Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Tim Burchett Drop SAVE Act Demands After Meeting with Trump
President Donald Trump reportedly convinced Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Tim Burchett of Tennessee to drop their demand that the SAVE Act be included in legislation to reopen the government.
The House voted Tuesday to end the government shutdown — 217 to 214 — with 21 Republicans voting against the package and 21 Democrats voting for it.
Luna and Burchett both voted against the legislation, but voted in favor of the rule that allowed it to be considered by the whole House.
Trump signed the measure Tuesday afternoon.
The legislation includes five full-year appropriations bills, funding the Departments of Energy, Defense, Treasury, State, Labor, Transportation, Health and Human Services, and Education, plus funding for the judicial branch and various independent agencies through the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30, The Hill reported.
Funding for the Department of Homeland Security was only approved through Feb. 13, with Democrats seeking to block more dollars to the agency until they can win concessions regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
Before the floor vote, Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill reported Monday, “Luna and Tim Burchett met with Trump at the WH today [and] they’re both YES votes on the rule tomorrow.”
Luna and Tim Burchett met with Trump at the WH today
they’re both YES votes on the rule tomorrow now
BUT House GOP leaders still need to wrangle a few other GOP holdouts – though they’re close to being able to end the shutdown by tomorrow night https://t.co/mxRDx46YjD
— Meredith Lee Hill (@meredithllee) February 3, 2026
The SAVE Act makes clear that only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote in federal and state elections.
It requires states to collect and document in-person proof of citizenship and remove non-citizens from voter rolls.
The bill also has criminal penalties for election officials who register people to vote who are not citizens.
Only citizens should decide American elections.
The SAVE Act makes it happen by requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections—no loopholes for noncitizens.
The House has already passed it. Contact your senators to get this critical election integrity bill passed. pic.twitter.com/rUNLvQrDcA— 💥Texas Girl💥 (@Ilegvm) January 14, 2026
While signing the legislation reopening the government, Trump said, “We need voter ID, by the way. … Who would not want voter ID? Only someone who wants to cheat.”
“The Democrats don’t want it, and the reason they don’t want it is they want to cheat,” he added.
Trump has called for the end of the filibuster in the Senate to pass voter integrity legislation.
Luna posted on social media that changing the rules to require a standing filibuster, where lawmakers actually have to speak continuously to delay legislation, may be in the works.
I told you! President Trump was clear. Schumer wanted to shut down the government to prevent ice operations. But the standing filibuster is very much so “in motion.” @LeaderJohnThune has stated that he is going to be discussing this with his conference. I have no reason to lie to… https://t.co/yXSEZe3z4r
— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) February 3, 2026
“I told you! President Trump was clear. [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer wanted to shut down the government to prevent ice operations. But the standing filibuster is very much so ‘in motion.'”
“[Senate Majority Leader John] Thune has stated that he is going to be discussing this with his conference. I have no reason to lie to anyone. Thank you POTUS. You are the GOAT !”
CNN data analyst Harry Enten recently reported that 83 percent of Americans favor requiring IDs to vote.
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