Mike Johnson

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is leading the faction demanding passage of the SAVE America Act, which requires voter ID to cast a ballot and proof of citizenship to register to vote nationwide. The House previously passed the measure, but it’s stalled in the Senate because of insufficient support to break the chamber’s 60-vote filibuster threshold.

“We should be doing everything to pass SAVE America,” Luna posted on X. “Add it to reconciliation. Add it to NDAA. Add it to FISA. Add it to every must pass bill.”

Luna’s cause was buoyed on Friday, after President Donald Trump announced he would not put his signature on a bipartisan housing bill ahead of the 10-day deadline for him to do so because the Senate had not passed the SAVE America Act. The legislation became law Saturday at midnight without Trump’s signature.

Johnson attempted to advance the NDAA in June by merging the defense bill and the SAVE America Act upon passage in the House. But Luna ultimately rejected the approach, insisting it be included in the text of the NDAA itself to ensure its passage in the Senate.

Johnson has said Luna’s opposition to his plan to advance the two priorities was “simply inaccurate.”

“I’ve had the conversation with her many times and with our Senate colleagues as well,” Johnson said during an appearance on Fox News in late June. “What she was saying just frankly isn’t true. What we did was a MIRV, and that’s a technical term to say we merged the NDAA — the National Defense Authorization Act — with the SAVE America Act that we passed back in February unanimously with all Republican votes.”

“That puts it in the base text,” Johnson explained. “It merges the two bills into one and is transmitted to the Senate that way.”

Still, Luna appears poised to continue the GOP blockade until her demands are fulfilled, telling Punchbowl News on Friday that “Nothing right now has changed for me.”

“It’s time to smoke out some rats in the Senate,” she said.

Another problem for Johnson is a faction of GOP hard-liners upset that leadership did not schedule a promised vote on an immigration bill passed last Congress that would limit asylum and parole before the July 4 recess.

Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) told reporters that leadership’s failure to put a border security measure on the floor was “the main impetus” for him voting to block legislation from coming to the floor.

The promise was made last month in exchange for GOP holdouts’ support on passing a party-line $70 billion immigration enforcement bill.

“They came to us, assured us, made a promise, and then we kept our side of the promise,” Burlison said. “We voted, and then they don’t keep their side of the promise. So, at some point, you’ve got to keep people to their word.”

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The House Rules Committee is scheduled to meet on Monday to consider a measure to make daylight saving time permanent, with Politico reporting that the measure is a pot sweetener for Luna, as the measure is a top priority for Florida Republicans.

The committee will also consider the two spending bills, State and National Security, that were derailed before the House recessed. The NDAA is not currently scheduled for a vote.