The Real ID Act passed the House 368–58, and Senate 100-0, signed into law by Bush 2 in 2005. 54 of the nay votes were Democrats. While the law does not mean th

The Real ID Act passed the House 368–58, and Senate 100-0, signed into law by Bush 2 in 2005. 54 of the nay votes were Democrats. While the law does not mean the federal government creates a domestic national ID, the federal government sets the standard for ID, and then requires that standard be used at federal facilities like TSA at airports, federal buildings, nuclear power plants and so on. So it in effect requires states produce the national ID card. Anyway, seemingly per usual, the U.S. invents the wheel multiple times, tries to standardize, grants many exceptions and extensions along the way, and in the end there are ~51 "standards".