House Skipping Town Early As SAVE America Act Saga Continues To Rock Capitol Hill

The House will enter an early recess Tuesday after several Republicans voted down a procedural rules vote, Speaker Mike Johnson’s office confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The House voted against a procedural vote Tuesday that would allow debate on attaching the Safeguard America Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The lower chamber is scheduled to enter the July 4 recess and not return until July 13.

Republican Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Chip Roy of Texas, Victoria Spartz of Indiana, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eric Burlison of Missouri, Randy Fine of Florida, Eli Crane of Arizona, Max Miller of Ohio, Andy Harris of Maryland, Mike Turner of Ohio, Keith Self of Texas and Lauren Boebert of Colorado voted against the rule.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise voted “no” as a procedural move to offer a motion to reconsider the vote. Scalise’s procedural vote could allow the vote to be taken up again, which usually happens after more negotiations or adjustments.

Luna introduced an amendment to attach the SAVE America to the NDAA, threatening to shut down all rules votes if the SAVE Act was not attached. Johnson planned to attach the SAVE America Act through a special process called “MIRVing,” where lawmakers attach unrelated bills into a single massive package.

Luna argued the SAVE America Act language should be directly added to the NDAA’s text so it would be harder for the Senate to remove it. The Republican holdouts agreed with Luna and rejected the “MIRVing” procedure.

Johnson said during a press gaggle that these Republicans voted against the SAVE America Act by rejecting the rules vote.

“I am very sad to tell you, because in the rule we would have had the merge, which means we merge together, literally, the SAVE America Act that we passed unanimously back in February, with the National Defense Authorization Act. Those two bills would have become one and been transmitted to the Senate in that way,” Johnson said.

@SpeakerJohnson on GOP colleagues voting down rules vote on attaching SAVE America Act to NDAA:

“We had a handful of Republicans who voted against its advancement. They also, as you know, as a consequence, voted against the SAVE America Act.”

“I am very sad to tell you,…

— Nicole Silverio (@NicoleMSilverio) June 30, 2026

Johnson met with President Donald Trump to diffuse the situation among the holdouts Thursday. Trump called on Republicans to unite and not vote against any rules in a Thursday Truth Social post.

The Senate entered recess early Thursday after Senate Republicans attended a heated lunch with Trump, who pressured them to pass the SAVE America Act and railed against the passage of a concurrent war powers resolution. Any senator could have objected or blocked the adjournment, though no one did.