After three years of importing millions of illegal immigrants under the open borders regime of President Joe Biden and “border czar” Kamala Harris, I hear fears from my own constituents as well as people across the country that noncitizens and illegal immigrants could vote and influence the outcome of the 2024 election. Meanwhile, the threat of a destructive post-election lame duck session that would strengthen Democrats and pave the way for all manner of legislative sins looms on the horizon.
Republicans can use the September 30 funding deadline to address both issues by pairing the SAVE Act with a funding extension through 2025.
It forces Democrats to answer a simple question: “Do you support requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, or do you support illegal voting by noncitizens?” It also prevents the single party from using the lame duck to pass another omnibus spending bill that shatters the wage cap and solidifies the Democrats’ radical agenda until the start of a possible Trump administration.
It’s no wonder that members of the one-party system—from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)—hate this play; it puts them in the last place on earth they want to be: trapped in indefensible opposition to the demands of the vast majority of the American people.
In July, we passed the SAVE Act (HR 8281) in the House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis. The bill simply requires states to verify citizenship before registering a person to vote and gives states tools to identify and remove non-citizens already registered, while ensuring that every eligible American citizen can vote.
Yet Chuck Schumer and his cronies have blocked consideration of the SAVE Act in the Senate. That’s why it’s essential to force the issue by attaching it to a funding resolution, which would force Democratic senators to take it up.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) speaks during a news conference with members of the House Freedom Caucus outside the U.S. Capitol on September 12, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Democrats have tried—and failed—to downplay the importance of the SAVE Act, falsely claiming that bringing millions of illegal immigrants into the country would have no impact on our elections because, according to the Biden-Harris administration, “it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.”
They neglect to mention that the Supreme Court’s interpretation of current federal law literally prevents states from verifying the citizenship status of people registering to vote in federal elections. They also neglect to tell you that several Democratic-run jurisdictions are actively working to register noncitizens to vote. The SAVE Act solves each of these problems.
Republican administrations across the country are highlighting the absurdity of the Democrats’ position. Last month, the state of Texas announcement It had removed more than 6,500 noncitizens from its voter rolls since 2021. Also last month, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said The state had removed more than 6,300 non-citizens from its voter rolls.
But removing noncitizens from the voter rolls seems to be a practice unique to Republican administrations. The executive branches of key states like Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina are controlled by Democrats and have made no effort to do so. Remember, these states were won by just a few thousand votes in the last election, meaning that every registered noncitizen could influence the outcome. Democrats know this.
Democrats – and many Republicans – also fear the prospect of a future Trump administration. That’s why the single-party system wants a transition session, because it offers an opportunity to paralyze the next administration.
Case in point: In December 2022, just after Republicans won the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, Democrats—aided by 18 Republican senators—passed a $1.7 trillion omnibus bill that entrenched Democratic policies and provided $45 billion for Ukraine. They did so even as the new Republican majority in the House urged Senate Republicans to let us shape the appropriations bills for the new year.
History will repeat itself in December if Republicans refuse to do the right thing, which is to freeze spending at current levels through 2025, or even the end.
If President Donald Trump wins, Democrats will seize the opportunity to pass an omnibus bill that shatters current spending caps and hamstrings his administration in its first nine months. In addition, Senate warmongers are already pushing for more funding for Ukraine before it expires in January. The debt ceiling will also be reinstated in January 2025, meaning that Democrats and weak-kneed Republicans will push for a multi-trillion dollar debt ceiling increase with no spending restrictions for fear of a “default.”
The threat of non-citizen voting And A lame duck session is why the House Freedom Caucus is in a historically unique situation position to officially push for a continuing resolution until 2025 with the SAVE Act attached.
I understand the desire to focus on single-issue appropriations bills with conservative language (like defunding Jack Smith’s politicized lawsuit against President Trump). I am not a fan of funding extensions (i.e., “continuation resolutions”), but the time has come for the House to pass and force the Senate to pass robust FY 2025 appropriations bills. Congress was unexpectedly absent for the entire month of August; we simply will not pass the remaining seven appropriations bills and negotiate with the Senate, which has not passed any FY 2025 appropriations measures, until September 30.
This means that it is time for Republicans to react or shut up.
Instead of giving Democrats and Republican spenders exactly what they want, we should demand that we avoid a lame duck Christmas tree of spending. We should force Democrats to explain their opposition to common sense proof of citizenship requirements, knowing that over 80% of Americans support them!
Only American citizens should vote in American elections, as the text of the United States Constitution clearly provides and as the law requires. Swamp creatures from either party should not be pushing through massive spending bills right before Christmas. Republicans can therefore offer the American people a win-win solution on both issues by passing a spending freeze at current levels through 2025 and attaching the SAVE Act to protect the votes of American citizens.
Let’s take action for the American people.
Chip Roy represents Texas’s 21st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.
Breitbart News
