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By Gabe Whisnant and Leonardo Feldman
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President Donald Trump abruptly canceled a planned signing of a bipartisan housing affordability bill on Wednesday, threatening to withhold until lawmakers pass the SAVE America Act, a voting measure he has labeled a “national emergency.”
The decision stalls legislation aimed at boosting home construction and easing costs, even after it cleared both chambers by wide margins. Trump also dismissed the housing bill as “of minor importance."
Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona told Newsweek that Trump’s decision shows he is overlooking Americans’ immediate housing struggles, arguing the bipartisan bill would have offered meaningful relief on rent and homebuying costs.
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"Well, he's not prioritizing the American people. I mean, rent, homeownership, all that stuff is a big challenge for millions of Americans," Kelly said in a brief interview at the Capitol. "Can't afford their lives, can't afford a place to live, and that strongly bipartisan legislation, you know, provided some relief to the American people, but Donald Trump doesn't seem to care."
Asked Wednesday whether he would negotiate a deal to secure the housing bill’s signing, Trump called for lower interest rates and reiterated his push for legislation imposing new voter identification requirements.
"I said I’m not signing it. I made billions of dollars with housing. I know housing better than anybody. Lower interest rates," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "I don’t want to hurt people that own houses either. These people, for the first time in their lives, they have valuable houses. They become rich. I don’t want to hurt them either.
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Trump Meets With Senate Republicans: What to Know
Trump's announcement preceded a visit to Capitol Hill on Wednesday for a closed-door lunch with Senate Republicans, marking his first appearance at the weekly meeting in more than a year amid growing frustration within the GOP.
Trump described the meeting as “great” as he left the Capitol, though he expressed frustration with some Republican lawmakers.
“We like our leader (John Thune). We like everybody, really, in the room," Trump said. "I don’t like a few people but that’s okay, I think you know who they are.”
The president was likely referring to Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who has appeared increasingly emboldened as a lame-duck lawmaker after losing his primary to a Trump-backed challenger. Multiple reports said Cassidy and Trump engaged in a heated exchange during the luncheon, largely over Cassidy’s vote Tuesday in favor of the Iran War Powers Resolution.
“I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on,’” Cassidy told reporters after the meeting. “This was supposed to last four weeks, it’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved. I am voting for war powers until I get a briefing."
Trump repeatedly told Cassidy to sit down during the meeting, a person familiar with the exchange told the Associated Press. At one point, the president also referred to Cassidy as a “lunatic.”
What’s in the Housing Bill Trump Declined to Sign
The housing reform bill, called the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, aims to boost the supply of affordable homes by accelerating new construction nationwide, with provisions designed to cut delays in the building process. This includes streamlining or expediting environmental reviews that can slow down housing projects.
It also targets large institutional investors by limiting the number of single-family homes they can own, a move intended to reduce competition from corporate buyers and make it easier for individuals to purchase homes.
More broadly, the legislation is meant to address a nationwide housing shortage—estimated in the millions of units—by increasing supply and easing pressure on home prices and rents, which have surged amid high mortgage rates and inflation.
The bill advanced with overwhelming bipartisan support, passing the Senate by an 85-5 vote and clearing the House 358-32, underscoring rare cross-party agreement on tackling housing affordability even in a deeply divided Congress.
On Wednesday, in advance of the signing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt praised the bill as "one of the most significant pieces of housing affordability legislation in American history."
"This bipartisan bill includes policies long championed by the President. It cuts unnecessary red tape, helps increase housing supply, and limits the ability of large institutional investors to purchase single-family homes," Leavitt posted on X. "As the President has said, homes should be owned by American families, not large corporations. President Trump promised to lower housing costs, and he is delivering, making it easier for every family to achieve the American Dream of homeownership. Tomorrow’s historic bill signing is another promise made, promise kept."
Housing Bill Could Still Become Law Without Trump’s Signature
Under the Constitution’s Presentment Clause, the president has 10 days—excluding Sundays—after a bill is formally presented to decide whether to sign or veto it. If the president takes no action during that window and Congress remains in session, the measure automatically becomes law as if it had been signed.
That provision is key in the current standoff. If Trump declines to sign the housing package but does not issue a veto, the legislation could still take effect once the 10-day period expires, provided lawmakers do not adjourn in a way that prevents the bill’s return.
The same clause also explains the alternative scenarios: a formal veto would send the bill back to Congress, where it could be overridden by a two-thirds vote in both chambers, while an adjournment during the 10-day window could kill the bill through a so-called pocket veto.
Trump’s Push to Pass the SAVE America Act
In a Truth Social post on June 24, Trump said, "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. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT"
The SAVE America Act — short for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act — is a Republican-backed elections bill that would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and impose stricter photo ID requirements at the ballot box. Supporters say it would bolster election security, while critics argue it could make voting more difficult for eligible Americans lacking easy access to required documents.
President Trump has made the measure a central legislative priority, repeatedly urging Congress to pass it and framing it as essential to election integrity. The bill cleared the House earlier this year but has stalled in the Senate, where it faces unified Democratic opposition and divisions among Republicans over strategy.
In response, Trump and his allies have pursued multiple avenues to advance it. He has threatened to block or delay unrelated legislation unless the bill moves forward and has sought to tie it to other major votes, including government funding, surveillance law renewals and key nominations. Republicans have also attempted to attach the measure to broader legislative packages, though those efforts have repeatedly fallen short of the votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
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Trump has further pressured lawmakers by calling for changes to Senate rules, including eliminating or weakening the filibuster, and has encouraged alternative strategies such as a “talking filibuster” to force passage with a simple majority. Despite those efforts, the bill remains in legislative limbo, underscoring the political and procedural hurdles facing his top election priority.
Why Johnson’s Reconciliation Strategy Faces Limits in the Senate
Speaker Mike Johnson suggested on Wednesday that Republicans could fold the SAVE America Act into a future budget reconciliation bill. That hinges on a Senate process designed to bypass the filibuster, but one that comes with strict constraints.
Under the Byrd Rule, provisions included in reconciliation must primarily affect federal spending or revenue. Measures deemed “extraneous”—including those with no budgetary impact or only incidental fiscal effects—can be stripped out if a senator raises a point of order.
That creates a significant hurdle for policy-driven legislation like the SAVE Act. Even if Republicans attempt to attach it to a reconciliation package, key provisions could be ruled out of order unless they are clearly tied to budgetary outcomes. Overcoming such rulings would require 60 votes in the Senate—effectively reinstating the same threshold reconciliation is meant to avoid.
In practice, this means reconciliation is not a guaranteed workaround but a narrow procedural pathway, and one heavily policed by the Senate parliamentarian and floor challenges.
A Widening GOP Divide: Thune vs. Trump
The housing bill standoff underscores a broader divide within the Republican Party between Senate leadership’s legislative pragmatism and Trump’s more hardline demands.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has focused on navigating narrow margins and assembling workable coalitions, often emphasizing compromise and incremental progress to move legislation through a closely divided chamber.
The majority leader told reporters on Wednesday, “That was his call to make," following Trump's announcement.
“What I would say is that the bill is a bill that has been worked on for a long time,” Thune said. "It’s a great piece of legislation that increases the supply of housing and the availability of credit for people to afford homes. So it’s an affordability issue and eventually I hope he finds a way to sign it.”
Trump, by contrast, has increasingly pushed for maximalist outcomes—such as tying unrelated priorities like the SAVE America Act to must-pass legislation—and has pressured Senate Republicans to change procedural rules or take more confrontational approaches.
The tension has surfaced repeatedly in recent weeks, with disagreements over Senate rules, legislative strategy and the role of the parliamentarian, highlighting a growing gap between what can realistically pass the Senate and what Trump is demanding from his party.
Contact the Newsweek editor on this story: Gray R. Thomas
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