The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (a.k.a. the Save America Act and the SAVE Act) has been a massive focus of President Donald Trump, Republicans in Congress, and GOP voters since the second Trump administration began last year.
The legislation, first introduced by Texas Congressman Chip Roy in May 2024 before being reintroduced in January 2025, would require individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote and show photo identification to vote in federal elections. It would also end mail-in voting, except in instances of illness, disability, travel, and military service.
Proponents say the bill helps ensure election integrity and boost public confidence in election results, while critics argue it creates an undue burden for legal voters who may not have access to necessary documentation.
The SAVE Act has passed the House twice along party lines – once in April 2025 and again in February 2026 – but it has stalled in the U.S. Senate where 60 votes are needed to end debate and force a vote. Most believe Republicans would have to make the controversial decision to nuke the filibuster in order to get the bill to the floor, but is there another way?
On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by MK True Crime contributor Dave Aronberg and Article III Project founder Mike Davis to discuss the SAVE Act and whether it can survive the Senate.
The Filibuster
Amid the government shutdown last fall, President Trump said on Truth Social that “Democrats will terminate the Filibuster the first chance they get” and called on Senate Republicans to beat them to the punch so they could reopen the government and “get ALL of our agenda passed.”
Under the current rules, ending the filibuster requires 60 votes. Eliminating it all together would allow bills to move through the Senate more quickly and pass with a simple majority. With the Republicans currently holding a 53-47 advantage, it would bypass the need for any Democrat support.
Calls for abolishing the 60-vote threshold to invoke cloture are once again reaching a fever pitch because of the interest in passing the SAVE Act before the November midterms, but Davis isn’t sure the move is necessary.
“We don’t need to have 60 votes to pass the Save America Act. You need 60 votes to invoke closure and stop unlimited debate in the Senate,” he explained. “You just need to make the Senate Democrats stand on their feet and debate until they run out of gas… and, after they’ve run out of gas, hold the vote and you can pass the Save America Act.”
He said if the Senate follows the actual rules of the filibuster, the debate, which must be continuous, would end relatively quickly. “They do the lazy filibuster now in the Senate, where the senators – they’re all, like, 90 years old – and they’re like, ‘Oh man, we have to hit 60 votes? We’re just going to go to sleep, or we need to take another paid vacation. This is exhausting,'” he joked. “The rules are, it’s continuous debate. You can have unlimited debate in the Senate, but you actually have to debate. You have to stand on your feet and debate. And if you don’t stand on your feet and debate, you call the vote.”
Where the Support Stands
An oft-cited August 2025 Pew Research study found there is “broad public support” for “requiring all voters to show government-issued photo identification,” with 83 percent of U.S. adults favoring the policy. That support includes 71 percent of self-identified Democrats, 83 percent of independents, and 76 percent of black voters.
Davis said that makes passing the SAVE Act a no-brainer. “At the Article III Project, we are getting people to light up both of their home state senators and tell them to pass the Save America Act,” he noted. “If [Majority Leader] John Thune and Senate Republicans can’t pass a piece of legislation with 80 percent support among Americans, including a super majority of Democrats and a super majority of minorities, they are in the wrong line of work.”
Aronberg, who is a Democrat, acknowledged that “we can all agree on voter ID,” but he does not support the SAVE Act because of the documentation it calls for. “The Save Act requires documentary proof of citizenship to register,” he said. “Well, there’s about 21 million eligible U.S. citizens who don’t have access to a birth certificate – I don’t know where mine is – passport, or naturalization papers. So, you gotta go get a paper, a birth certificate, passport, just to register to vote?”
He also mentioned the estimated 69 million women who do not have a birth certificate that matches their current legal name. He suggested a driver’s license alone should do, but Megyn was unmoved. “It’s so easy to get a driver’s license even if you’re not a citizen,” she said.
Davis believes the Democrats’ objection stems from an entirely different desire. “Here’s the real answer: Democrats pretend women and black people don’t have the wherewithal to get a voter ID because they want their illegal aliens to vote,” he posited. “That’s the real answer.”
Aronberg pushed back on the premise. “It’s illegal for illegal aliens to vote and there have been audits in states to see how many illegals have been voting and it’s like 0.001 percent,” he said. “So, this is trying to suppress a vote, not stop election fraud, which is really nonexistent on a widespread basis.”
In that case, Davis said there should be no objections. “You should have no problem with the Save America Act, if there’s nonexistent illegal aliens voting,” he concluded. “But we know that illegal aliens are voting in big numbers.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Aronberg and Davis by tuning in to episode 1,286 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.