House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Newsmax on Wednesday that it's necessary to attach the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to the continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government to protect the integrity of the November election.
"It doesn't matter whether you're Republican or Democrat — only U.S. citizens should decide U.S. elections," Johnson said on "Wake Up America." "That is current federal law, but the problem is, right now, we have no mechanism to ensure that non-citizens aren't participating. All these millions of illegals who have flooded over that open border since the border czar, [Vice President] Kamala Harris, and [President] Joe Biden opened it, many of them are signing up to vote and we can't allow them to taint the election.
"So, this is our last opportunity to require proof of citizenship for someone to participate in the election cycle. We have at least six or seven states that have already done audits and proven they have non-citizens on the rolls. It's a serious and immediate problem, and Congress has to address it. And we're going to do that today."
Johnson, asked if he's willing to shut down the government if the legislation doesn't pass the House, said he doesn't "think it's going to come to that."
"We're on the field in the middle of the game," he said. "We're running this play today, and I intend to score. There's a playbook with lots of ideas, but we're not discussing a plan B. This is the play and the reason it is, is because it's the right thing to do. This is the principled position. It's what we're required to do — to do everything within our power to secure that election.
"I've been traveling nonstop. I've done campaign events in over 205 cities now, in 40 states so far. Every public forum, without exception, the first or second question from the audience is, 'Can we count on the integrity of the election?' This is a big, big thing, and we have an opportunity today to try to force the hand of [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer [D-N.Y.] and the Democrats in the Senate. This is our opportunity to do it, and we've got to go for it."
Johnson also said House Republicans will have done their part to ensure the federal government remains open if they pass the bill Wednesday and send it over to the Senate.
"We will push that into the first quarter of next year — a six-month CR — which will then allow us to be in the driver's seat for federal spending," he said. "That's when President Trump will be reelected as president. We'll have Republican control of the Senate and the House, we're convinced, and we will be able to actually do spending reform like we all want to do. That's a very important step. But we pass this today, we send that over there, if Chuck Schumer decides not to run that bill, then it is he who will be deciding to shut down the government, not the Republicans."
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Nicole Wells ✉
Nicole Wells, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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