Press Releases

WASHINGTON — Tonight, Speaker Johnson addressed the media after 206 House Democrats voted against preventing a costly government shutdown and strengthening enforcement against non-American citizens and illegal aliens participating in American elections.

Below are Speaker Johnson’s full remarks:

Well, everybody, you just watched the legislative process play out. The play that we ran tonight was the right play. It's the right fight for the American people. It's the one that they demand and deserve.

I've made it very clear over the last couple of weeks, we have two very important objectives right now. Congress has an obligation to fund the government, and Congress has an obligation to ensure that our elections are secure, fair, and free.

This vote tonight would have accomplished both. I'm very disappointed that it didn't pass. I want to note that every Democrat except three went on record once again, for the second time voting against election security.

What the SAVE Act would have accomplished, as everyone knows, is to ensure that illegals and non-citizens cannot vote in the upcoming election. Right now, we have no mechanism for the states to require proof of citizenship before they register to vote. That is a serious problem.

It is about an 88% issue in polling across the country, and it is not partisan. But we missed that. We ran the play. It was the best play. It was the right one. And so now we go back to the playbook.

We'll draw up another play, and we'll come up with a solution. I'm already talking to colleagues about their many ideas. We have time to fix the situation, and we'll get right to it.

I'm disappointed. I know this was the right thing to do and I think the American people are going to let a lot of the folks that voted no tonight hear their concerns about it.