterms. If you don\u2019t get it, big trouble,\u201d Trump said at the House GOP\u2019s annual issues conference in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe people are demanding it. Every time I go out, save America! Save America! We want the SAVE America Act! That\u2019s all they talk about. They don\u2019t talk about housing. They don\u2019t talk about anything. That\u2019s what they talk about. And if you send it up there, you will win the midterms and you will win every election for a long time,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in elections and the presentation of an ID to cast a ballot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It cleared the House in February on a 218-213 vote but has stalled in the Senate, where Democrats argue it would create new barriers to voting. The measure would need support from at least some Senate Democrats to overcome a filibuster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump also urged House Republicans to draft a new version of the bill that would include additional provisions, such as \u201cno mail-in-ballots except for illness, disability, military or travel\u201d and the prohibition of transgender athletes playing in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you could, if I could ask the people in this room, to go for the gold. We are going for the gold,\u201d Trump said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going for the bronze. We\u2019re not going to sign a watered-down version like it\u2019s been sent up there. Let\u2019s go for the gold, and let\u2019s just not accept anything else. I will tell you what, I\u2019m willing to just sort of say I\u2019m not going to sign anything until this is approved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump called for the bill\u2019s passage in a Truth Social post over the weekend, saying he \u201cwill not sign other Bills until this is passed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote on the social platform X, \u201cThe SAVE Act is Jim Crow 2.0. It would disenfranchise tens of millions of people. If Trump is saying he won\u2019t sign any bills until the SAVE Act is passed, then so be it: there will be total gridlock in the Senate. Senate Democrats will not help pass the SAVE Act under any circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump and many conservative lawmakers have pushed Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to sidestep Democratic opposition by returning to a \u201ctalking filibuster,\u201d which would force Democrats to speak continuously on the Senate floor to delay the bill. Once they cede the floor, Republicans could pass the measure with 51 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think the Senate has to approve it,\u201d Trump said Monday. \u201cI really do. And they\u2019re going to have to go the filibuster, and maybe it\u2019s going to be the talking filibuster \u2026 but they have to get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Thune has previously said it would be very hard to advance government funding legislation or a bipartisan bill to make housing more affordable if Republicans have to spend time trying to break a Democratic blockade of the SAVE America Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He told reporters on Monday that a talking filibuster is \u201cmuch more complicated and risky than people are assuming at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n