Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna is done waiting. In a bold move that could stall business in Washington, the Republican congresswoman has warned she is ready to bring the House of Representatives to a complete halt.
Her demand is simple: The Senate needs to move on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, or the House floor gets shut down.
The SAVE Act is a hot-button bill that would require people to show proof of U.S. citizenship—like a passport or birth certificate—before registering to vote in federal elections. It would also require states to purge noncitizens from their voter rolls. While the House passed the bill back in April 2025, it has been sitting untouched in the Senate for nine months.
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Now, with lawmakers set to return to Washington in early February, Luna is ramping up the pressure.
“We Are Not Going to Play Games”
Luna, a close ally of President Donald Trump, took to social media on Friday to make her position clear. She claimed she has enough support from other frustrated House members to freeze legislative activity if the Senate doesn’t act.
“If the Senate does not pass the SAVE Act and/or schedule a date for a vote by the time we return, I have enough votes from other members to shut down the floor of the House,” Luna wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
She argued that many Republicans are worried about their own re-elections in the upcoming midterms and want the floor open to pass their own messaging bills. But Luna isn’t interested in business as usual.
“They are not allowed to hide behind the president and his agenda while knifing the American people in the back,” she wrote. “They need legislation for their elections, so they MUST pass the SAVE Act.”
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The Divide on Capitol Hill
The fight over the SAVE Act highlights a deep divide in how the two parties view election security.
Republicans, backed by President Trump, argue the bill is common sense. They say it is the only way to ensure that only American citizens are deciding American elections. “Election integrity is the most important issue in this country for the future of our nation,” Luna stated.
Democrats, however, strongly disagree. Most have labeled the bill as “voter suppression.” They argue that requiring specific documents like passports can be difficult for some eligible American voters to produce, potentially blocking them from the ballot box.
Despite this opposition, the bill did pick up a few Democratic votes when it passed the House last year. Representatives Henry Cuellar, Jared Golden, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, and Ed Case broke with their party to support it.
An Uphill Battle in the Senate
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Even with Luna’s threat, getting the bill through the Senate is a tall order.
To pass, the bill needs 60 votes to break a filibuster. That means even if every single Republican Senator votes “yes,” they would still need at least seven Democrats to join them. Given the strong Democratic opposition, that is unlikely.
Complicating matters further, it isn’t clear if the Republican party is fully united on the issue. While the bill has 35 Republican cosponsors in the Senate, key leaders like Majority Leader John Thune have not yet signed their names to it.
There was also confusion earlier this week regarding Senator Chuck Grassley. A leaked letter suggested Grassley opposed federalizing elections, which some took as a rejection of the SAVE Act. Grassley quickly pushed back on X, posting, “Dont believe everything u read on the internet,” clarifying he isn’t opposed to the bill. Still, as of Friday, he hasn’t officially cosponsored it.
For now, all eyes are on the first week of February. If the Senate doesn’t budge, Luna and her allies seem ready to turn the lights out on the House floor.
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