Gas just hit $3.72 a gallon. Oil is past $95 a barrel. Groceries are getting more expensive by the week. The war in Iran has no endgame, no exit strategy, and no one in the White House who can explain why it started. Families are choosing between filling their tank and filling their fridge.
So what is Donald Trump’s number one legislative priority right now?
Making it harder for you to vote.
The SAVE America Act is headed to the Senate floor this week. The bill would force every American to produce a passport or a certified birth certificate just to register to vote. It would impose a national photo ID requirement stricter than almost every state voter ID law on the books. It would ban student IDs. It would restrict tribal IDs. And it would require every state to hand over its voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security.
More than 21 million U.S. citizens don’t have ready access to the documents this bill demands. Not because they’re not citizens. Because they’re working people who don’t have a passport sitting in a drawer. Because they moved and haven’t updated their birth certificate. Or, like many, perhaps they got married and changed their name.
This bill does not solve a real problem. Noncitizen voting is already illegal. It is vanishingly rare. The Trump administration’s own data confirms it. Every state already requires voters to verify their citizenship. The SAVE Act stacks a new barrier on top of a system that already works, and the people who get crushed are the ones with the least time and money to jump through bureaucratic hoops.
If you want some more context on the SAVE Act, PBS NewsHour has a good segment here:
Who gets hurt? Military families who move constantly. Married women who changed their names. Elderly voters without current documents. Young voters registering for the first time. Communities of color are three times more likely than white citizens to lack the required paperwork.
If you’re thinking “this sounds like a poll tax with extra steps,” congratulations... you’re paying attention!
🏠 At the Intersection of “Not His Problem.”
Housing. The issue voters across every demographic, every state, every political persuasion rank at or near the top of their list. The issue where 84% of Gen Z say they’re delaying marriage, kids, or career moves because they can’t afford to buy a home.
And guess what? The Senate just passed a sweeping, bipartisan housing bill, 89 to 10. (YAY!) The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act would be the biggest federal housing package in decades. It tackles Wall Street investors buying up single-family homes. It cuts red tape for new construction. It expands programs that help people actually afford a place to live.
Trump’s response? He told House Speaker Mike Johnson to stop worrying about the housing bill and focus on passing the SAVE Act. He said out loud, at the House Republican retreat: “They don’t talk about housing. They don’t talk about anything. That’s all they talk about.” (”That” being the SAVE Act.)
He has vowed not to sign any legislation until the SAVE Act passes. Not housing. Not anything.
If it were about election integrity, they’d fund the election infrastructure that’s already crumbling. They’d invest in the poll workers who are quitting because of threats. They’d enforce the laws already on the books.
They want to shrink the electorate. And they want to do it eight months before a midterm where their war is unpopular, their president’s approval is underwater, and every kitchen table in America has a higher gas bill sitting on it.
🧱 The Filibuster Question
The SAVE Act needs 60 votes to pass the Senate. Democrats are unified in opposition. Schumer called it one of the most despicable bills he’s seen in his career.
Republicans have 53 seats. Even Trump’s relentless pressure campaign hasn’t moved the math. Several Republican senators, including Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, oppose the bill or oppose changing filibuster rules to ram it through. Senate Majority Leader Thune has admitted the votes aren’t there. He’s bringing it to the floor anyway, to, in his words, “put Democrats on the record.”
Fine. Put us on the record. Democrats should want to be on the record opposing a bill that would strip 21 million Americans of their ability to register to vote. That’s not a hard vote. That’s a gift.
But “putting Democrats on the record” is also a setup. If the bill fails this week, Trump and the MAGA media machine will spend the next eight months screaming that Democrats blocked election security. They’ll say Democrats want noncitizens to vote. They’ll scream it on Fox. They’ll ALL CAPS it on Truth Social. They’ll echo it at every rally between now and November.
Democrats need to be ready with a response that doesn’t require a flowchart. Something like: “We killed a bill that would have stopped 21 million Americans from voting, and we’d do it again.”
📌 What You Can Do
Call your senators today. Both of them. Even if they’re Democrats.
The number for the U.S. Capitol Switchboard is (202) 224-3121. They’ll connect you.
Here is a script from 5Calls to reference:
I’m calling to urge Senator [Name] to oppose the House-passed SAVE America Act, which would create unnecessary barriers to voter registration and disenfranchise countless voters, especially women, seniors, and low-income citizens. The bill is designed to block voters despite no evidence of widespread fraud.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
IF LEAVING VOICEMAIL: Please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied.
If you’re in a state with a Republican senator or someone like Sen. John Fetterman, your call matters even more. Collins (ME), Murkowski (AK), McConnell (KY), and Tillis (NC) have all expressed reservations. They need to hear from constituents, not just from Trump’s Truth Social feed.
The president is waging a war that’s costing you $10 more a week at the pump. He’s refusing to sign a housing bill that 89 senators agreed on. And his top priority is a bill that would make it harder for 21 million citizens to vote.
He’s not trying to save America. He’s trying to save his majority.
Don’t let him.
He once said early on that if everyone voted ther would never be another Republican elected again.