Emmer calls out Dems’ DNC photo ID policy amid SAVE America Act debate
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SPECIAL: House Majority Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., accuses Democrats of being hypocritical in their opposition to Republicans’ latest election integrity bill.
The No. 3 Republican in the House took a dig at the rival party after nearly all of them voted last week against the Protecting American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, specifically its provision requiring federally accepted photo identification at the polls. Sometimes referred to as the “SAVINGS Act.”
“These guys are setting the same old broken record on voter suppression,” Emmer told Fox News Digital. “Why don’t they yell about photo IDs at the airport? Why don’t they yell about photo IDs when buying books at the library?”
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House Majority Speaker Tom Emmer accused Democrats of hypocrisy for requiring photo identification for the DNC but not supporting the SAVE America Act. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images; Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Emmer noted that attendees needed photo identification to watch former Vice President Kamala Harris accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for the White House in Chicago last year.
“By the way, if they think this is voter suppression, why do they need photo IDs to get into the Democratic National Convention?” said Emmer.
“I mean, I think Americans are a lot smarter than these people can understand, than they can understand themselves,” he said.
The SAVE America Act passed the House on Wednesday with the support of all Republicans — an increasingly rare occurrence in the chamber — and only one Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.
An earlier iteration of the bill, called the SAVINGS Act, passed the House in April of last year with the support of four House Democrats.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, speaks with reporters at the Capitol after House Democrats meet in Washington on June 27, 2019. (CQ Polling via Tom Williams/Getty Images)
While the SAVE Act would create a new federal proof-of-citizenship mandate in the voter registration process and impose requirements on states to keep their rolls clear of ineligible voters, the updated bill would also require photo identification for any voting. federal election.
According to the text of the law, this photo ID will also need to show proof of citizenship.
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Democratic leaders in the House and Senate criticized the bill; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called it “voter suppression,” and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-Year) called the bill “modern-day Jim Crow.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DY) speaks to the media alongside Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DY) at the White House in Washington on September 29, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
Jeffries also opposed a provision that would allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to initiate deportation proceedings if an illegal immigrant is found on a state’s voter rolls, arguing that DHS would weaponize that information.
But voter ID has proven to be a popular standard in numerous public polls, at least in U.S. elections.
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A. Pew Research Center The survey, released in August 2025, showed that 83% of people supported government-issued photo ID requirements when going to vote, compared to just 16% who disapproved.
A. Gallup poll It showed that 84% of people support photo ID to vote in federal elections as of October 2024.
