{"id":463908,"date":"2026-03-25T22:51:56","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T03:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=463908"},"modified":"2026-03-26T09:37:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T14:37:33","slug":"theres-nothing-more-important-secretary-mullin-pushes-controversial-voting-bill-despite-native-objections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2026\/03\/25\/theres-nothing-more-important-secretary-mullin-pushes-controversial-voting-bill-despite-native-objections\/","title":{"rendered":"‘There\u2019s nothing more important’: Secretary Mullin pushes controversial voting bill despite Native objections"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin discusses the SAVE America Act on March 24, 2026.”There’s nothing more important than the SAVE America Act,” …<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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Indianz.Com Video:\r\n‘There’s nothing more important than the SAVE America Act’<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
‘There\u2019s nothing more important’: Secretary Mullin pushes controversial voting bill despite Native objections<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, March 25, 2026<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nSecretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin <\/a>is quickly following orders as the first Native person in President Donald Trump’s cabinet.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nSpeaking at his swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday, Mullin once again endorsed the SAVE America Act<\/a>, a controversial voter identification and registration bill that Trump has fixated on in recent weeks. Despite opposition to the Republican-sponsored measure from Native advocacy groups, the new leader of the Department of Homeland Security<\/a> (DHS) is sharing the president’s enthusiasm for getting it passed in the 119th Congress.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“There’s nothing more important than the SAVE America Act,” Mullin, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation<\/a>, said at the White House. “I mean, that’s what the American people want.”\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“Eighty percent of the population say they want only Americans voting — citizens that are registered to vote, citizens that have done it the right way,” Mullin continued. “And I believe that everybody wants an election integrity.”\r\n

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Markwayne Mullin offers remarks after being sworn in Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on March 24, 2026.Mullin, a former Senator from O…<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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Indianz.Com Video:\r\n‘I won’t let you down’<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nBut while DHS plays a role in protecting elections infrastructure, tribes and their advocates have questioned the need for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, known alternatively as the SAVE Act and the SAVE America Act. According to the Native American Rights Fund<\/a> (NARF), the bill prevents American Indians and Alaska Natives — who are citizens of the United States — from relying on their tribal identification cards by requiring them to produce other documents that are costly and often difficult to obtain, especially for those living on reservations and in rural and remote areas.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nNARF also points out that the SAVE Act discourages mail-in voting<\/a> by requiring voters to produce proof of American citizenship documents — in person. Polling places and local government offices are typically far from reservations, so the requirement places additional burdens on Native people.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“We are still navigating challenges around fair representation and equal access, ensuring Native votes are not diluted and Native voters are not shut out,” National Congress of American Indians<\/a> (NCAI) Executive Director Larry Wright Jr. said last month.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“Our position is straightforward: Native voters must have equal access and an equal voice,” Wright said at NCAI’s executive council winter session<\/a> in Washington, D.C., on February 9. “We will continue supporting tribal nations working to protect that right.”\r\n

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\u201cICE is outta control\u201d: In video message, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), Democratic leader in US House of Representatives, supports tribal efforts to address aggressive #ICE<\/a> tactics that have targeted Native people in #Minnesota<\/a> and other states. @RepJeffries<\/a> @NCAI1944<\/a> #DC<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/LhSAu71fQA<\/a><\/p>— indianz.com (@indianz) February 11, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>