Speaker Johnson says House will pass Trump’s voter ID bill through arduous process after GOP revolt

(CNN) — House Speaker Mike Johnson said he plans to move quickly to advance President Donald Trump’s signature voter ID legislation through the arduous budget reconciliation process once the House returns to Washington, downplaying the heightened tensions within the GOP after he sent lawmakers home early for the holidays after a few Republicans brought the floor to a halt.

“I just decided it was best to send everybody home to go celebrate July Fourth in their districts. We’ll come back, gather everybody together,” he told Fox News on Sunday. “The big urgency is to get SAVE America passed. The president has that as a top priority, and so do I.”

Last week, a small group of conservative hardliners, led by Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, effectively blocked a key procedural vote to advance several bills on the floor out of protest that Congress had not sent the SAVE America Act to the president’s desk.

Driven by frustration, Trump has already held up a critical intelligence nomination and declined to sign a major bipartisan housing package, despite Senate GOP leaders insisting that they do not have the 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster and proceed with the elections overhaul bill.

The president again made his demands for the legislation public during a late-night speech on Saturday celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary.

“America is back, and we want to keep America great, and we will do so by approving the SAVE America Act,” he said to a crowd gathered on the National Mall, which included several Republican lawmakers.

Johnson pointed out that the House has passed a version of the voter ID bill multiple times, adding, “We’re going to try one more time on a budget reconciliation bill, and I think that will be the way to get it through the Senate, and finally to the president’s desk.”

House GOP leaders believe that using a budget framework, which would only require a simple majority of votes, to pass the SAVE America Act with only Republicans in both chambers of Congress is the best path forward. They have successfully used this method twice during Trump’s second term – to advance a major domestic agenda law and to fund immigration enforcement.

However, many Senate Republicans are skeptical that they could muscle the legislation through under their strict rules around the budget reconciliation process.

During the last reconciliation push earlier this year, Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that Trump’s expansive voter ID bill did not comply with the chamber’s rules dictating which legislation is eligible to be in a budget framework.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has long resisted calls by Trump to fire MacDonough, as well as demands to eliminate the filibuster rule.

Though many GOP senators warn against blowing up the filibuster and empowering a potential future Democratic-led Senate from more easily pushing through their priorities, others, like Trump ally Sen. Ron Johnson, argue that Democrats would nuke the filibuster on their own.

“I understand it’s a legitimate reason to have a filibuster when Democrats have control, but you have to be realistic, when Democrats get control, they will end it. So we ought to do it first,” the Wisconsin Republican said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.”

The House Speaker said he had spoken to Thune “quite a bit” about the plan, claiming that GOP senators’ doubt that the SAVE America Act can be passed through reconciliation is “based upon what they think may be in it,” as the president has pushed for additional measures, including attaching restrictions on mail ballots and transgender athletes, to the voter ID bill.

He claimed that Trump understands that limiting voting by mail would be a “bigger reach,” and insisted that the core legislation the House has already passed – adding strict new ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting – would be the focus of a budget process.

“What we’re planning to do is send over a bill that will be irresistible for any Republican, really incredible piece of legislation that will get the job done, meaning that we will continue to increase affordability, we will reduce fraud, waste, and abuse in government, and we’ll secure elections,” he said.

As House lawmakers left town for an extended holiday recess, Johnson laid out his plan to link the SAVE America Act and a must-pass bipartisan defense policy package together, ramping up pressure on the Senate to address Trump’s voter ID demands.

He said he would discuss the strategy with Thune, who previously warned that it could tank the National Defense Authorization Act in the Senate, as a few Republicans are wary of and all Democrats will oppose, a package including the controversial elections bill.

Still, Johnson made clear he believes that reconciliation is GOP leaders’ best shot at getting the SAVE America Act over the finish line, vowing to approve a framework this month.

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CNN’s Ellis Kim and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.