Republicans Ditch Trump’s Biggest Ask in Attempt to Pass Budget Bill

House Republicans released a much-anticipated continuing resolution Friday—and it omits Donald Trump’s biggest ask.

Despite Trump specifically ordering his congressional allies to include his unpopular voter restriction bill in the government funding mechanism during a late night address to the nation the night before, Republicans’ 15-page CR makes no mention of the SAVE America Act.

“Congress must pass the SAVE America Act. How easy is that to do? Unless you want to cheat,” Trump said Thursday night. “The only reason you wouldn’t do it is you want to cheat, because your policies are so bad and your candidates are so pathetic that you can’t get away or can’t get elected any other way.”

Instead, Republicans offered a clean funding package. If passed, it would fund the federal government until December 4.

The president has predicated his support for any legislative effort on the Save Act’s passage. Since the beginning of the year, Trump has insisted it should be Congress’s top priority, refusing to sign any bill and derailing Cabinet confirmations until Capitol Hill bends to his will. So far, that stalemate has gummed up efforts to fund the Department of Homeland Security, stalled attempts to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, and upended a planned photo op of Trump signing a landmark housing bill.

The original iteration of the SAVE America Act sparked nationwide backlash for proposing numerous amendments to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, perhaps chief among them a requirement that voters bring either a passport or birth certificate to register to vote. Critics argued that the mandate would unduly restrict millions of Americans from voting, pointing out that half of the country’s population lacks a passport, and furthermore that the legislation as-written would make it difficult for anyone who changed their name—including married women—to register.

The bill would also require voters to present photo identification when casting a ballot, and a total ban on mail-in voting. Trump has described the latter procedure as “crooked” and “corrupt” despite the fact that he himself has cast several mail-in ballots. ...