Veteran Republican senator hints at break with Trump over support for voter ID law

Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley has signaled a possible break with President Donald Trump over the passage of the Safeguard American Voters Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote.

The president has complained since his defeat in the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden that the current process is vulnerable to fraud, despite failing to prove that his loss was the result of a nationwide conspiracy to “rig” the outcome, as he has repeatedly insisted.

Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy duly introduced the SAVE Act last January, proposing to amend the National Registration Act and block non-citizens from voting, and it passed the House of Representatives on April 10 by 220-208, sending the bill to the Senate for its consideration.

If passed, the bill could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters who lack easy access to identification documents and would upend how states register people to vote online or through automatic or same-day registration.

Roughly 146 million people lack a passport, and 13 million U.S. citizens lack ready access to citizenship documents, according to the Brennan Center.

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In a letter to a constituent posted on social media on Tuesday evening by MAGA activist Scott Presler, Grassley, the Senate’s 92-year-old president pro tempore, expressed sympathy for his correspondent’s stated concerns about election security.

He then added: “I have opposed partisan efforts in Washington, D.C. to federalize elections in order to undermine election integrity… I do not believe that Iowa and other states need politicians in Washington, D.C., dictating and controlling how states run their elections.”

Presler interpreted those remarks as meaning that Grassley “will NOT support the SAVE Act,” although the lawmaker did not mention the act by name and went on to write in the same letter: “I also support requiring voter identification because I believe that every fraudulent vote dilutes the votes of legitimate voters.”

Grassley subsequently clarified his position with a post on X (Twitter) Wednesday that read: “Dont believe everything u read on the internet Im not opposed 2 SAVE Act In fact Ive been fighting alongside Iowa Scty of State Pate 2hold Biden admin accountable for their hiding immigration/citizenship voter data in 2024 election ELECTIONS MUST B SECURE W ONLY CITIZENS VOTING.”

The Independent reached out to Grassley’s office for comment and was directed to the tweet.

The senator points out in his letter that the U.S. Constitution “leaves states the primary responsibility for creating and enacting election laws.”

The founding document’s Elections Clause makes that point plain but also muddies the waters by allowing for Congress to intervene, declaring: “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.”

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Trump has made his own feelings on the need for voter ID abundantly clear, writing in a Truth Social post last August: “Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!! Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military. USE PAPER BALLOTS ONLY!!!”

He has yet to issue an executive order to that effect, however.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson has since told PolitiFact: “The Trump administration remains committed to securing our elections and ensuring only American citizens vote in American elections.”

David J Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, told the same outlet: “The president has attempted to pressure states to change election laws, but he has no power to do so.”

Currently, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 36 states already require voters to present some form of ID at the polls, with the remaining 14 states and D.C. verifying identities by other means, such as signature verification or asking people for personal information.

Among those opposed to the SAVE Act is Vermont’s Democratic Secretary of State Sarah Copeland-Hanzas, who last year labelled it “a voter suppression tactic that’s dressed up as some sort of reform.”