House Speaker Mike Johnson, at the urging of former President Donald Trump and conservative Republicans, is considering adding a major immigration enforcement legislation called the SAVE Act to a must-pass spending bill just weeks ahead of the November election.
According to Punchbowl News, “The speaker is getting pressure from hardline conservatives and former President Donald Trump to attach the SAVE Act to the CR [continuing resolution] even if it threatens a shutdown.” In addition, the news service added that congressional conservatives are angling for a CR “until next year in hopes that Trump will be back in office.”
Trump, meanwhile, discussed the SAVE Act, out-of-control illegal immigration under Vice President Kamala Harris’ watch, and his desire to see the government shut down over the issue if need be in an interview with former Fox News host Monica Crowley’s podcast on Monday.
“Mr. President—election integrity and the Harris no-borders policy. It’s not open borders, it’s no borders, which, of course, now she’s trying to run away from. You support the SAVE Act, which would block non-citizens from voting in this election and in the future. Do you support adding the SAVE Act to the spending bill that Congress is going to take up next month in September to try to get it into law before this election?” Crowley, who served as the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Treasury during Trump’s administration, asked.
“Absolutely. And I think you should also change your elections to paper ballots,” Trump responded. “I think you should get a lot of things for that. That’s a big deal. When they extend that bill, they’ll extend it again and again. The Republicans ought to try and get some things for a change—the House and the Senate—they ought to go for getting things. They don’t get anything. They extend everything. Then it comes due.
“Let’s say I win the election, then you know where it comes due, Monique? It comes due for me. The Democrats don’t extend. They don’t extend. They play a different game. They play a much different game. That’s what they ought to do. We’ll see what they do,” the former president continued.
“But if they don’t get the SAVE Act, if they don’t get much tougher than the SAVE Act—the SAVE Act is just one element—they ought to go into a whole thing where you want to have borders. They ought to focus on borders. The House bill that was passed—that’s the real bill that should be passed, but the original one, not this horrible one that was foisted upon us by some people that had a bad day,” Trump added.
“But they ought to focus on borders and elections. If you can’t get the borders right, and if you can’t get the elections right, they ought to close it up. Just close it up and let it sit,” he said.
“So what would you like to say to Senator McConnell and other Republicans who might oppose this? And if they don’t get it into the bill, would you support shutting down the government over it?” Crowley asked.
“I would shut down the government in a heartbeat if they don’t get it in the bill. And part of the problem is they gave away trillions and trillions of dollars to these people on the Green New Deal, on the Inflation Reduction Act, which wasn’t even meant to be for inflation reduction,” Trump replied.
“Are you calling on Senator McConnell then and all Senate Republicans, and the House Republicans too, to make sure the SAVE Act is in this spending bill?” the host queried.
“Well, it should be in the bill. For some reason, they don’t do it. They don’t do things that can really help our nation. It should be in the bill,” Trump said. “If it’s not in the bill, you ought to close it up.”
