President Donald Trump got the SAVE America Act through the House. Now he wants John Thune to stop letting it die in the Senate.
The election bill made it through the House inside a stock-trading package, but Trump’s real focus at a Georgia rally Wednesday was the Senate, where he accused Republicans of letting major priorities disappear.
“We have to pass the SAVE America Act to defend American elections. And I have to say, Mike Johnson and Congress have done a great job, but we’re having a hard time in the Senate,” Trump told the crowd.
“It’s like the Senate is a place where you send things when you want them to die.”
Then he urged supporters to pressure the Senate majority leader directly.
.@POTUS: "We have to pass the SAVE America Act to defend American Elections… We’re not going to take this any longer… Right now, Congress is working to get as much of our plan as possible into the budget bill… everybody call John Thune at the Senate… and tell him to get… pic.twitter.com/uBzhGziRSm
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 22, 2026
“We’re not going to take this any longer… I’m trying to be nice,” he went on. “Everybody call John Thune at the Senate, he’s the leader of the Republican party, and tell him to get this stuff approved!”
House Republicans got the election measure across the floor by folding it into the GOP-backed Stop Insider Trading Act, a bill aimed at restricting members of Congress from buying and selling stocks.
The final House vote was 232-198, with 13 Democrats crossing over. Politico framed it as the first congressional stock-trading ban to make it to a House floor vote.
🎓Support Defending Education’s mission to expose political agendas in America’s classrooms and restore quality education for all! 🎓 Help protect students and strengthen education nationwide ➡️➡️➡️ DONATE TODAY!!! 🇺🇸
The stock provision targets individual share purchases by lawmakers, their spouses and dependent children while they are serving, though exceptions remain for certain investment funds.
Stock sales would also require a notice filed 7 to 14 days in advance, with violators facing a fee and ethics scrutiny.
Democrats accused Republicans of using a popular ethics issue to push election changes they oppose.
To Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., the stock-trading label was cover for a mail-in voting attack, a legislative “trick” that would “eviscerate” it.
Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., warned members not to be pulled in by the title.
“Make no mistake; this is a trap. This bill is to make it harder for eligible Americans to vote, and the Republican leadership is trying to trick us into supporting it by calling it a congressional stock trading ban,” he commented.
New Jersey gave Republicans their latest exhibit in the voter-roll fight. The state’s governor blamed a Department of Motor Vehicles program error after roughly 6,600 non-U.S. citizens were incorrectly added to voter rolls.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., put voter ID at the center of the argument.
“Voter ID ensures the sanctity of our elections and ensures confidence by the American people in our elections,” Lawler said. “The American people should watch how every single member votes on this bill.”
On X, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., sold the bill as a credibility move, calling it “an important step forward to restoring trust in Congress.”
Democrats also attacked the ethics side of the package, arguing it still lets members keep existing individual stocks while voting on matters that could benefit those companies.
They pushed instead for proposals that would extend the stock-trading ban to the president and vice president.
Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., used a press release to cast the bill as an election crackdown disguised as reform.
“Republicans cannot credibly present this legislation as a good-faith effort to end congressional stock trading,” Clarke said.
“Instead, this bill is a Trojan horse — using the premise of congressional ethics reform to advance a broader effort to restrict access to the ballot box.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., dismissed the measure as “a fake stock trading ban.”
Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., wanted the House to move a stricter bill and accused Republicans of overselling what their version would do.
“This Republican bill doesn’t prevent insider trading or ban stock trading. Instead, it creates loopholes that allow members of Congress and the president to keep enriching themselves while in office.”
Inside the GOP, the anger over the SAVE America Act was aimed squarely at Thune.
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., went further than calling for a vote, arguing Thune should lose the job if he keeps the measure off the floor.
“If John Thune has shown that he does not want to put the SAVE America Act on the Senate floor, he should step aside,” he remarked. “There are plenty of other options in the Senate capable of securing our elections as Majority Leader.”
If John Thune has shown that he does not want to put the SAVE America Act on the Senate floor, he should step aside.
There are plenty of other options in the Senate capable of securing our elections as Majority Leader.@BasedMikeLee@SenRickScott
Interested? pic.twitter.com/7d2x0JkmVA
— Rep. Andy Ogles (@RepOgles) July 22, 2026
Trump also used the rally to revive his push to kill the filibuster, warning that Democrats would not protect the 60-vote threshold if they regain power.
“The Democrats are going to terminate the filibuster as soon as they have a chance, and then they’re going to approve Puerto Rico and D.C. as a state. They got four more senators. They’re going to end up with 12 more congressmen. They’re going to get like 40 electoral votes,” Trump said.
His warning to Republicans was that delay would come back to haunt them.
“But I may be crying when I’ll be sitting home, and I’ll say, I told them, they’ve got to really terminate the filibuster, get everything approved right away,” he noted.
Wednesday’s House action did not stop with the election-and-stock-trading package.
Lawmakers also moved a nearly $1.15 trillion annual defense policy bill through a tight vote amid disputes over military spending and the war in Iran.
The National Defense Authorization Act squeaked through 216-212 after six Democrats backed it and seven Republicans opposed it.
Its military provisions include expanded U.S. defense production capacity, 5% to 7% pay raises for all service members, $1.8 billion for barracks and family housing, and more education and childcare access for military families.
The bill also moves major weapons funding, including $56 billion for aircraft development and more than $60 billion for construction and support of submarines and destroyers, while codifying several Trump administration executive orders, including Golden Dome.
Speaker Mike Johnson praised the defense bill as a way to “ensure America maintains the most lethal, most dynamic, most capable fighting force in the world.”
Johnson tied the vote to Ronald Reagan’s warning about protecting freedom for the next generation.
“In an increasingly dangerous world, we are reminded of President Reagan’s admonition that freedom is not passed along in the bloodstream,” Johnson said.
“It must be fought for and protected so the next generation may enjoy the same level of security and opportunity we have known. And that starts in Congress.”
