Congress remains deadlocked over a voting bill and spending package, as House Republicans push a $95 billion budget plan that bundles defense spending, farm aid, and voting restrictions, while the Senate balks at the controversial voting measures and bipartisan spending negotiations stall.
House Republicans unveiled the $95 billion legislative package on July 15, advancing it through the House Budget Committee with a 20-14 vote on July 16, according to Democracy Docket. The plan includes $10 billion in election-related grants designed to coax states into adopting voting restrictions similar to the SAVE America Act, a measure that would require documentary proof of citizenship to register and photo ID to cast ballots.
The SAVE America Act has become a flashpoint in Congress. The House passed a narrower version in February 2026 that focused only on citizenship and voter ID requirements, but it stalled in the Senate after extended debate. Four Senate Republicans joined all Democrats to block the measure in a June 4 vote, and again in early June, according to Fox News. The legislation requires 60 votes to advance in the Senate under normal procedures, a threshold Republicans cannot meet without Democratic support.
President Trump has refused to let the proposal die, using his Independence Day speech to advocate for the SAVE America Act and repeatedly urging the Senate to pass it in honor of Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died unexpectedly in July. In his Thursday night speech, Trump is expected to repeat false allegations about the 2020 election to rally support for the bill, according to Democracy Docket.
Republicans are attempting an unusual procedural workaround by attaching voting restrictions to the budget reconciliation process, which allows passage with a simple majority and bypasses the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold. However, the Senate Parliamentarian ruled last month that the SAVE America Act provisions do not fit the bill’s budgetary nature, leading Trump to call for her ouster, as reported by The Hill.
Separately, bipartisan spending talks have deteriorated. As of late June, negotiations between Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the panel, stalled, forcing Republicans to cancel a markup of four appropriations bills scheduled for June 27, according to The Hill. Senate Republicans and some Democrats now fear another government shutdown is looming in the fall, with the election season approaching and negotiations deadlocked over defense versus nondefense spending ratios.
Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has emerged as a key obstacle to the SAVE America Act, promising on the Senate floor Thursday that he would block any new efforts to pass the bill. “If I see a reconciliation bill come from the House with another failed attempt to confuse this election, I will use every device I have available to slow down the wheels of government until people cop a clue and do the math,” Tillis said, according to The Hill and Democracy Docket.
Budget experts have expressed skepticism that the grant-based workaround will survive Senate scrutiny. Matt Glassman, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Government Affairs Institute, told Democracy Docket in March that “finding a workaround to tie it to budgetary-related matters would be unlikely to pass muster.” Even if the Senate passed the $10 billion grant program, it would not affect the 2026 midterm elections, as implementation would not begin until Fiscal Year 2027, which starts October 1, 2026.
Sources
- Democracy Docket — House Republicans’ SAVE America Act push in reconciliation package, Senate Parliamentarian ruling, Tillis opposition statement, expert analysis
- The Hill — Bipartisan spending talks stalling, shutdown fears, Tillis statement
- Fox News — Senate Republican votes against SAVE America Act in June 2026
