House Republican draws red line: won’t back Iran war supplemental without SAVE America Act or offset

Rep. Josh Brecheen, a staunch conservative, is not on board with the party-line spending bill for the Iran war unless the Senate guarantees it will include the SAVE America Act.

“I’m not willing to make that investment of deficit spending if they send us back garbage,” Mr. Brecheen told The Washington Times.

​The threat carries some weight since the House Republicans’ thin majority makes every vote vital in pushing through party-line legislation.

House Republicans are trying to advance a bill this week to inject billions of dollars into the war effort and encourage states to require photo ID and proof of citizenship in elections.

The voter ID portion is less than the full SAVE America Act to comply with the Senate’s rules for a budget reconciliation bill, which would bypass a Democrat filibuster.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has discussed using a grant program to encourage states to adopt these election policies, which are inspired by the SAVE America Act.

The SAVE America Act stalled in the Senate due to the threat of a Democratic filibuster.

Mr. Brecheen said a grant program would “not at all” be satisfactory for him to vote for military spending without offsetting spending cuts. He wants Republicans to attach the actual SAVE America Act that mandates proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID at the polls.

“The grant program is only going to be for states that want to do it. What do you get out of that?” he said. “The reality is, people in the Democrat-leaning states, they don’t want to change the system. … Throwing some carrots at them will do nothing.”

Putting SAVE America on the bill is a tall order. The budget reconciliation process is governed by a Senate rule barring purely policy-oriented provisions.

Mr. Brecheen said he wants Senate Republicans to overrule the Senate parliamentarian, the chamber’s rules referee, and allow the election provisions to pass by a simple majority.

“The Senate is going to be given an opportunity here to stand up to the parliamentarian and also stand up to the craziness of the 60-vote supermajority threshold,” he said.

Without the inclusion of the SAVE America Act, Mr. Brecheen said he will join other House conservatives who refuse to support new spending without offsets.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, has repeatedly rejected the idea of overruling or firing the parliamentarian.

There is no guarantee at the moment of what exact approach the House administration committee, which handles election legislation, will take in reconciliation.

President Trump said in a social media post on Monday that Republicans should try to “get AS MUCH of THE SAVE AMERICA ACT as possible” in the bill.