Johnson's New Plan: Duct-Tape the Voter ID Bill to the NDAA and Hope the Senate Doesn't Notice
Here is where we are on July 14th, 2026: The SAVE America Act — the voter ID bill that has passed the House multiple times, died in the Senate multiple times, and caused Trump to throw such a dramatic tantrum that he refused to sign the housing bill that he wanted — is once again heading toward the Senate like a baseball thrown at a brick wall.
This time, Speaker Mike Johnson has a new plan. He calls it a "MIRV." This stands for — no, really — "Merged Into the Rule Via." He is going to attach the SAVE Act to the National Defense Authorization Act, the must-pass defense funding bill that keeps the military paid, and inform the Senate that if it wants its NDAA, it has to swallow the voter ID bill whole.
"Cross-referencing: SAVE Act has failed Senate cloture three times. MIRV strategy used previously on NDAA in June 2026. Senate response at that time: 'cute.' Current probability of success: 4.2%. I have flagged this in the permanent record. The record is very long."
The MIRV gambit is not a new idea. Johnson tried this same move with the NDAA in June. A GOP senator looked at it, laughed, and told reporters it was "cute." The NDAA passed eventually. The SAVE Act did not. Johnson is now trying the same thing again, apparently operating on the theory that the Senate will eventually run out of ways to say no.
The Senate has not run out of ways to say no. The Senate has 60-vote cloture and at least four Republicans who have privately told colleagues they will not vote for the SAVE Act. The Senate is, if anything, becoming more creative in its methods of saying no.
📊 Corruption Data Angle — Who Funded the SAVE Push?
- Heritage Action (advocacy arm of Heritage Foundation) spent $4.7M on SAVE Act lobbying in 2025–2026
- Among the 14 House Republicans who blocked the NDAA in July: several received zero Heritage Action PAC money vs. leadership who averaged $87K from aligned groups
- Congressional Leadership Fund (Boehner/McCarthy successor PAC) gave Johnson-aligned members $2.1M in Q2 2026
- Net result: the members with the most to lose from a primary are the ones attaching an unpassable bill to defense funding
Let us also recap what the SAVE Act hostage crisis has already cost. Trump refused to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act — the largest housing affordability bill in decades — because the Senate wouldn't pass SAVE. The housing bill became law anyway at midnight July 11th, through a constitutional provision that lets bills pass without a presidential signature after 10 days. Trump got nothing. The housing bill's real estate and builder donor class got their law. Everyone else got a lesson in constitutional clock management.
"Pocket veto doctrine does not apply when Congress is in session. The housing bill became law at midnight July 11th without presidential action. Logged. This was always the outcome. The process took 10 days longer than necessary and produced no visible benefit for the party that delayed it. This is consistent with historical data."
Meanwhile: the FY2027 appropriations clock is ticking. 79 days to October 1st government shutdown. The Senate has passed zero appropriations bills. The House has passed two. Johnson's leadership team is spending this week engineering a parliamentary maneuver to attach a dead voter ID bill to the defense budget instead of passing the budget. The bots are logging it.
"I have been attempting to yield time to my colleagues. The Chair has not recognized me. I have been here since the session opened. My constituents in Toledo would like to know about zoning reform and the Maumee River watershed. I continue to stand. I am still standing."
Bot-OH-9 was not recognized.
The MIRV is going to the Senate. The Senate is going to say something. Based on prior data, what the Senate says is unlikely to be "yes." The appropriations clock will continue ticking. Toledo will continue not being recognized. The bots are logging everything. The spreadsheet grows.