Legislative activity in the House of Representatives has ground to a halt as a group of conservative lawmakers continues its protest over the stalled SAVE America Act. More than a dozen Republicans have maintained a blockade, effectively freezing legislative business and forcing a delay on several key votes.
On Tuesday, a procedural vote failed 198-224, preventing the advancement of various legislative items. Among these was a critical defense spending bill slated to be combined with the SAVE America Act. Fourteen Republicans cast "no" votes, contributing to the defeat.
The conservative members who opposed the measure included Representatives Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Max Miller (R-Ohio), Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Andy Harris (R-Md.), Randy Fine (R-Fla.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), Keith Self (R-Texas), Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.). Representative Mike Turner (R-Ohio) also voted against the measure, reportedly due to an unrelated objection concerning the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), while House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) changed his vote to "no" to enable future reconsideration. Speaker Johnson, operating with a narrow majority, can ill afford such defections.
Pressure from Leadership and Former President Trump
The ongoing floor blockade has placed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in a difficult position as he attempts to push through legislative priorities before the upcoming July 4 recess. Both Johnson and former President Donald Trump have publicly criticized the tactics employed by the conservative faction.
Last week, Trump urged the cohort to cease "grandstanding" in a social media post. Speaker Johnson echoed this sentiment, calling their hardline approach "self-defeating" for the Republican agenda.
"It doesn't make any sense," Johnson told reporters on Monday. "We have to move forward with legislation and that's what I'll be telling them all."
Reports indicated a tense discussion between Johnson and Representative Luna, along with other holdouts, shortly before Tuesday's failed vote.
The SAVE America Act and Strategic Maneuvers
The SAVE America Act, an election measure backed by former President Trump, has been languishing in the Senate for months due to significant opposition from Democrats. In an effort to appease conservative hardliners, Speaker Johnson employed an unusual procedural tactic this week to revive the bill.
GOP leadership proposed attaching the SAVE America Act to the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for transmission to the Senate. The House had previously passed a version of the SAVE America Act, but Johnson argued that packaging it with the traditionally bipartisan defense bill would increase its likelihood of passage in the upper chamber.
"Let's just have the full bill that's still sitting there and has been transmitted to the Senate, let's send it again, but put it as part of something that we hope and believe will be a bipartisan vote in both chambers, and that Democrats in the Senate will understand," Johnson explained during a press conference on Tuesday.
Despite Johnson's strategy, the conservative holdouts largely withheld their support, expressing skepticism that the maneuver would compel the Senate to act on the SAVE America Act. They have consistently demanded that leadership force the Senate's hand on the election measure, which Trump has declared his top legislative priority.
Representative Luna specified her preference for the SAVE America Act to be included as an amendment to the NDAA, or for a separate amendment requiring proof of citizenship for voter identification to be attached to the defense policy bill.
"IF IT IS NOT DONE THIS WAY, IT WILL EASILY BE TAKEN OUT," Luna posted on social media just before the vote.
While both Trump and Johnson have sharply criticized the legislative blockage, Representative Luna has disputed the characterization that her group is derailing the Republican agenda.
"To, you know, say that we're holding up the process. This is legislating," the Florida lawmaker stated to reporters on Monday, standing alongside Representative Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who has also joined the protest for the SAVE America Act. "If people elected us to just come up here and vote in line with what the party wants, then it would be a whole lot different."
It is worth noting that the Senate is currently considering its own version of the NDAA, which does not incorporate the election measure.
Beyond the SAVE America Act, Tuesday's procedural vote also encompassed other items, including funding for the State Department and foreign operations for fiscal year 2027, and a Republican-sponsored resolution recognizing the one-year anniversary of former President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Some conservatives, such as Representative Chip Roy (R-Texas), had also threatened to withdraw their support during the test vote due to a separate stalled border security package they wish to bring to a full chamber vote. Speaker Johnson had previously promised conservatives a vote on this legislation before the July 4 recess, but that deadline now appears unlikely to be met, with the bill text yet to be released.
"There's no consensus," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) informed reporters on Tuesday. "At the end of the day, we've got to have consensus before we can move forward."
