President Donald Trump said Friday that he intends to issue an executive order requiring voter identification for the upcoming midterm elections if the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act fails to pass the Senate.
Trump’s comments came as the House-passed bill which would mandate proof of citizenship to register to vote and require photo ID at the polls moves toward a difficult path in the Senate.
“There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, insisting that requiring identification and proof of citizenship is essential to election integrity.
He also published a second post promising to outline legal reasons supporting an executive order if Congress does not act.
The SAVE America Act, which updated earlier versions of the SAVE Act to include stricter voting requirements, passed the House 218-213 earlier this week.
It now faces opposition in the Senate, where Democrats and some Republicans have raised constitutional concerns and warned that federal mandates would infringe on states’ election authority.
Legal experts note that elections are primarily administered by the states, and a federal executive order attempting nationwide voting requirements could face serious constitutional challenges. Still, Trump’s statements underline his continued push for nationalized voter ID measures ahead of the November midterm elections.
