House clears GOP budget package with SAVE Act provisions

House Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing a complex legislative package through the House this week, aiming to advance key Republican priorities, including election security measures, before lawmakers depart for a month-long recess on Friday, July 24. The strategy involves bundling several major bills, with a central effort to use a budget reconciliation process to enact parts of the stalled SAVE America Act, which would impose federal voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements.

The legislative push survived a key procedural hurdle on Monday, July 20, when the House Rules Committee advanced a framework setting up a chamber-wide vote. A procedural vote is expected Tuesday afternoon, July 21, with a final vote anticipated Wednesday. The package includes four main components: a ban on congressional stock trading, a stopgap spending bill to fund the government through December 4, the annual National Defense Authorization Act, and a $95 billion budget resolution.

That budget resolution is the cornerstone of the strategy for the SAVE America Act. It directs four House committees to craft a reconciliation bill allocating $73 billion for defense and intelligence, largely related to the...