Trump Says He Won’t Sign Housing Bill Until Congress Passes the SAVE Act. Here’s How It Can Become Law Anyway
· Time
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he was canceling the signing of a landmark bipartisan housing bill until Congress passes the restrictive voter ID legislation he has forcefully championed in recent months.
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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,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Known as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the package passed both chambers of Congress this week with overwhelming support from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. The legislation includes dozens of provisions aimed at eliminating barriers to building homes and lowering housing costs.
Read More: What to Know About the Landmark Housing Bill Congress Just Passed
Before Trump’s abrupt announcement on Wednesday, the White House had expressed support for the bill. In a social media post on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called it “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,” she said. “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.”
Less than 24 hours later, the President canceled the bill signing.
But Trump’s refusal to put his signature on the sweeping housing package won’t necessarily prevent it from being enacted. When Congress is in session, a bill can typically become law 10 days after it is presented to the President, excluding Sundays, even if the President doesn’t sign it.
Trump hasn’t indicated that he would go so far as to veto the bill, but if he did take that step, Congress could also have the two-thirds supermajority needed to override his objection: the housing bill passed by well over that margin in both chambers this week.
Trump has previously vowed not to sign any legislation until Congress passes the SAVE America Act, which would require people to provide proof of citizenship and photo identification in order to vote in federal elections, among other changes. The House passed the legislation in February, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said that Republicans don’t have the votes needed to push the bill through the upper chamber. The issue has become a source of tension between congressional Republicans and Trump.