WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump abruptly canceled his plans to sign a major, bipartisan housing bill on Wednesday, saying he will not do so until Congress passes the SAVE America Act, a sweeping elections bill that has become a focal point of his second term.
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“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,” he posted on his Truth Social account.
It was not immediately clear whether he still plans to sign the housing bill or veto it. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
Trump has repeatedly pressed Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act, which would overhaul elections in all 50 states and add new proof-of-citizenship and voter ID requirements.
But Republican leadership insists they do not have the votes to pass it, given Democrats’ strong opposition and an unwillingness among Republicans to get rid of the legislative filibuster.
Trump’s decision to cancel the signing ceremony for the housing bill that passed the House and Senate this week with huge, bipartisan majorities will only add to the tension between the White House and Senate Republicans.
Trump was also expected to speak to Senate Republicans during their weekly lunch on Wednesday, after being invited by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., to discuss SAVE and other issues. That lunch is still going forward, a Scott spokesperson told NBC News.
The housing bill aims to lower housing costs, in part by building more homes and restricting large investors from buying up single-family homes. It gives Republicans a major legislative accomplishment to point to as voters rank the cost of living as a top issue in the November elections. It’s the kind of thing Republicans have been clamoring for amid worries that the Iran war driving up gas prices will cost them control of Congress.
But Trump undercut the bill just hours before he cancelled the planned signing, writing in another Truth Social post that it was “of minor importance” before pivoting back to the SAVE America Act.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., laughed when reporters asked him about Trump cancelling the signing. “I just heard that. … I guess I would say at this point I don’t have any observations about that,” he said.
The housing bill was negotiated across the House and Senate by committee leaders in both parties: Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Reps. French Hill, R-Ark., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
But Trump focused on Warren in his Truth Social post, calling it a “Warren centric housing bill” and again demanding that Republicans abolish the filibuster. That would mean changing Senate rules to remove the 60-vote threshold to pass most legislation. But Thune and other Republicans have said they do not have the votes to do so.
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