Bret Baier Provides Update On Save America Act

Fox News anchor Bret Baier provided a major update this week on the SAVE America Act as Republicans continue pressing for the election integrity bill to move through Congress before the November midterm elections.

After speaking with President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers, Baier reported that many Republicans are still pushing hard to get the measure passed, despite resistance in the Senate and disagreement inside the party over how far to go.

The House has already passed the SAVE Act three times.

Now, the bill has been sitting in the Senate, where President Trump has demanded that Republicans take stronger action, including killing the filibuster if necessary.

During a Fox News segment, Baier framed the fight as part of a broader political moment in Washington, with Republicans facing a legislative standoff over election integrity while Democrats battle internal divisions over the rise of democratic socialists.

“As we told you earlier, while lawmakers are split over the president’s handling of the Iran conflict, both Republicans and Democrats are facing their own internal political problems. Republicans are grappling with a legislative stalemate over the SAVE America Act as Democrats are divided over competing visions for their party’s future. Chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram is following it all from Capitol Hill,” Baier said.

Fox News correspondent Chad Pergram reported that Trump was direct during his meeting with Senate Republicans.

“President Trump direct in his meeting with Senate Republicans,” Pergram said in the segment.

Trump was heard telling lawmakers: “We like everybody really in the room. I don’t like a few people, but that’s okay. I think you know who they are.”

Pergram noted that Trump verbally sparred with Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who previously clashed with the president politically and recently voted to limit Trump’s authority on Iran.

“The president verbally sparred with GOP Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy. The president ditched Cassidy in the Louisiana primary. Cassidy then voted to hamstring the president on Iran,” Pergram reported.

Cassidy said the exchange escalated after Trump interrupted him.

“The president didn’t want to hear my question, interrupted me. I didn’t care to be interrupted. (…) And I’m not going to be bullied when I’m trying to get answers for the American people. So — so it escalated from there,” Cassidy said.

Pergram said Trump pressed Republicans to eliminate the filibuster in order to pass the SAVE America Act, though the bill remains stalled.

“The president demanded the Republicans kill the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, but that remains stalled,” Pergram reported.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., suggested that if Trump’s direct appeal did not move holdouts, little else would.

“I don’t know whether it moved him. If they don’t change their vote after that talk, then we won’t be able to get to them,” Tuberville said.

The Fox segment also noted that when Trump was asked about the signing of a bipartisan housing bill, he pivoted to the results of New York’s Democratic primary, where democratic socialist candidates scored major wins.

“The people that they are pushing are communists, and this country is not going to have communists,” Trump said.

Pergram reported that “Democratic socialists ran the table,” pointing to primary victories that have deepened Republican arguments that the Democratic Party is being dragged further left.

“What we have delivered here today is a clear mandate,” one victorious candidate said.

Republicans quickly connected those results to their broader midterm message.

House Speaker Mike Johnson warned that the socialist wing of the Democratic Party is spreading beyond New York.

“There are many Mamdanis popping up all around the country,” Johnson said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries downplayed the results, arguing that democratic socialists remain a small faction inside the House Democratic Caucus.

“I think there are two current members of the DSA that are part of the House Democratic Caucus out of 215. That number may grow to four,” Jeffries said.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., also brushed off the idea that New York’s results reflect the national mood.

“New York is not the nation. And all politics is, in fact, local,” Blumenthal said.

Pergram noted that the House GOP’s campaign arm even sent condolence flowers to Jeffries after his preferred candidates lost, arguing that the results showed his influence inside the party is weakening.

The SAVE America Act fight, however, remains front and center for House Republicans.

Speaker Johnson unveiled a new strategy this week to force Senate action on the bill after conservatives brought House business to a halt.

Johnson said Republicans plan to merge the election integrity measure with the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act, a move designed to put more pressure on the Senate.

The standoff began after a group of hard-line conservatives refused to support procedural rules needed to advance legislation unless the Senate acts on the SAVE America Act or the House takes additional steps to force the issue.

The SAVE America Act would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and require voters to present identification when casting a ballot.

Supporters argue the bill is essential to restoring public confidence in elections and ensuring that only American citizens vote in American elections.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Johnson said House Republicans would use an unusual parliamentary procedure known as “MIRVing” to package the SAVE America Act with the defense bill before sending both to the Senate.

“We’re going to pass a MIRV, or what’s better known as a merge onto the rule,” Johnson said.

“So what that means is, when Republicans vote for the rule, they’ll be voting not just for the NDAA and everything else is there, but they’ll be voting to merge onto that the SAVE America Act we passed back in February.”

Johnson said the maneuver would make clear where Republicans stand and ensure the Senate receives both measures together.

“So that will send both of those items together over to the Senate, and so if any Republicans choose to vote against the rule, they will be voting against that outcome. So we think this is another good way to show the resolve of the House.”

For conservatives, the issue is simple.

Election integrity should not be controversial.

Requiring proof of citizenship to register for federal elections is a basic safeguard, not an extreme demand.

Yet the bill has remained stuck in the Senate, frustrating House conservatives and fueling Trump’s demand that Republicans stop hiding behind procedure.

The strategy now puts pressure on Senate Republicans to either advance the measure or explain why a bill protecting U.S. elections cannot move forward.

At the same time, Democrats are facing their own headache as socialist candidates gain ground and Republicans prepare to make that shift a central issue in the midterms.

The contrast could become one of the defining themes of the election cycle: Republicans pushing citizenship-based election integrity while Democrats struggle to contain the rise of their far-left flank.