President Donald Trump abruptly canceled a scheduled signing ceremony for bipartisan legislation aimed at making housing more affordable, saying he won’t move forward unless Congress also passes long-stalled election reforms. “Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency,” Trump wrote on social media on Wednesday. It was an unexpected hurdle for the largest housing bill in decades. The president pulled the plug less than two hours before he was scheduled to sign the legislation on Capitol Hill, blindsiding lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. “America is in a housing crisis,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts). “This is a bipartisan bill passed by a huge majority in the House and in the Senate, and Donald Trump says, crisis or not, he just doesn’t care.””I did my job, and I got this housing bill passed, and I’m confident that the president will sign the bill eventually. We’ll just continue to work with him to get that done,” said Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio). House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested that the president would sign the bill within a ten-day window, but the White House would not confirm that. The White House also didn’t comment directly on whether the president was considering a veto. The bill, called the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, took a number of steps to increase the supply of homes at a time when low inventory is contributing to high prices. It rolled back federal regulations, streamlined environmental reviews, and restricted corporate landlords from buying up single-family homes. The passage of the bill earlier this week was considered a rare bipartisan win ahead of midterm elections focused on affordability. Trump downplayed the significance of the housing bill compared to cutting interest rates. He also said it “pales in comparison” to passing the SAVE America Act, which would require voter identification at the polls and proof of citizenship during the registration process. Asked to clarify if election legislation is more important to him than addressing the housing crisis, Trump said, “Every election is important. We’re doing very well. They want a lot of communists to come in.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) has repeatedly said that there is not enough support to pass the SAVE America Act or eliminate the filibuster, something the president has also demanded.Wednesday’s incident was the latest example of friction between the president and his party as Republicans fight to maintain control of Congress this fall. “There is a huge group of people who really appreciate what the president’s doing right now,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina). “It’s the Democrat Party.”Trump emerged from a meeting with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill on Wednesday afternoon, insisting that his party is unified, but there were reportedly some tense moments over the passage of a war powers resolution earlier this week. On Tuesday, a handful of Republicans joined Democrats to approve the resolution, which aims to restrict the president’s ability to take further military action against Iran without congressional approval. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), who recently lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger, said he defended his vote in an exchange that ultimately turned into a shouting match.
President Donald Trump abruptly canceled a scheduled signing ceremony for bipartisan legislation aimed at making housing more affordable, saying he won’t move forward unless Congress also passes long-stalled election reforms.
“Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency,” Trump wrote on social media on Wednesday.
It was an unexpected hurdle for the largest housing bill in decades. The president pulled the plug less than two hours before he was scheduled to sign the legislation on Capitol Hill, blindsiding lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
“America is in a housing crisis,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts). “This is a bipartisan bill passed by a huge majority in the House and in the Senate, and Donald Trump says, crisis or not, he just doesn’t care.”
“I did my job, and I got this housing bill passed, and I’m confident that the president will sign the bill eventually. We’ll just continue to work with him to get that done,” said Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio).
House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested that the president would sign the bill within a ten-day window, but the White House would not confirm that. The White House also didn’t comment directly on whether the president was considering a veto.
The bill, called the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, took a number of steps to increase the supply of homes at a time when low inventory is contributing to high prices. It rolled back federal regulations, streamlined environmental reviews, and restricted corporate landlords from buying up single-family homes.
The passage of the bill earlier this week was considered a rare bipartisan win ahead of midterm elections focused on affordability.
Trump downplayed the significance of the housing bill compared to cutting interest rates. He also said it “pales in comparison” to passing the SAVE America Act, which would require voter identification at the polls and proof of citizenship during the registration process.
Asked to clarify if election legislation is more important to him than addressing the housing crisis, Trump said, “Every election is important. We’re doing very well. They want a lot of communists to come in.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) has repeatedly said that there is not enough support to pass the SAVE America Act or eliminate the filibuster, something the president has also demanded.
Wednesday’s incident was the latest example of friction between the president and his party as Republicans fight to maintain control of Congress this fall.
“There is a huge group of people who really appreciate what the president’s doing right now,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina). “It’s the Democrat Party.”
Trump emerged from a meeting with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill on Wednesday afternoon, insisting that his party is unified, but there were reportedly some tense moments over the passage of a war powers resolution earlier this week.
On Tuesday, a handful of Republicans joined Democrats to approve the resolution, which aims to restrict the president’s ability to take further military action against Iran without congressional approval. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), who recently lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger, said he defended his vote in an exchange that ultimately turned into a shouting match.
