GOP fears over shutdown collide with SAVE America Act battle

Key Points:

• Senate conservatives aligned with President Trump are considering attaching the SAVE America Act, Trump's top election reform priority, to a stopgap government funding bill to avoid a shutdown, despite strong opposition from some GOP senators concerned about the risks.
• Incoming Senate Budget Chair Ron Johnson and other Trump allies support using a continuing resolution (CR) or budget reconciliation to pass the SAVE America Act, which would bypass the filibuster, a move Trump is urging Senate Republicans to adopt.
• Some Republican senators, including Thom Tillis and Jerry Moran, oppose linking the election reform bill to government funding, citing implementation challenges before the November election and preferring to pass regular appropriations bills with a clean CR.
• The SAVE America Act enjoys broad public support, with polls showing around 70-80% of Americans favoring voter ID and election integrity measures, which Trump is leveraging amid his moderate approval ratings and economic pessimism.
• Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, warn that attaching the SAVE America Act to funding bills would likely trigger a government shutdown, asserting the legislation has no chance of passing the Senate or courts.