Trump's SAVE America Act stalls as McConnell's absence complicates Senate path

By Fox News · Fox News

One key Republican’s extended absence and unclear timetable for return is slowing down several legislative priorities, and could impact President Donald Trump’s Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act in an unexpected way. And while sparse statements from him and his office say he’s on the mend, there has yet to be a hard date for when he’ll come back to Congress. It comes as Republicans are twisting and contorting Trump's top election priority into something that could pass the Senate. Though McConnell has voted against the bill before, he would be a key player in crafting what it would look like in the upper chamber. TRUMP'S VOTER ID BILL CATCHES UNLIKELY BREAK AS MCCONNELL REMAINS SIDELINED "That could be an issue," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital. "I think there are a lot of issues." That’s because McConnell is chair of the Senate Rules Committee, which will likely be responsible for drafting the version of the SAVE America Act that could pass muster in budget reconciliation, the process that Trump is pushing the GOP to use to pass the bill. The uncertainty around McConnell, coupled with the late Sen. Lindsey Graham’s recent death, throws a wrench into the process. Graham was chair of the Senate Budget Committee, and acted as quarterback through two dances with reconciliation over the past year. SENATE RETURNS TO PACKED AGENDA AFTER GRAHAM'S DEATH SHRINKS GOP MARGIN But Graham’s replacement on the panel, Johnson, could step in and draft language for SAVE America as chair of the Budget Committee — Graham leapfrogged Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chair Rand Paul, R-Ky., in 2025 to draft his portion of the "big, beautiful bill." "That’s my understanding — it actually falls to budget," Johnson said. "So, again … this is still really early in the process, so I don't have all the answers by a long stretch. Plus, we've got to find out what the conference wants to do, and what Leader John Thune wants to do." Thune is focusin…