If you don't pay a lot of attention to the news right now, you've forgiven. The headlines aren't doing most of us any favors.
But there's one development that could have a massive impact on American travelers in 2026.
A law being passed right now in the U.S. Congress could overwhelm the passport application system with millions of applications—just when Americans are preparing for their summer vacations.
We're not here to argue the merits of the law—ask your local civil rights expert about that—but to warn about its effect on your travel plans.
Must register to vote with a passport
The so-called "SAVE Act" would make U.S. passports one of the few common documents that would be accepted in order register citizens to vote.
The measure has been passed by the House of Representatives (read the full text of the House bill here), and it's currently awaiting a vote by the Senate.
The substance of the Act, if passed, would be to require "documentary proof of United States citizenship" to be able to register to vote.
The first form of accepted identification is a REAL ID "that indicates the applicant is a citizen of the United States."
Trouble is, only 6 states issue a REAL ID that complies. Fully 44 of of 50 American states do not list citizenship on their forms of REAL ID.
That would mean that in order to be eligible to vote, millions of Americans would need to obtain the second-most permissible identification on the SAVE Act's list of required ID.
Number two is a U.S. passport.
And think of what that would do to passport applications this year.
The Center for American Progress has calculated that only about 165 million of 311 million U.S. citizens possess a passport right now.
That means that some 146 million Americans do not have a passport right now. They would have to rush to apply for a passport if they need to use one to register to vote in the midterm elections.
That tsunami doesn't even include people who would need to renew their passports.
Right now, the official wait time to obtain a passport is listed at 6 weeks, but historically, that wait time has increased as the calendar creeps closer to the summer, as people begin preparing for their international travel plans.
In July 2021, as the Covid-19 pandemic drew down, the State Department was reporting historic 18-week waits because of the backlog of passport applications. To put that into perspective, 18 weeks from now will be in the middle of June.
And that was when there was a backlog of only 2 million applications to process. Can you imagine how clogged the federal government's application process will be if 146 million Americans suddenly want a passport?
It's bad enough that millions of eligible American votes will not be able to obtain their passports in time to register for vote.
From a traveler's perspective, to claim the freedom to travel outside your own country, you'd be at the mercy of an overwhelmed federal government system to process your passport in time.
Don't like it? Either apply for a passport or a renewal right now—or call your Senators right now.