Trump cancels housing bill signing until Senate passes SAVE America Act

President Donald Trump on June 24 canceled a planned signing ceremony for a major bipartisan housing affordability bill, saying he would delay action on the measure until the Senate passes the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act.

“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 in a Truth Social post hours before the scheduled event. 

The housing bill, known as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, passed the Senate 85-5 on June 22 and the House 358-32 on June 23. The legislation aims to boost housing supply, address affordability, speed up some federal review processes, and restrict large investors from buying single-family homes. It was negotiated 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.

In a follow-up Truth Social post, Trump called the legislation a “Warren centric housing bill,” which “pales in comparison to passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.” 

“That is what Americans, both Dumocrats, Republicans, and everyone else, care about,” he said. “Get the bad Republicans to approve it or, better yet, Terminate the Filibuster and approve it, AND EVERYTHING ELSE REPUBLICANS HAVE EVER DREAMED OF.”

Trump has repeatedly urged Republicans to prioritize the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and impose stricter rules on mail-in voting.

The measure passed the House in February but remains stalled in the Senate, where it lacks the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. Trump has pressured Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to abolish the filibuster to advance the bill, but Thune has refused, saying Republicans do not have enough votes to change the rule. 

“That is not something that we have anywhere close to the votes to do,” Thune told FOX News’ Bret Baier during a June 16 interview.

It was not clear from Trump’s post whether he still plans to sign the housing bill or veto it. Under the Constitution, a bill becomes law without the president’s signature if he does not return it within 10 days, excluding Sundays, unless Congress adjourns in a way that prevents the bill from being returned. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., however, told reporters June 24 that he believes Trump still plans to sign the bill within the 10-day window.

“He has a window of time before he has to sign a bill, and he’s going to use a little bit more of that window of time, and we’re going to go through this together,” Johnson said.

Johnson also suggested Republicans could try to pass the SAVE America Act through budget reconciliation, an expedited procedure that allows certain budget-related tax and spending measures to advance in the Senate with a simple majority.

“You’re never going to get seven Democrats to join 53 Republicans in the Senate to do that. They will not do it,” he said of passing the voter identification measure. “Chuck Schumer will never vote for that or release any Democrat to do it. You have to put it on a reconciliation bill.”

Johnson said he talked to Trump “in detail this morning” and told the President that Republicans can pass the act through reconciliation if they “stand together.” 

“We’re on the line right now to defend it,” Johnson told reporters. “So that’s what we’re going to do.”