(The Center Square) – The Biden administration opposes a U.S. House of Representatives bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote, announcing it in a statement from the Office of Management and Budget.
Resolution 8281 would do “nothing to safeguard our elections,” the administration said.
“The administration strongly opposes HR8281,” the statement said. “The president has been clear: he will continue fighting to protect Americans’ sacred right to vote in free, fair, and secure elections.”
The Office of Management and Budget is a part of the Executive Branch and “serves the President of the United States in overseeing the implementation of his vision.”
Its statement in response to legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and cosponsored by dozens from his party says the bill is full of “easily disproven falsehoods.” The statement says it “is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.”
Roy first filed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act in May, which is expected to come up for a vote this week.
The bill is now cosponsored by 104 representatives, all Republicans. North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop, among the cosponsors, quickly voiced his concerns with the administration’s position.
“Ask yourself why the left would be so strongly against a bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote,” he wrote on social media. “The answer isn’t hard to come by.”
Bishop also said in another post that people who are living in or entered the country illegally “certainly shouldn’t be voting in our elections.”
His position is widely held by the rest of the GOP, making a party-line vote likely when the legislation is voted on. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has signaled it would be this week, and Tuesday or Wednesday now look likely.
“Only American citizens should vote in American elections. Joe Biden disagrees. Bonkers,” the House Judiciary GOP said on X, responding to the Biden administration’s statement.
Roy also responded to the statement, saying “I’m honored to be in the crosshairs of the White House. This administration is clearly not interested in safeguarding American citizens’ right to vote. This is about political power.”
Democrats, on the other hand, are being encouraged to “VOTE NO on HR8281” by the office of House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass.
If the bill passes the U.S. House of Representatives, where Republicans are in the majority, it will have a tough road beyond. The Senate is majority Democrats, with 46 in the party and four independents caucusing with them.