U.S. President Donald Trump speaks on the day he announced the creation of a critical mineral reserve, in the Oval Office at the White House, February 2, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
President Donald Trump has previously demanded the pending bill to keep the government funded be sent to his desk promptly, without changes. Two Republicans have a different idea.
On Monday, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) tweeted that she is prepared to mount a "standing filibuster" of the bill the Republican-controlled Senate sent to the House of Representatives. Luna is insisting that the SAVE Act – which would require voters provide proof of citizenship before being able to cast a ballot — be included in the House version of the bill. Luna insisted in her post that Trump supports including the SAVE Act in the final legislation.
"Just left the White House. POTUS wants the SAVE America Act passed! Voter ID is number one," Luna tweeted.
Luna's claim that Trump wants to add the controversial bill to a must-pass government funding package has not yet been corroborated by the president. Trump's latest position — which he posted to Truth Social Monday evening — was that he was "working hard with Speaker Johnson to get the current funding deal, which passed in the Senate last week, through the House and to my desk, where I will sign it into Law, IMMEDIATELY!"
"We need to get the Government open, and I hope all Republicans and Democrats will join me in supporting this Bill, and send it to my desk WITHOUT DELAY. There can be NO CHANGES at this time," Trump wrote. "We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown that will hurt our Country so badly — One that will not benefit Republicans or Democrats. I hope everyone will vote, YES!"
According to Semafor reporter Eleanor Mueller, Luna has found an ally in her goal to pass the SAVE Act in the form of Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who is a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus. Luna told Mueller that both she and Burchett "feel very comfortable" insisting on the SAVE Act's inclusion.
If the SAVE Act were included in the final legislation, it would likely fail to meet the required 60-vote threshold in the U.S. Senate needed to send legislation to Trump's desk. Republicans have only a 53-seat majority, meaning seven Democrats would need to break ranks to fund the government while passing the SAVE Act. This is unlikely, given the legislation's onerous requirements on voters needing to bring citizenship documents to the polls. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, roughly 21.3 million Americans don't have citizenship documents readily available. And of that group, 3.8 million people don't have those documents at all due to them being lost, stolen or destroyed.
