The Truth with Lisa Boothe: SAVE Act Showdown: Voter ID Battle, 2030 Census Fight & DHS Funding Standoff

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show (iHeartPodcasts)

Episode: The Truth with Lisa Boothe: SAVE Act Showdown – Voter ID Battle, 2030 Census Fight & DHS Funding Standoff

Date: February 12, 2026
Guest: Congressman Abe Hamadeh (Arizona)
Host: Lisa Boothe

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Overview

This episode focuses on the political and legislative battles surrounding the SAVE Act, a proposed bill designed to require proof of citizenship and government-issued voter ID for participation in federal elections. Lisa Boothe and guest Congressman Abe Hamadeh discuss the reasons for Democratic opposition, implications for upcoming elections, the long-term fight over the 2030 census, and the ongoing DHS funding standoff.

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Key Discussion Points

1. The SAVE Act: Purpose and Status

[02:49]

• Overview: The SAVE Act, originally passed by the House, seeks to require both proof of citizenship and government-issued voter ID for federal election participation and to maintain eligibility on voter rolls.
• Update: The bill awaits action in the Senate, with President Trump advocating for it to be renamed the "Save America Act" and expanded to include stronger voter ID requirements.

"What this bill does is you have to show proof of citizenship and voter ID in order to register to vote and to keep you on the voter roll. So it's very common sense legislation that the support of over 83% of Americans."
— Congressman Abe Hamadeh [02:56]

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2. Widespread Public Support and Partisan Controversy

[03:48]

• Polling: 83% of Americans, including majorities of both Democrats (71%) and Republicans (95%), support voter ID requirements.
• Controversy Origin: The guests argue the controversy is manufactured by Democratic leaders seeking to "protect their power," despite broad bipartisan public approval.

"It's only controversial because the Democrats are making it controversial. Democrats in power...are benefiting from a broken system because we know that there are illegals on the voter rolls."
— Congressman Abe Hamadeh [04:03]

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3. Allegations of Fraud and Party Motivations

[04:03, 05:19]

• Minnesota Example: Claims of "Somali immigrants...stealing from the taxpayers billions of dollars" are linked rhetorically to potential election fraud.
• Senator Tom Cotton's Stance: Referenced as labeling Democratic opposition as an effort to facilitate voter fraud.

"If they're willing to steal money from you, the taxpayers, don't you think that they're willing to also steal our elections in order to protect the fraud that's been occurring?"
— Congressman Abe Hamadeh [04:29]

"Senator Tom Cotton tweeted out pretty plainly...Chuck Schumer opposes voter ID because he wants to make it easy to commit voter fraud."
— Lisa Boothe [05:19]

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4. Democratic Party Dynamics and Internal Tensions

[05:40]

• The show draws parallels between Democratic disputes ​and the Tea Party era for Republicans, framing current left-leaning party members as an energized, radical base influencing party stances (e.g., opposition to voter ID requirements).

"Democrats are involved in their own type of civil war right now about control of the party."
— Congressman Abe Hamadeh [05:44]

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5. Electoral Strategy: 2024–2026 Midterms and the Trump Factor

[06:14, 06:40]

• Elections Outlook: Concern about Democratic momentum in the upcoming midterms reminiscent of the 2010 "Tea Party Wave.”
• Trump's Role: Credited with motivating the Republican base and prioritizing election integrity. Discussion about the Senate filibuster as a major legislative obstacle.

"President Trump, who remains more popular than people could have ever even predicted...cares about election integrity. He knows that we have to get the base motivated out to vote."
— Congressman Abe Hamadeh [06:44]

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6. 2030 Census Fight and Redistricting

[07:30]

• Counting Illegals: Intense debate over whether illegal immigrants should be counted in the 2030 census, with implications for congressional seat allocation and Electoral College votes.
• Redistricting: Mention of Rep. Yvette Clarke’s controversial comments about using migrant populations for redistricting.

"We have to ensure that illegals are not counted towards the census in 2030. So I know that's a big battle that we're going to be focusing on."
— Congressman Abe Hamadeh [10:27]

"If you look at California, New York, so many of these states are poised to be losing these seats...There's a possibility of 7 to 10 shifts of congressional seats in Electoral College, if not more, depending on what the census shows, if we get rid of illegal immigrants on the census."
— Congressman Abe Hamadeh [09:07]

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7. DHS Funding and Government Shutdown Dynamics

[13:52]

• Standoff: Discussion of ongoing negotiations (or lack thereof) over funding for DHS and ICE, with Democrats accused of deliberately inviting shutdowns to force their policy goals.
• Consequences: Partial shutdowns affecting TSA, Coast Guard, and government services; framing Democrats as holding the government "hostage" and being pressured by their far-left base not to end shutdowns.

"The Democrats, just like they did a few months ago, are holding our government hostage. It's almost a suicidal mission that the Democrats seem to be on."
— Congressman Abe Hamadeh [15:13]

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8. Republican Messaging, Economy, and Base Motivation

[10:41, 11:35]

• Polling & Perception: Republicans are trailing Democrats on economic and affordability metrics, which the guest attributes to both messaging failures and media bias.
• Legislative Wins: Mention of tax relief provisions and competing narratives on which party truly advances affordability for Americans.

"Affordability, I always laugh when they talk about affordability being a Democrat issue. I mean, it's completely wrong...Most unaffordable cities are led by Democrats."
— Congressman Abe Hamadeh [11:39]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On SAVE Act’s Simplicity:
  "It's such an easy one. For us to do. And unfortunately, the Senate has been the biggest obstacle..."
  — Congressman Abe Hamadeh [06:54]

• On Census Stakes:
  "There's a reason why they're opposing the deportation efforts...they're trying to protect the fraud that's going on in Minnesota. But, you know, regarding the census...it's critical to keep the focus on the deportation efforts."
  — Congressman Abe Hamadeh [08:27]

• Democrats and Shutdown Rhetoric:
  "When the Democrats finally decide to end the government shut down a few months ago, the far left base of the Democrat party was mad at their leaders for reopening the government."
  — Congressman Abe Hamadeh [15:17]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro and Guest Welcome: 01:44–02:49
• SAVE Act Big Picture: 02:49–03:48
• Public Support & Controversy: 03:48–04:56
• Fraud Allegations & Party Tactics: 04:56–06:14
• Democratic Internal Tensions: 06:14–06:40
• 2026 Midterm & Trump’s Role: 06:40–07:30
• Census, Redistricting & Congressional Seats Fight: 07:30–10:41
• Economic Messaging, Polls & Republican Strategy: 10:41–13:52
• DHS Funding & Shutdown Dynamics: 13:52–15:34

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Tone and Language

The conversation maintains a partisan, combative tone with urgency over election integrity and repeated assertions regarding Democratic obstructionism. Lisa Boothe and Congressman Hamadeh speak in assertive, populist terms, emphasizing themes of common sense, American will, and governmental accountability, while painting the opposition as radical and out of touch.

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Summary

This episode serves as a primer on the Republican perspective regarding election security, the rationale for voter ID laws, and the intertwined controversies over immigration, census counting, and government appropriations. Through both statistics and rhetoric, the show attempts to highlight what it presents as clear-cut issues clouded by partisan resistance, setting the stage for further debates in Congress and the looming 2026 midterm elections.

Transcript

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[D]

Welcome to the Truth with Lisa Booth where we get to the heart of the issues that matter to you. Today. We've got Congressman Abe Hamade from Arizona on the show. He is an advocate for election integrity and he's a co sponsor of this SAVE act, that critical bill aimed at ensuring that only American citizens will vote in our federal elections. And by the way, they have to show some form of government id. Does that just sound common sense? Normal? You'd say, well guess what, 83% of Americans agree. But then somehow it's become controversial. Why is that? I'm going to ask Congressman Hamade about that. We'll also dig in to the upcoming midterm elections. How does he see things shaking out? Stay tuned for Congressman Abe Hamaday. Well, Congressman, it's great to have you back. I don't know if I've had you since I've had you on when you were a candidate, but I don't know if I've had you on since you won, have I?

[A]

I don't think so, Lisa, but it's an honor to be with you.

[D]

Well, I've already said congratulations, but congratulations publicly.

[A]

Thank you.

[D]

So right now, the big battle over the SAVE Act. First of all, give us the big picture. What does the SAVE act do?

[A]

Well, now, we passed the SAVE act last year. Remember, that was one of our first bills that we passed. And unfortunately, the Senate just hasn't prioritized it. So now President Trump has really been leading the charge. He met with us Republican members of Congress last month and he wanted to rename it to Save America act and to add voter ID part of that, not just a citizenship requirement. So what this bill does is you have to show proof of citizenship and voter ID in order to register to vote and to keep you on the voter roll. So it's very common sense legislation that the support of over 83% of Americans. Can you imagine? Usually it's hard to get people to agree on something like that. But, and what's, what's remarkable is the pushback we're getting from the Democrats. But we should be voting on that to this week and today. So hopefully once we pass that election integrity measure now, it goes on to the Senate, which is going to have its own challenges over there, unfortunately.

[D]

You know, to your point, Pew Research, 83% of adults support requiring some form of government issued ID to vote. 71% of Democrats support it as well, and 95% of Republicans. Why has this become controversial?

[A]

It's only controversial because the Democrats are making it controversial. Democrats in power. If you look at, I truly believe that the Democrats right now, they can't win on their own policies. Their policies bring destruction and chaos. And so they're, they're benefiting from a broken system because we know that there are illegals on the voter rolls. We know that there are problems with, with our elections. So that's how I view it. The Democrats are trying to protect the power that they currently have because when you have a, when you have polls, numbers, especially, you know, 70 plus percent of Democrats supporting it, why are they going against the will of their own voters? Well, they think that they know better because the ones in power who are making the decisions to override it because they know that their power might be taken away from them. So that's the fight. It's pretty simple. And I've always tie it back into Minnesota. Lisa, what we discovered with the Minnesota fraud that was occurring where you had these Somali immigrants who were stealing from the taxpayers billions of dollars, I want people to know if they're willing to steal money from you, the taxpayers, don't you think that they're willing to also steal our elections in order to protect the fraud that's been occurring? There's fraud regarding all these tax dollars. There's also fraud in our election. So we got to clean it up.

[D]

Well, you know, to that point, Senator Tom Cotton tweeted out pretty plainly, let's call it like it is. Chuck Schumer opposes voter ID because he wants to make it easy to commit voter fraud. It's hard to find any other reason besides that when you look at even a 71% approval rating with Democrat voters.

[A]

Yeah, I think he has it exactly right. It's common sense, and that's why the voters overwhelmingly support it. But to be honest, Lisa, there's so much in Congress that men and women's sports, I find I've never met somebody on the streets or back home who support having men and women's sports. Yet the Democrats seem to be supporting the far, far fringes of their own party, of their own radical base. So, you know, the Democrats are involved in their own type of civil war right now about control of the party. And now I think their opposition to this, in unison, seems to be trying to placate to that far left radical base.

[D]

Yeah, I mean, it's to be seen. But it does appear as if with the progressive left that, you know, they're kind of saying their own Tea Party moments. I hope that doesn't mean we're going to see in this midterm election what we saw in the 2010 election. Because I was at the NRC, at the NRCC at the time, and we picked up 63 seats in the House. So I'm hoping, you know, the kind of momentum they're saying on the left doesn't translate into that kind of way of election.

[A]

Yeah, that's my biggest fear, too. But luckily, we got President Trump, who remains more popular than people could have ever even predicted. I mean, just a few years ago, remember, people didn't expect President Trump to come back into the Oval Office. So this is why President Trump cares about election integrity. He knows that we have to get the base motivated out to vote. And especially, you know, with this issue, it. It's such an easy one. For us to do. And unfortunately, the Senate has been the biggest obstacle with their, with not them, you know, having them not allowed debate on this. So the filibuster, they always use the filibuster as an excuse. But unfortunately, the, you know, President Trump, he knows that we have to get rid of the filibuster in order to pass a America first agenda. Because right now we've done a good job, especially the big, beautiful bill, but we, there's so much more work to do, especially to get our base motivated to go out this November.

[D]

Yeah, you've got Senator Chuck Schumer calling it dead on arrival in the Senate and voter suspension, voter suppression, rather akin to Jim Crow 2.0, which is really interesting. 71% of his voters don't agree with that. How much of this, too, is about the census in 2030? Because if you look at sort of some of the projections and the predictions, Republican states are poised to gain a bunch of seats. And also the Electoral College is supposed to change pretty significantly to the point where the blue wall might not even exist for Democrats anymore. Yeah. So, I mean, how much of this is trying to preserve, you know, we had, we've had people like, I'm sure you've seen the quote from Congresswoman Yvette Clark saying that she needs more migrants for redistricting purposes in our district. So, you know, how much of what we saw under Joe Biden with all the illegal aliens coming in, is about that is about trying to protect themselves heading into, you know, next census.

[A]

I think it's a big part of it. The same way they're trying to protect the fraud that's going on in Minnesota. But, you know, regarding the census, I mean, there's a reason why they're opposing the deportation efforts. I mean, a majority of Americans do support deporting illegals. You know, how it occurs is up to debate. But most Americans, I mean, that's why President Trump won, is because he secured the border within a few weeks. He understood that what was the mandate that was given to him? And if you're right, if you look at California, New York, so many of these days, states are poised to be losing these seats. And, you know, after, you know, now they're redistricting. Right. That's the next battle that's been going on. Even though they're trying to paint that on us. Well, we were only doing that in response to how much gerrymandering there were going that was going on in Democrat stakes. So from, from our, from my estimate, it seems like there's a possibility of 7 to 10, you know, shifts of congressional seats in Electoral College, if not more, depending on what the census shows, if we get rid of illegal immigrants on the, on the census. But, you know, that's another bill that's being talked about and introduced, whether to count illegal immigrants into the census. But my argument is, well, if we start deporting, if we actually deport these illegal immigrants, they wouldn't be included in the census in the first place. So that's why it's so critical to keep the focus on the deportation efforts of this administration, which I believe is going strong. I mean, a lot of it is actually self deportation. And we have to support our Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, who sadly have been coming under attack in a similar way to how it was in 2020 with the George Floyd riots that we witnessed. So I don't like to see this divide that the Democrats constantly do against law enforcement. Now they're trying to say it's ICE that they're against. Well, no, they were against local police just a few years ago, too. So it's this idea that Democrats bring chaos and destruction everywhere they go. Everywhere. Every city, every state that they control pretty much is an embodiment of bad policies. You get California, look at New York. And that's why these states are losing population. And regardless of illegals, they're still losing their own citizen population. So we have to, we have to ensure that illegals are not counted towards the census in 2030. So I know that's a big battle that we're going to be focusing on, but the deportation efforts will ultimately help the.

[D]

Yeah, definitely. And then also I'll be having the Missouri attorney general on in the near future, and she has launched a lawsuit looking into that, specifically about saying that illegal aliens should not be parted as or included as part of the census. Yeah. I was going to ask you, you had mentioned, you know, the poll numbers have not been great for President Trump and Republicans right now. Why do you think, especially on, you know, I think there's like a Fox poll a couple weeks ago and look like these are just snapshots in time. Obviously, heading into the midterms, things could look a lot different. But at least right now, Democrats lead by 14 points on affordability. And it's not just the FOX poll. There's been an array of polls basically saying that, you know, President Trump's upside down on issues like affordability, the economy, perceptions on the economy, et cetera, et cetera. Why do you think that is?

[A]

Well, unfortunately, we have to deal with so much of the fake news media. But affordability, I always laugh when they talk about affordability being a Democrat issue. I mean, it's completely wrong. If you look at Virginia just elected a Democrat governor, a Democratic ad who called for the death of his political opponents children, and you have a Democrat legislature. What the first thing they do is they want to raise taxes to one of the highest in the country. That's not going to make life affordable for Americans. So it's really the messaging aspect of it, affordability. Most unaffordable cities east are led by Democrats. And that's where Republicans we have to keep messaging in that way. And you know something I'm looking at is the Democrats right now, they have their boogeyman. Their boogeyman has always been President Trump. They have Trump derangement syndrome. Republicans, right now, we have to be running against the fraud. The fraud was so offensive that we uncovered in Minnesota, and it's all across our country. We know that there's fraud occurring. And again, if they're committing fraud to steal your tax dollars, they're going to be committing fraud to steal your elections. And I think that's why the Save America act, for instance, is so popular right now, especially as Republican. We have to give the base and these, the voters who came out to support President Trump. And now this is a midterm, and it's an awful action year. We have to encourage them to come out and vote for Republicans once again because this year they're going to see huge tax decreases because of the big beautiful bill. I mean, there's going to be a lot of benefits. My district in Arizona has one of the highest number of senior citizens. And now they're not going to get taxed on their Social Security. They're going to get a tax credit, 83% of seniors. So it's really amazing. And I think this is going to take a few more months for it to actually show. But unfortunately, the messaging from the Democrats has been completely in unison. And right now, Republicans have to unite behind President Trump, who remains more popular than Congress. And I think the biggest frustration with the voters right now is that they want to see more action from Congress. Well, you know, the House, I will say, has been a lot more pro Trump than the Senate. And we have gotten a lot of major bills passed, however, and which is unusual, usually the House is a lot harder to do than the Senate, but this time around, it seems like the Senate has been the one giving us the most problems. And I think that's why A leader soon has to wake up. The fact that the voter base right now is demanding act and the same type of bold act that President Trump has been delivering.

[D]

And then before we go, what do you think is going to happen with this DHS funding? You know, Democrats are doubling down, dribbling down however many downs you want to call it on trying to get some of these reforms with federal law enforcement and ice. Do you think that they'll get any of them?

[A]

Well it seems like the White House, you know they try to come up with some negotiations but the Democrats starting points are their bullet point plan was that was a non starter and the Democrats know that. But they are benefiting from the shutdown. They try to benefit, you know, when there is no deal. So I, you know, I've had a lot of conversations with members of Congress. I don't believe there's going to be a deal and I don't think they're going to get DHS funded and ICE funded. Right now. It's going to be a big problem because it's affecting our Coast Guard service members who are serving overseas affect GSA and the Democrats, just like they did a few months ago are holding our government hostage. And unfortunately they're going to be delaying so many Americans ability to travel when you have TSA workers not getting paid on time. And I was dealing with this issue here in Arizona with some of our ICE employees as well. And this was not due to a shutdown but just as there's huge backlog, so there's a big problem. We have to ensure that our government is functioning. And right now a Democrat their their base doesn't they want the government to be completely shut down. Remember when the Democrats finally decide to end the government shut down A few months ago the far left base of the Democrat party was mad at their leaders for reopening the government. So it's almost a suicidal mission that the Democrats seem to be on.

[D]

Congressman, thanks for coming on the show. Appreciate you making the time.

[A]

Of course. Thank you Lisa.

[D]

Okay, that was Congressman Abe Hamade from from Arizona. Appreciate him for joining the show. Appreciate you guys at home for listening every Tuesday and Thursday. You can listen throughout the week. Also want to thank John Casio, my producer for putting the show together. Until next time.

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