H.R. 8281 · 118th Congress
SAVE Act
Rep. Roy, Chip [R-TX-21] (R-TX) · Introduced · 104 cosponsors
This bill died in the 118th Congress
The 118th Congress adjourned without passing it, so it can never become law in this form. It reached the House Vote stage. A bill covering the same ground would have to be reintroduced from scratch in a new Congress — this is why most bills die, and why reintroduction matters.
Latest action
Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 439.
· from Congress.gov, as of August 8, 2026
Committees
Study this bill
AP GovThe constitutional question
Identical to its successor H.R. 22 (119th): can Congress use the Elections Clause to require documentary proof of citizenship for federal voter registration? This version answers a different question — what happens to a House-passed bill when the Senate simply never takes it up. It died on the Senate calendar when the 118th Congress adjourned.
The strongest case for
Registration for federal elections runs on a checkbox attestation of citizenship; requiring the documents Americans already use for passports and REAL IDs converts an honor system into a verified one. Supporters saw an election-year vote as exactly the point: make every member state a position on citizenship verification before voters chose the next Congress. Passing it even once moved the proposal from fringe to party consensus, built the whip count, and set up the 119th Congress reintroduction — which is how most major legislation actually becomes law: over multiple Congresses, not one.
The strongest case against
The July 2024 timing — four months before a presidential election, with a Senate certain to ignore it — marks this as position-taking rather than lawmaking: a messaging vote designed for campaign ads, consuming floor time while appropriations lapsed. On the merits, the documentary requirement burdens the millions of eligible citizens without ready access to birth certificates or passports, to address registration fraud that documented cases show is vanishingly rare. A bill that its own sponsors knew could not become law, passed to create electoral contrast, is the behavior political scientists mean when they distinguish legislating from performing.
Foundational documents in play
- U.S. Constitution
Article I, Section 4 — the Elections Clause — is the power this bill invoked to impose a federal registration rule on every state.
Organizations supporting
Organizations opposing
This has happened before
Its own successor: H.R. 22 in the 119th Congress — same text, same sponsor coalition, passed the House again in 2025, now waiting on the same 60-vote Senate wall. Track both on this site: the pair is a controlled experiment in how reintroduction works and what changes (and doesn't) when the same party gains seats.
Practice FRQ
Concept Application. "In July 2024 the House passed a voter-registration bill that the Senate never considered; the bill died when that Congress adjourned, and the next Congress passed it again." (A) Describe what happens to a passed bill that the second chamber does not act on. (B) Explain why a chamber majority might pass a bill it knows will not become law. (C) Explain one way reintroduction across Congresses can eventually produce enactment.
Sources: www.congress.gov · www.congress.gov
Action history
Every recorded action from Congress.gov — 25 total.
Senate
Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 439.
Senate
Received in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time. (Legislative Day July 10, 2024).
House
Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 1341. (consideration: CR H4556-4567)
House
Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 8281, H.J. Res. 165, H.R. 8772, H.R. 7637 and H.R. 7700 The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 8772 under a structured rule and H.R. 8281, H.J. Res. 165, H.R. 7700, and H.R. 7637 under a closed rule. Rule provides for one hour of general debate and one motion to recommit on each bill.
House
DEBATE - The House proceeded with one hour of debate on H.R. 8281.
House
The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.
House
Ms. Sewell moved to recommit to the Committee on House Administration. (text: CR H4566)
House
The previous question on the motion to recommit was ordered pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XIX.
House
POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on H.R. 8281, the Chair put the question on the motion to recommit and by voice vote, announced that the ayes had prevailed. Mr. Steil demanded the yeas and nays and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
House
Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H4567-4568)
House
On motion to recommit Failed by the Yeas and Nays: 184 - 197 (Roll no. 344).
House
POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - The Chair put the question on passage of H.R. 8281 and by voice vote, announced that the ayes had prevailed. Ms. Lee (FL) demanded a recorded vote and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
House
Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H4569)
House
Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by recorded vote: 221 - 198 (Roll no. 345). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H4556-4559)
House
On passage Passed by recorded vote: 221 - 198 (Roll no. 345). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H4556-4559)
House
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
House
Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1341 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 8281, H.J. Res. 165, H.R. 8772, H.R. 7637 and H.R. 7700 The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 8772 under a structured rule and H.R. 8281, H.J. Res. 165, H.R. 7700, and H.R. 7637 under a closed rule. Rule provides for one hour of general debate and one motion to recommit on each bill.
House
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on House Administration. H. Rept. 118-552.
House
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on House Administration. H. Rept. 118-552.
House
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 455.
House
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
House
Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 6 - 1.
House
Introduced in House
House
Introduced in House
House
Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.