By Nandita Bose and Steve Holland
MIAMI, March 8 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Sunday not to sign any further legislation until Congress passes a Republican-backed voting bill, the latest escalation of his efforts to impose stricter requirements on voters ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, set a difficult milestone for the Save America project, which passed the Republican-led House of Representatives in February but faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Senate.
The measure would need at least 60 votes in the Senate to overcome the chamber’s filibuster rules, meaning it needs support from Democrats, which seems unlikely currently.
“I, as President, will not sign any other laws until this one is passed,” wrote Trump, who is spending the weekend at his golf club in Doral, Florida.
The Save America bill would require proof of citizenship when registering to vote and would impose criminal penalties on election officials who register anyone without the required documentation.
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Trump’s warning comes days after he threatened to bypass Congress entirely by issuing an executive order to unilaterally impose voter ID requirements if lawmakers do not act.
He previously attempted to impose similar voter eligibility rules through executive action. In 2025, a federal judge blocked parts of a decree that sought to require proof of citizenship for voter registration.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Saturday that Democrats would not support the bill. He called the legislation ‘Jim Crow 2.0,’ a reference to US racial segregation laws that restricted black voting rights, and said it would ‘deprive tens of millions of people of their rights.’
If Trump refuses to sign other legislation until it passes, Schumer said, “There will be total gridlock in the Senate.”
(Reporting by Nandita Bose, Katharine Jackson and Steve Holland)
