The DHS shutdown — now in its 40th+ day since February 14, 2026 — exists because Trump refuses to fund the department unless Democrats pass the SAVE America Act, a federal elections bill completely unrelated to homeland security. The SAVE Act would require proof of citizenship (passport or birth certificate) to register to vote — documents that 21+ million Americans lack. The bill would also force states to turn over all voter data to DHS's SAVE Program for purges, kill online and mail-in registration (used by 94% of voters), require re-registration for any change (name, address, party), and criminalize election workers with up to 5 years in prison for registering someone without correct documents.
The DHS database intended for purges is notoriously unreliable. Virginia's purge flagged 94% citizens as noncitizens. North Carolina found 98% of flagged “noncitizens” were actually citizens. Kansas's proof-of-citizenship requirement blocked 31,000 eligible citizens while catching virtually no noncitizens. The “problem” the SAVE Act solves doesn't exist.
Meanwhile, TSA officers work without pay. 480+ have quit. Wait times exceed 4.5 hours at some airports. Absentee rates top 40%. Republican Senator John Kennedy revealed Trump personally killed a bipartisan deal that would have paid TSA “by the end of the week.” Trump said, “no deals with the Democrats.” He briefly reversed course on March 24, then flip-flopped again. Multiple proposals from both parties have been rejected because Trump insists on tying an unrelated voter suppression bill to homeland security funding.
The groups most affected by the SAVE Act: elderly (14% of 80+ lack documents), disabled (in-person requirement), women who changed names, rural voters, young voters, veterans (military IDs don't prove citizenship), voters of color, and trans people. Only 21% of households earning under $50K have passports vs. 64% earning over $100K. This is a wealth test for voting.
Update (September 30, 2026): on September 29, launching the America.gov website, Trump said, “We must pass, and now can pass in theory very easily, the SAVE America Act because it takes the number one excuse away from you.” The next day Senate Republicans tried to move a photo-ID-to-vote requirement, which The Hill calls “a core element” of the SAVE America Act, by attaching it to H.R. 7008, a House-passed bill banning members of Congress from buying new stocks. Cloture on the motion to proceed failed 53-47 on a party-line vote (Senate roll call 253), short of the 60 needed. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer: “If Republicans cared about stock trading by members, they wouldn't have loaded it up with a poison pill — a voter ID bill that would gut mail voting and that has failed six times.”