Senator Rand Paul and Twila Brase

In September, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, courageously introduced a bill to repeal Title II of the REAL ID Act of 2005 and its “federal mandate requiring every state to share citizens’ personal data and redesign driver’s licenses to meet federal standards.” Showing that he understands what is fundamentally at stake with the REAL ID, Senator Paul’s bill is titled the Safeguarding Personal Information Act of 2025.

As highlighted at Solari and on Financial Rebellion on multiple occasions, Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) and its president and co-founder Twila Brase have been warning Americans about the REAL ID for quite some time, emphasizing that it is a “federal identification card and national surveillance system masquerading as a state driver’s license.” Brase explains,

“The reason our health freedom organization is leading the charge on this issue is because REAL ID threatens freedom at every level—including health freedom. A digital, biometric-controlled Federal ID establishes a nationwide framework that could be turned into a China-like social credit system for America. Under the law, this federal ID could be used to restrict and control all of life, including access to medical care, access to banking and access to education.”

Senator Paul pointedly introduced his bill on September 11. CCHF points out that this is a nod to the fact that 9/11 greased the wheels for the REAL ID Act’s passage in 2005.

Brase urges all Americans to refuse to get a REAL ID or, if they already have one, turn in their REAL ID in the states that have not eliminated those options. (Unfortunately, Florida and Texas—supposed bastions of freedom—as well as Georgia, Mississippi, and Wyoming, do not allow their residents to have a standard driver’s license.)

Brase applauds Senator Paul for “standing up for state sovereignty and for every American’s right to privacy and personal autonomy” and points out that as Chairman of the Homeland Security committee—which has oversight over the REAL-ID-promoting Transportation Security Administration (TSA)—he is in a “powerful position to make something happen.” However, citizen action is also important, and it starts with awareness of the threat. Brase stated on a recent episode of the Jimmy Dore Show,

“[Americans] think that digital ID is a good thing. They don’t understand [that the REAL ID] pings the government every time they take it out and use it. And they don’t understand what it could become—that it could link them to a global identification system.”

We owe a debt of gratitude to Senator Paul and Twila Brase for their concerted actions in defense of state and personal sovereignty.