House Speaker Mike Johnson told “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo that the House of Representatives would be returning to Washington, D.C. to continue “good work” on legislation Monday.
Johnson postponed votes Friday after Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna led a group of holdouts who threatened to not allow any legislation to move forward until the Senate passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act. Johnson told Bartiromo he told Luna and other “colleagues” that the “good work” Republicans had to do shouldn’t be derailed over Democratic obstruction of the election integrity measure in the Senate.
“I told Anna Paulina Luna and a couple other colleagues— I said, ‘It makes no sense for us to shut down our good work in the House just because Senate Democrats refuse to do the people’s will,’” Johnson told Bartiromo. “We’ve got a lot more to do, we’ve got to keep it going.”
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Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joined 46 Democrats in voting down an amendment which would have attached the SAVE America Act to the immigration enforcement reconciliation bill President Donald Trump signed June 10.
Johnson told Bartiromo that House Republicans would put the SAVE America Act into a reconciliation bill, and that the GOP would also be working on the National Defense Authorization Act, reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and appropriations bills.
“This time we’re going to try to put it on a reconciliation bill and the reason that’s so important, Maria, as you know, is it prevents the necessity of 60 votes in the Senate,” Johnson said. “The Democrats want no part of this, and remember, this is very basic stuff.”
“We’re just going to make sure you have to have proof of citizenship to register to vote and then show an ID when you turn out at the ballot box,” Johnson continued. “These are 90-10 public opinion issues and more than 70 percent of Democrats want to do it, but not the Democrats in the House and Senate and so we’ve got to go around them.”
Trump said in a Truth Social post he would not support reauthorizing FISA unless the SAVE America Act was included, and threatened to withhold federal funds from states that do not implement the legislation.
“I’ve got to have everybody working here on all cylinders and I’m excited to bring them back,” Johnson told Bartiromo.
The Senate recessed Wednesday until July 13 after Trump cancelled the signing ceremony for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act over the upper chamber’s failure to pass the SAVE America Act.
(DCNF)