Republican Senator Claims You Can’t Shovel Snow in NYC Without ID
Republican Sen. Katie Britt on Thursday attempted to claim that New York City requires ID in order to defend the SAVE Act.
At a news conference on Capitol Hill, the Alabama politician tried to argue that because many aspects of daily life require people to show ID, the Republicans’ extreme voter ID bill is just normal.
“You can’t rent a house, you can’t go to work, you can’t shovel snow in New York without ID, and you can’t enter the country. [Senator] Jon Ossoff’s campaign event. So, I’m pretty sure that as we seek to achieve the American dream, whether it’s getting insurance, buying a car, or enrolling your child in school, you need an ID,” Britt said. said
Katie Britt: “You can’t go to work, you can’t shovel snow in New York without ID” pic.twitter.com/2b4wBcGR3S
-Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 19, 2026
Leaving aside the fact that most Americans don’t have the ambitious dream of buying an insurance policy, Britt is likely building on the Republican coup against a specific New York City government. program to help clear the city of snow.
That program hired temporary snow shovelers during inclement weather and, thanks to federal labor laws, required two forms of identification since the job paid up to $30 an hour — a living wage Britt and his Republican colleagues are unfamiliar with. You can shovel all the snow you want in the city without ID: you simply won’t get paid by the city hall.
And all of the elements of the “American Dream” Britt mentions, including getting insurance for any reason, are not rights enshrined in the Constitution. Voting is a right guaranteed to all eligible U.S. citizens, and requiring people to present their passport, passport card, or birth certificate, as required by the SAVE Act, is costly, burdensome, and illegal. capitation.
