President Donald Trump headed to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to stress his request for the SAVE America Act to pass.
Trump was scheduled to arrive on the Hill earlier in the day to sign a bipartisan housing policy bill, but he canceled the signing until after the federal elections proposal makes it to his desk.
“Every election is important… They want a lot of communists to come in,” Trump said before the meeting.
President Trump arrives at the Capitol for lunch with Senate Republicans: "Every election's important...They want a lot of Communists to come in...The people's that they're pushing are Communists and this country is not going to have Communists." pic.twitter.com/cDiqZ6kHLl
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 24, 2026
The elections bill has passed the House but continues to have a few Republican holdouts and Democratic backlash in the Senate, which is making it difficult to get the bill through.
“The president wants the SAVE Act, and that was the theme of pretty much the entire luncheon, except he was very upset about the war powers vote,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told reporters after the meeting. “And I don’t blame him.”
Other lawmakers confirmed that the elections bill was the primary focus of the lunch, along with some discussion regarding Iran.
“He makes a lot of really, really good points,” Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) told reporters following the meeting regarding the bill. “I mean, he really does. I mean, what he really wants is […] he just wants to make sure that our electoral process is always fair.”
In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson has floated putting the proposal in a third reconciliation bill, as it would only require 51 votes to make it through the Senate rather than the usual 60 votes needed for success.
The Republican leader floated the possibility of putting the proposal in a grant program in order to make sure it meets the requirements to be considered in reconciliation, which is usually intended for budgetary proposals. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and the “Secure America Act” were the two other reconciliation bills passed this session.
🚨 BREAKING: Speaker Johnson proposes forcing the SAVE America Act into a reconciliation package that only needs 50 votes and JD Vance in the Senate
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 24, 2026
"You have to put it on a reconciliation bill. We believe that if you create a grant program that ties it to reconcile the budget… pic.twitter.com/z2ApJDZ3AM
Other ways to get the proposal through the Senate have included attaching it to a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702 renewal vote, or getting rid of the filibuster altogether, which would scrap the 60-vote threshold that most legislation needs to pass the upper chamber.
🚨BREAKING NEWS: Speaker MIKE JOHNSON said he will meet with President DONALD TRUMP tomorrow in a bid to figure out, well, everything.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) June 24, 2026
Housing, SAVE, etc.
Floor is frozen bc of the save America act.
JOHNSON also just met with Defense Secretary PETE HEGSETH.
Johnson is expected to meet with Trump on Thursday to discuss legislative priorities, according to Punchbowl News.
"We have the hottest country anywhere in the world," Trump said following the meeting, calling it "really great."
.@POTUS wraps up his lunch with the @SenateGOP: "I think we had a really great meeting... We have the hottest country in the world — and we want to keep it that way." pic.twitter.com/APvMYRpJox
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 24, 2026