House Skipping Town Early As SAVE America Act Saga Continues To Rock Capitol Hill

The House will enter an early recess Tuesday after several Republicans voted down a procedural rules vote, Speaker Mike Johnson’s office confirmed to the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation.

The House voted against a procedural vote Tuesday that would allow debate on attaching the Safeguard America Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The lower chamber is scheduled to enter the July 4 recess and not return until July 13.

Republican Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Chip Roy of Texas, Victoria Spartz of Indiana, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eric Burlison of Missouri, Randy Fine of Florida, Eli Crane of Arizona, Max Miller of Ohio, Andy Harris of Maryland, Mike Turner of Ohio, Keith Self of Texas and Lauren Boebert of Colorado voted against the rule.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise voted “no” as a procedural move to offer a motion to reconsider the vote. Scalise’s procedural vote could allow the vote to be taken up again, which usually happens after more negotiations or adjustments.

Luna introduced an amendment to attach the SAVE America to the NDAA, threatening to shut down all rules votes if the SAVE Act was not attached. Johnson planned to attach the SAVE America Act through a special process called “MIRVing,” where lawmakers attach unrelated bills into a single massive package.

Luna argued the SAVE America Act language should be directly added to the NDAA’s text so it would be harder for the Senate to remove it. The Republican holdouts agreed with Luna and rejected the “MIRVing” procedure.