Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO and former White House adviser Elon Musk is again wading into America’s voting-rules fight, warning that democracy is at risk if Congress does not tighten proof-of-citizenship rules for people signing up to vote.
Musk Echoes Beck’s Push For SAVE
Musk’s latest intervention came on Wednesday in response to conservative commentator Glenn Beck, who urged Republicans on X to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act. Beck wrote that by doing so “the GOP will save the republic AND rescue the GOP,” adding, “If they fail, we all fail,” and arguing that “80% off all Americans want this – you need ID for everything except voting. There is only one reason not to pass this and we all know what it is.”
Musk replied, “It must be done or democracy is dead.”
What The SAVE Act Would Change
The SAVE Act, backed by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and first introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) would require documentary proof of US citizenship before someone can be added to federal voter rolls.
Supporters say the bill would deter noncitizens from voting illegally. Democrats and voting-rights groups counter that noncitizen voting in federal races is already illegal and warn new documentation hurdles could keep eligible Americans from registering.
Partisan Fight And A Broader GOP Bill
Musk has made voter-identification rules a recurring theme. In 2025, he and Donald Trump backed a Wisconsin ballot measure that wrote photo-ID requirements into the state constitution, later calling its passage “the most important thing” even as their preferred state supreme court candidate lost. Musk, in his earlier defense of the SAVE Act has labelled opponents of proof-of-citizenship requirements as “traitors” and criticized states that do not mandate voter ID as a threat to election integrity.
He also sparred with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) when he signed a law blocking cities from requiring voter ID at the polls, Musk wrote on X, “Wow, it is now illegal to require voter ID in California! They just made PREVENTING voter fraud against the law. The Joker is in charge.”
Republicans in Congress broadly support the SAVE Act, but Johnson has resisted demands from hard-liners to attach it to a must-pass funding bill during the current partial government shutdown. “We all want the SAVE Act, but we look at the reality of the numbers here,” he said Monday, adding that “this is a funding package right now, and I don’t think we need to be playing games with government funding.”
Democrats are firmly opposed. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted the measure on X Tuesday, writing, “The SAVE Act is nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0. It would disenfranchise millions of Americans. Every single Senate Democrat will vote against any bill that contains it. Speaker Johnson should tell SAVE Act Republicans to stand down or else this shutdown will be on them.”
Image via Imagn Images
Recent Comments