As chairman of the House committee that oversees federal elections, Bryan Steil of Wisconsin led the House debate on the SAVE America Act on February 11, 2026 and voted for it; it passed 218 to 213. The bill would require documentary proof of citizenship to register and a photo ID to vote, rules the Brennan Center says would hit the millions of citizens who do not have a passport or birth certificate at hand. It has stalled in the Senate.
Steil also wrote the Make Elections Great Again Act, which would ban universal vote by mail, and the Voter ID Act. In July 2026 he urged the House to add the SAVE America Act to a third budget reconciliation bill, and in September he said Republicans should use that route to bring the Senate threshold down to 50 votes.
Bryan Steil's Bills, Votes and Statements on Voting Rules
- Steil Led House Passage of the SAVE America Act, Which Would Require Proof of Citizenship to Register, in February 2026. On February 11, 2026, Bryan Steil, chairman of the Committee on House Administration, managed the floor debate on S. 1383, the SAVE America Act, and voted for the bill, which passed 218 to 213. On the floor he said "we should have a proof of citizenship when individuals register to vote" and that voters "should show voter ID"; afterward he said, "American elections should be for American citizens only." The bill would make Americans show a passport, birth certificate or similar paper to register, and the Brennan Center found that "21 million American citizens lack ready access" to such documents. Kansas's similar law, struck down in 2018, kept more than 30,000 American citizens from registering. The bill was "collecting dust in the Senate" by May 2026.
- Steil Wrote the MEGA Act, Which Would Require Citizenship Checks and Ban Universal Vote by Mail and Ranked-Choice Voting. On January 29, 2026, Steil announced his Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act, which he introduced the next day as H.R. 7300, a bill to "Require states to verify citizenship of individuals when registering to vote", "Require photo identification to vote", require mail ballots to arrive by the close of polls, "Ban ranked choice voting" and "Ban universal vote by mail". On June 18, 2026 he introduced a separate Voter ID Act, H.R. 9368, requiring photo ID to vote in federal elections. Citizenship checks at registration would fall hardest on the 21 million citizens without ready access to the papers; the Brennan Center says the SAVE America Act would block millions of eligible citizens from voting.
- Steil Voted for the SAVE Act's Proof-of-Citizenship Rule in April 2025. On April 10, 2025, Steil voted for H.R. 22, the SAVE Act, which passed the House 220 to 208 and would make people show citizenship papers to register for federal elections. Like the 2026 version, it has stalled in the Senate. Brennan Center research found that states already enacting similar show-your-papers rules have run into the same problem: eligible citizens who lack the documents.
- As Chairman, Steil Moved the First SAVE Act Through His Committee and Voted for It in July 2024. In the 118th Congress, Steil's Committee on House Administration held a May 16, 2024 hearing on the SAVE Act and passed it out of committee 6 to 1 on May 23, and on July 10, 2024 he voted for H.R. 8281, which passed 221 to 198. "By passing the SAVE Act, we are one step closer to preventing noncitizen voting," he said. The 2024 bill carried the same proof-of-citizenship requirement that, under Kansas's version, blocked registrations by eligible citizens until a court struck it down in 2018.
- Steil Urged Passing the SAVE America Act Through Reconciliation to "Bring That Threshold Down to 50" Senate Votes. On July 22, 2026, Steil spoke on the House floor for adding the SAVE America Act to a third budget reconciliation bill, and on September 14, 2026 he told Fox News Digital, "I'd rather pass the SAVE America Act. But recognizing that the Senate might not be able to get that done with the 60-vote threshold, let's leverage the parliamentary procedure, bring that threshold down to 50". The Reconciliation 3.0 package the House Budget Committee advanced in July 2026 would fund the Pentagon during the Iran war, provide farm aid and "advance portions of the SAVE America Act", in a bill that needs only a simple majority in the Senate.
What the Voting Rules Bryan Steil Wrote and Passed Would Mean for Wisconsin Voters
- Wisconsin voters would need a passport or birth certificate to register. Under the SAVE Act, a Wisconsin resident registering to vote would have to show a passport, a birth certificate or one of a few other approved papers, the Cap Times reported, a check that would fall to the state's 1,850 municipal clerks, who run elections in the most decentralized system in the country (Law Forward).
Frequently Asked Questions About Bryan Steil on Voting rights
What is Bryan Steil's record on voting rights under Trump?
Bryan Steil, who chairs the House committee in charge of federal elections, led the House debate on the SAVE America Act and voted for SAVE Act bills in July 2024, April 2025 and February 2026, all requiring proof of citizenship to register. He wrote the MEGA Act, which would also ban universal vote by mail and ranked-choice voting, and is pushing to pass the SAVE America Act's rules with 50 Senate votes through reconciliation.
Does Bryan Steil support the SAVE America Act?
Yes. Bryan Steil led its House debate as committee chairman and called voter ID and proof of citizenship "commonsense principles" after it passed. When it stalled in the Senate, he backed moving it through a reconciliation bill that needs only a simple majority.
What would the SAVE America Act that Bryan Steil led through the House mean for Wisconsin voters?
The SAVE America Act that Bryan Steil led through the House would require every Wisconsin citizen registering to vote to show a document such as a passport or birth certificate, checked by local clerks, though noncitizen voting cases in Wisconsin over the decade to 2022 numbered only three. Kansas's similar law kept more than 30,000 citizens off the rolls before a court struck it down.
What is Bryan Steil's MEGA Act?
Bryan Steil's Make Elections Great Again Act, unveiled in January 2026, would set national rules for state elections, including photo ID, citizenship verification at registration, a ban on ballot harvesting, a ban on ranked-choice voting and a requirement that mail ballots arrive by the time polls close.
Last updated: 2026-10-26