Four House Democrats join Republicans to pass SAVE Act
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The House of Representatives passed the SAVE Act Thursday, with nearly all of the support coming from Republicans . While 208 Democrats voted against the measure, four Democrats joined the GOP in sending it to the Senate.
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which passed in the House by a 220-208 vote , would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
The four Democrats who crossed party lines to vote for the SAVE Act were Reps. Ed Case (D-HI), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Jared Golden (D-ME), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA).
Three of the four are members of the Blue Dog Coalition of centrist Democrats, with Perez being a co-chair of the group. Case, who is not currently a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, was formerly a group co-chair.
Perez issued a statement following the vote on Thursday affirming her stance on the SAVE Act while suggesting it has little chance of passing in the Senate. The Washington Democrat offered up her own bipartisan election integrity proposal as an option she believes could pass the Senate.
“I do not support noncitizens voting in American elections — and that’s common sense to folks in Southwest Washington. Voting in our nation’s elections is a sacred right belonging only to American citizens, and my vote for the SAVE Act reflects that principle," Perez said.
All four, except for Case, voted for the SAVE Act in the previous Congress . Two other members voted for the bill in the 118th Congress but voted against it on Thursday. The two members who flipped their votes to "no" were Reps. Don Davis (D-NC) and Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX).
Golden previously defended his vote to pass the SAVE Act in the last Congress as a reflection of his principle "that citizenship in the United States confers awesome responsibilities and exclusive rights in equal measure — including the exclusive right to vote in American elections," arguing it is "noncontroversial."
The SAVE Act is likely to be filibustered in the Senate, where Republicans do not have a 60-vote threshold to overcome Democratic efforts to block its passage.
Tags
Who is online
41 visitors
There is nothing like bipartisanship.
A solution in search of a problem.