The Save America Act, if passed, would be one of the biggest revisions of voter rights since the Voting Rights Act, potentially disenfranchising tens of millions of voters.

The bill, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and tighten identification rules at the polls

passed the House earlier this year. But President Donald Trump is pushing for an even tougher

version in the Senate and warning Republicans not to accept what he calls a watered down bill.

He's also raised the anti-politically, essentially staking the GOP's control of Congress risk in the midterms on its passage.

It'll guarantee the midterms. It'll guarantee the midterms. If you don't get it, big trouble.

Hello and welcome to USA Today is The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Monday, March 16th, 2026. Senate Majority Leader,

John Thune says he plans to bring the Save America Act up for a vote this week. So what exactly

would the bill do? And does it have any real chance of becoming law? Joining me now to break it down

as USA Today congressional reporter, Zach Shermally.

Zach, it's so good to have you back. Thanks for having me.

Zach, first tell me what's in the version of the Save America Act that the Senate might vote on

this week? So this is a tough question to answer, I think, given the political context,

because there have been several versions of this legislation that have been proposed. And the president himself has given some mixed messages about what specifically he wants to be in this bill. The bill that's going to go before the Senate this week requires proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. That's probably the most important piece of the legislation because

currently the federal government requires that only U.S. citizens can vote in state and federal elections, but it really leaves it up to states

to enforce that process.

You know, secretaries of state at the federal level, of course, are the folks who are in charge

of foreign policies, but at the state level, it's folks who are in charge of administering

elections and ensuring that they are

free from fraud and those types of things. The Save America Act would also require photo ID to vote,

you know, Republicans and Democrats very broadly are pretty much in agreement about photo identification

requirements being a relatively good thing.

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