Speaker Johnson Leaves House Floor - Issues Major Announcement to the Country
The House Is Open for Business Again — and the SAVE America Act Is Going With the Bill That Unlocked It
Posted July 15, 2026
After nearly a month of self-inflicted paralysis, House Republicans finally ended their procedural blockade Tuesday — and Speaker Mike Johnson had to make a deal to do it. The deal he made is exactly the right one.
The procedural vote passed 215-211, clearing the way for votes on the State Department appropriations bill, permanent Daylight Saving Time, and veterans’ benefits legislation. The price of unlocking the floor: Johnson agreed to pair the State Department funding bill directly with the SAVE America Act. Several conservative holdouts who had shut down the chamber over Senate inaction on voter ID flipped their votes the moment that pairing was confirmed.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna — the Florida Republican who organized the blockade and kept it going even after Johnson initially attached the SAVE America Act to the defense policy bill — voted yes and made clear exactly where the pressure now lands: “If John Thune strips it out in the Senate, that will be on him, and the entire country should be watching what he does.”
She’s right. And Thune knows it.
The House has now passed or attached the SAVE America Act multiple times through multiple vehicles. The Senate has received it, considered it, and watched John Thune declare there aren’t 60 votes to overcome the filibuster — while simultaneously declining to do anything about the filibuster threshold that is the only thing blocking it. Democrats have publicly announced they will kill the filibuster the moment they take back power. Republicans are preserving it to protect a rule their opponents have already promised to destroy.
The logic of that position gets harder to defend by the day.
Here’s the cold truth about where the SAVE America Act stands: popular doesn’t begin to cover it. Polling shows 4-to-1 support among the American public — across party lines, across demographics, across every group you can name. Requiring proof of citizenship to register and photo ID to vote is not a controversial position among actual voters. It is only controversial inside a Washington bubble populated by people whose electoral interests depend on keeping the system exactly as it is.
Chip Roy and the Freedom Caucus are right that the Permanent Trump Secure Border Act deserves a floor vote too. Codifying the end of catch-and-release, locking in border security measures, addressing birthright citizenship — these are legitimate legislative priorities that deserve to move. The House has work to do on multiple fronts simultaneously.
But if there’s one bill that has to cross the finish line before the 2026 midterms, it’s the SAVE America Act. Without election integrity, every other victory is built on sand. Democrats know it. That’s why they’ve fought it at every turn.
The House did its part. The Senate is watching. Thune needs 51 votes to change the filibuster threshold and pass the most important election security legislation in a generation.
Find them. The whole country is watching.
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Posting as GuestTrump didn't just win Arizona—he just locked down the most brutal battleground in the country.
President Donald Trump’s endorsed slate powered through Arizona’s Republican primaries Tuesday, delivering decisive wins that underscored the president’s enduring grip on the GOP.
The primary wins also position conservatives for a strong push to reclaim the governor’s mansion and hold key congressional seats in the November midterms.
Trump-endorsed U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs cruised to the Republican nomination for governor, defeating fellow Rep. David Schweikert and other challengers by a wide margin.
The victory sets up a high-stakes rematch against Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who won her party’s nomination unopposed and narrowly defeated former Trump-backed candidate Kari Lake in 2022.
“Two fantastic candidates, two terrific people, two wonderful champions, and it is therefore my Great Honor TO GIVE MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT TO BOTH,” Trump said earlier when backing both Biggs and another contender before Biggs entered the race.
At a Phoenix rally, Trump added, “I hate to lose him from Congress… but he’ll be a great governor.”
Biggs, a longtime America First conservative and former Freedom Caucus chairman, ran on cutting taxes, securing the border, and restoring law and order.
His decisive primary triumph reinforces Trump’s perfect record backing statewide Republican primary winners in Arizona.
In the open 1st Congressional District race vacated by Schweikert, former Arizona Cardinals kicker and sports analyst Jay Feely captured the GOP nomination with Trump’s support.
Feely, positioned as a true America First conservative, will face Democrat Amish Shah in the general election in the competitive suburban district that includes parts of Scottsdale and northeastern Maricopa County.
Trump praised Feely and another candidate in a Truth Social post as “Two Highly Respected America First Patriots” and gave both his “Complete and Total Endorsement,” stating “JAY OR GINA WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
Feely has emphasized fighting for border security, economic growth, and putting Arizona families first.
Former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, another Trump favorite, won the Republican primary in the 5th Congressional District, the deep-red seat Biggs is leaving.
Trump called Lamb a “MAGA Warrior” and declared, “It is my Great Honor to endorse MAGA Warrior Mark Lamb… Mark Lamb has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Congressman from Arizona’s 5th Congressional District — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”
Lamb, known for his tough-on-crime stance and support for law enforcement, military, and veterans, ran on keeping the border secure, cutting taxes and regulations, and championing American energy dominance.
In Arizona’s 6th Congressional District, Trump-endorsed incumbent Rep. Juan Ciscomani advanced unopposed, locking in a strong conservative voice for the competitive seat.
Trump also backed other Arizona Republicans, including Reps. Eli Crane, Paul Gosar, and Abe Hamadeh, signaling broad party alignment behind candidates who prioritize his agenda of border security, economic strength, and election integrity.
On the Democratic side, Hobbs sailed to renomination while some progressive challengers tested incumbents in House races.
Rep. Greg Stanton held off a far-left challenger in the 4th District, avoiding a major upset and keeping the focus on general election dynamics.
The primary results show Republican unity behind Trump-aligned candidates who focus on core conservative priorities: securing the southern border in a state at the center of the migrant crisis, reducing government overreach, and delivering results for working families.
Biggs and the congressional nominees have pledged to work closely with the Trump administration on these fronts.
These victories come as Republicans eye gains in the 2026 midterms.
Arizona remains a key battleground, and a Biggs win would return the governor’s office to GOP hands after Hobbs’ narrow 2022 victory.
The results serve as an early indicator of party strength in the Sun Belt battleground, with the midterms roughly 100 days away.
Senate Pulls It Off with a Crucial 49 - 46 Vote — Lawmakers Have Just Approved President Donald Trump's Judicial Nominee To 6th Circuit
Senate Pulls It Off with a Crucial 49 - 46 Vote — Lawmakers Have Just Approved President Donald Trump's Judicial Nominee To 6th Circuit
President Trump has faced repeated legal setbacks in trying to implement his agenda, thanks to left-wing federal judges appointed by Joe Biden and other Democratic presidents.
In most of those cases, the judges appear to be making decisions based on their political opposition to the president and his agenda, as many of their rulings have been overturned.
But that said, Trump has been—with the GOP-controlled Senate’s help—steadily filling judicial vacancies on federal benches throughout his second term, and the chamber confirmed another nominee largely along party-line votes on Wednesday.
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Benjamin Flowers to a lifetime appointment on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit by a 49-46 vote, elevating the former Ohio solicitor general to the federal bench despite Democratic objections over his record and his refusal to state who won the 2020 presidential election.
Flowers, an attorney from Upper Arlington and a partner at Ashbrook Byrne Kresge Flowers LLC, will fill the vacancy left by Judge Jeffrey Sutton. President Trump nominated him to serve on the Sixth Circuit, which hears cases from Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
During Flowers’ May 20 confirmation hearing, Democratic senators questioned him about issues that President Donald Trump has disputed and criticized what they described as his evasive responses.
When Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked Flowers to identify the winner of the 2020 presidential election, Flowers replied that “legally speaking, Joe Biden was certified” before Blumenthal interrupted him.
Because Democrats have turned all hearings involving Trump nominees into political theater and circuses, Blumenthal—who lied about serving in Vietnam—claimed that Flowers’ answers sounded “rehearsed.”
“Above all, a federal judge must be independent, without fear or favor, and your fear, apparently, of Donald Trump, is so much that you practiced with the White House before you came here and rehearsed this answer, and are repeating by rote what you’ve been told to say,” Blumenthal said, calling that conduct disqualifying – as though he was ever going to support Flowers to begin with.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, defended Flowers against the criticism, arguing that Democrats were applying a double standard.
Grassley pointed to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing, during which she said, “It would be inappropriate for me to publicly weigh in to any subject of political debate.”
In addition, speaking of disqualifying, Jackson refused on several occasions to define a woman.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, also cited the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, arguing that the same ethical standards apply to both judicial nominees and sitting judges.
A graduate of Ohio State University and the University of Chicago Law School, Flowers clerked for Ninth Circuit Judge Sandra Ikuta before serving as a law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia.
He later spent several years at Jones Day and, as Ohio’s 10th solicitor general, argued three cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including the successful challenge to OSHA’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
“Flowers resembles most of Trump 2.0’s appellate nominees, whom Mike Davis, the Leader of the Article 3 Project and a Trump judicial selection consigliere, characterizes as battle-hardened,” University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias told Cleveland.com.
“However, Flowers also resembles many Trump 1.0 appellate nominees, who are ideologically conservative, active members of the Federalist Society, and practiced at large national firms,” he added.
During his tenure as Ohio's 10th Solicitor General, Flowers established significant constitutional credentials, arguing three separate cases before the U.S. Supreme Court—most notably securing the landmark legal block that dismantled the federal OSHA emergency temporary standard regarding workplace vaccine mandates.
Legal observers note that Flowers represents the primary archetype of the administration's updated appellate strategy, which favors younger, ideologically consistent lawyers possessing extensive experience handling high-threshold state-level defense challenges.
REPRODUCTIVE STATUTES AND MIDTERM ENFORCEMENT NETWORKS
Beyond national electoral issues, opposition caucuses extensively cross-examined Flowers regarding his historical defense of Ohio public health and abortion regulations. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) directed intense focus toward Flowers' representation of the state's six-week gestational limits, referencing prominent regional cases to challenge his judicial temperament.
Flowers maintained a strict professional baseline throughout the interrogation, noting that any child or victim of assault suffers profound, irreparable harm, while underscoring that his statutory duty as solicitor general was to defend current state laws as enacted by the legislature.
With the Senate majority continuing its rapid tempo to process judicial confirmations ahead of the upcoming autumn midterm campaigns, the successful seating of Benjamin Flowers cews a critical operational vacancy—ensuring that the jurisprudence governing labor, commerce, and individual liberty across four major states remains firmly anchored in a strict interpretation of the Constitution.
