House Republicans Say It's Too Late For Proof-Of-Citizenship Voting Bill To Help This Year

Multiple GOP lawmakers told HuffPost that there’s not enough time for states to implement the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act.

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday that Congress must pass new rules for voter registration to head off the supposed threat of noncitizens illegally voting in November’s election.

“The American people understand this,” Johnson said at a press conference. “They want us, and they deserve us, to take this action and to make sure that illegals cannot taint the election.”

Johnson has scheduled a Wednesday afternoon vote on a Republican bill that would add new paperwork requirements aimed at stopping noncitizens from registering to vote in federal elections, which is already illegal.

Johnson has attached the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, to a must-pass government funding bill to boost its chances of getting through Congress. The gambit likely won’t work.

But even if Congress were to approve the SAVE Act, and President Joe Biden signed it into law this week, multiple House Republicans, all of whom support the legislation, said Tuesday that there wouldn’t be enough time for the new rules to have an impact before Election Day.