The House Rules Committee on Monday advanced the National Defense Authorization Act, sending the must-pass defense bill to the floor after merging it with the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act through a procedural maneuver known as MIRVing.
The committee reported out a rule along party lines by an 8-4 vote. The merger is designed to address demands from conservative hardliners who had threatened to oppose procedural rules until action was taken on voting legislation, according to multiple Republican sources familiar with the negotiations.
What the Left Is Saying
Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the House Rules Committee, offered an amendment during the hearing to remove the language merging the SAVE America Act into the NDAA. Republicans rejected the amendment on a party-line vote.
"Let me be clear. The Senate will just strip the Save Act out. They've already said that merging it with the NDAA bill doesn't prevent that. Nothing in this rule will prevent that," McGovern said during the hearing.
McGovern also argued that Republican colleagues supporting the rule were providing false hope to SAVE America Act advocates. "And to my Republican colleagues who want this NDAA to advance, you should also reject this rule, because all you're doing by supporting this shell game is giving false hope to those like Representative Luna, who think that this will do something down the line. It will not make a difference at all," he added.
What the Right Is Saying
Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana announced the MIRVing strategy as a way to appease conservative holdouts demanding action on voting legislation. The plan allows multiple bills to be combined into a single procedural vehicle, potentially giving SAVE America Act advocates leverage in negotiations with the Senate.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, a vocal advocate for the SAVE America Act, expressed skepticism about the approach on social media Monday. She wrote that "the Senate could strip out the voting rights measure from the NDAA." Following the Rules Committee hearing, she posted: "MIRV ref NDAA won't work."
Conservative hardliners had previously indicated they would oppose any procedural rule advancing legislation until action was taken on the SAVE America Act. The MIRVing maneuver represents an attempt to satisfy those concerns while keeping the defense bill moving.
What the Numbers Show
The House Rules Committee vote was 8-4 along party lines, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed.
Johnson holds a razor-thin majority in the House, meaning he would need near-unanimous Republican support on the procedural rule scheduled for Tuesday. The SAVE America Act has faced opposition in the Senate, where members have indicated they would remove it from any combined package.
The procedural rule also includes a bill funding national security and the State Department, as well as a resolution commemorating the one-year anniversary of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The Bottom Line
Tuesday's procedural vote will determine whether Johnson's balancing act succeeds. Conservatives who demanded action on voting legislation must decide whether to support a strategy that even some within their own ranks acknowledge may not survive Senate consideration.
If conservatives defect from the procedural rule, Johnson would need Democratic votes to advance the NDAA, which seems unlikely given Monday's party-line committee vote. The outcome will test Republican unity and set the trajectory for both the defense bill and the SAVE America Act's prospects this session.