Sen. Hawley Criticizes Fellow Republicans for Blocking Voter ID Measure

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, expressed criticism towards four Republican colleagues who joined Democrats in opposing an effort to incorporate the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act into the Senate’s reconciliation package. Hawley emphasized his disbelief, stating, “You can’t explain it to me why you wouldn’t vote for voter ID.”

During Thursday’s vote-a-rama, Republican Senators Susan Collins from Maine, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, and Thom Tillis from North Carolina sided with Democrats. This alignment resulted in the rejection of an amendment aimed at adding the election integrity measure to the GOP budget package.

“I guess it’s frustration,” Hawley commented in an interview with Fox News Digital. He noted that in Missouri, voters had previously incorporated similar requirements into the state constitution.

“Voter ID is the most popular thing out there,” he said. “There’s a reason for that. People want their elections to be safe, they want them to be fair. And to me, you can’t explain it to me, why you wouldn’t vote for voter ID. I just don’t understand it.”

Despite prolonged discussions on the importance of attaching the voter ID measure to the approximately $70 billion budget reconciliation package, the legislation failed to pass through the Senate. This package was intended to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol.

Many senators who opposed the SAVE Act argued that matters concerning voter ID laws and election integrity should remain within the jurisdiction of individual states, without federal intervention.

Disagreeing with this perspective, Hawley asserted that Congress has historically influenced federal election regulation. He stated, “We make federal rules all the time for elections. There’s nothing more basic than protecting the integrity of the ballot and that’s what this is about.”

Hawley referenced key legislative developments, such as the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022, to support his stance. He highlighted that the SAVE Act proposed requiring proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections and mandated photo identification for voting in federal elections.

Further addressing the argument for state-level autonomy in election regulation, Hawley noted that, “37 states have voter ID already including several blue states,” reinforcing his belief in the nationwide adoption of voter ID laws. He expressed confidence in future developments, stating, “Sooner or later this is going to happen because I think the American people are going to demand it.”

Hannah Brennan, Fox News Digital’s Digital Production Assistant, contributed to this report. Previously, she interned at the Aspen Daily News covering significant political events and graduated with high distinction from the University of Colorado Boulder.