House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) says he is “resolved” to tie the SAVE Act to a continuing resolution required to fund the federal government until the spring. Some Project 2025 leaders and partner organizations have been promoting the legislation and have expressed support for the move by Johnson.

The “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility” or “SAVE” Act, reportedly drafted by a combination of election deniers and Project 2025 contributors, would ban noncitizens from voting — something which is already illegal and exceedingly rare. Civil rights groups have condemned the SAVE Act as “both unnecessary and dangerous” as it may “intimidate members of immigrant communities and communities of color from exercising their lawful right to vote.” The bill was passed in the House in July with President Biden promising to veto it if passed by the Senate. 

During her opening statement at a subcommittee hearing on the SAVE Act, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), ranking member of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, called the legislation an “anti-voter bill” and stated that it was “crafted with the help of election deniers and some of the architects of Project 2025” — one of whom, Cleta Mitchell, testified on behalf of the legislation during the hearing. 

Since Johnson’s decision to connect the controversial legislation to a possible government shutdown, Project 2025 leaders and partners have been defending his decision and endorsing the SAVE Act. 

The Heritage Foundation

In a September 9 op-ed, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts and Heritage Action for America Executive Vice President Ryan Walker called the continuing resolution “the way forward” for Republicans. Roberts and Walker claim in the piece that the SAVE Act will “ensure” that the election is not “diluted by the ballots of illegal aliens and other noncitizens.” In response to the argument that noncitizen voting is already illegal, they write, “It is undeniable that the current voting system allows non-citizens to register and vote” due to ineffective voter ID laws.

Walker also previously voiced his support for the SAVE Act in an appearance on Heritage’s Heritage Explains podcast. He claimed “states are still allowing for illegal immigrants to register to vote” and called the legislation a “very reasonable ask.” Walker called on Congress to include the SAVE Act in the continuing resolution before Johnson confirmed his plans. 

In an article on The Heritage Foundation’s website, senior communications manager Matthew Tragesser similarly claims that “there is ample evidence … that aliens have registered and voted in past elections” (though he fails to cite any evidence in the piece). Besides promoting enforcement of voter ID legislation specifically around noncitizen voting, Tragresser also suggests “creating a congressional commission to further explore how aliens impact the outcomes of American elections.” 

Family Research Council

Tony Perkins of Project 2025 partner organization the Family Research Council recently hosted Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) on his podcast Washington Watch to promote the SAVE Act. Perkins said of the legislation, “The Democrats say it's not needed, that the law already prohibits it. If that's the case, why don't they just go ahead and accept it and make it very clear that they are against illegal voting? But they don't wanna do that.”

On another episode of Washington Watch, Perkins hosted Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) to promote both the SAVE Act and Johnson’s plan for a continuing resolution. Perkins asked the audience, “Would Democrats allow a government shutdown just to thwart an election integrity measure?”  

Family Research Council also published an article supportive of the SAVE Act in its blog The Washington Stand, titled “‘Sorely Needed’: Speaker Johnson May Attach SAVE Act to Govt. Funding Bill.” 

Conservative Partnership Institute

Project 2025 partner organization the Conservative Partnership Institute published a blog titled “The SAVE Act is a fight worth having,” arguing that Democrats are not supporting the legislation in order “to make sure they can cheat” and falsely claiming that noncitizen voting is a “real and significant problem.”

In a post to X (formerly known as Twitter), Project 2025 and SAVE Act contributor Cleta Mitchell, a senior legal fellow at the Conservative Partnership Institute, wrote, “Get behind Speaker Johnson!” in response to his remarks on attaching the SAVE Act to a continuing resolution.