The White House confirmed Friday that President Donald Trump is pressing Congress to add new provisions targeting transgender people to the SAVE America Act — a sweeping anti-voting bill that could disenfranchise millions.
The proposed additions, along with a provision banning no-excuse mail voting, were not included in the legislation the House narrowly passed last month.
Trump appears to be using culture-war issues, which are popular among Republican voters, to increase the pressure on Republican lawmakers to back the bill.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing that Trump recently added new demands to the anti-voting legislation, which already faces steep odds in the Senate.
“This is a huge priority for the president. He added on some priorities to the SAVE America Act in recent days, namely, no transgender transition surgeries for minors. We are not gonna tolerate the mutilation of young children in this country. No men in women’s sports,” Leavitt said. “The president putting all of these priorities together speaks to how common sense they are.”
The comments mark the first time the White House has publicly confirmed that Trump is pushing to attach anti-transgender policies to the SAVE America Act.
In a recent Truth Social post earlier this week Trump wrote that the legislation includes:
“NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS (EXCEPT FOR ILLNESS, DISABILITY, MILITARY, OR TRAVEL!).”
“NO MEN IN WOMEN’S SPORTS.”
“NO TRANSGENDER MUTILATION SURGERY FOR CHILDREN.”
An earlier version of Trump’s post included language regarding parental consent for transition surgeries. But after backlash from far-right activists, Trump deleted the post and republished a version removing the parental consent clause.
The bill passed in the House last month would require people registering to vote in federal elections to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship and show photo ID in-person. It would also mandate routine voter purges.
If the Senate were to amend the bill to include the mail voting ban and the anti-trans provisions, the measure would have to return to the House for another vote — a potentially difficult hurdle given the narrow margin by which it passed initially.
Even without those additions, the bill faces long odds in the Senate, where most legislation requires 60 votes to pass and where Democrats have vowed to block it.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has so far declined to support changing the filibuster rules to pass the SAVE America Act.
