Key House committee advances nationwide voter ID bill, setting up 2026 election fight

The House of Representatives is readying to vote on a bill that would mandate photo identification for voters across the United States in the coming 2026 midterm elections.

The House Rules Committee, the final gatekeeper before most bills see a chamber-wide vote, advanced the SAVE America Act on Tuesday as conservatives continue to pressure the Senate to take up the bill after its likely House passage.

It's a sweeping piece of legislation aimed at keeping non-citizens from participating in U.S. elections.

Democrats have attacked the bill as tantamount to voter suppression, while Republicans argue that it's necessary after the influx of millions of illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. during the four years of the Biden administration.

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Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters it would get a vote on Wednesday.

The legislation is led by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, in the House, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, in the Senate.

It is an updated version of Roy's Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which passed the House in April 2025 but was never taken up in the Senate.

Whereas the SAVE Act would create a new federal proof of citizenship mandate in the voter registration process and impose requirements for states to keep their rolls clear of ineligible voters, the updated bill would also require photo ID to vote in any federal elections.

It would also require information-sharing between state election officials and federal authorities in verifying citizenship on current voter rolls and enable the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pursue immigration cases if non-citizens were found to be listed as eligible to vote.

The legislation is highly likely to pass the House, where the vast majority — if not virtually all — Republicans have supported similar pushes in the past.

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But in the Senate, where current rules say 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster and hold a final vote on a bill, at least seven Democrats would be needed even if all Republicans stuck together.

It's why House conservatives are pushing Senate GOP leaders to change rules in a way that would effectively do away with the 60-vote threshold, even if alternative paths mean paralyzing the upper chamber with hours of nonstop debate.

"[Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.] will take it up. The only question is, will he take it up in an environment where it can pass?" Roy posed to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. 

"My view is that the majority leader can and should. I'm not afraid of amendment votes…we should table all their amendments, force them to run through all their speaking, make them take the floor and filibuster."