The president said the housing bill is less important than election reform.
“SAVE America Act” passes the House of Representatives
Experts say the bill, called the SAVE America Act, could prevent millions of Americans from voting.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump abruptly canceled the signing ceremony for a landmark housing affordability bill on Wednesday, saying he wants Republicans in Congress to pass major election reform legislation first.
Hours later, Trump arrived at the Capitol for a pre-scheduled lunch with Republican senators.
Asked whether the Save America Act, which affects voter registration laws, is more important than the housing bill, he said, “Every election is important. They want a lot of communists to participate.”
The housing bill passed the House and Senate by large bipartisan margins this week, marking a significant and rare victory on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers and experts called it a radical “first step” to tackling the nation’s housing shortage.
If Congress is in session, a housing bill can become law without the president’s signature within 10 days after it is submitted to the president.
Still, delaying the bill’s passage is likely to infuriate some in both parties. President Trump and Senate Republicans have clashed recently on a number of issues, from the Iran war to the filibuster.
Mr. Trump has long pushed Congress to approve election legislation that would limit mail-in voting and require voters to provide identification and proof of citizenship.
He is calling on the Senate to abolish the filibuster, which allows a minority of at least 41 members to block legislation such as the SAVE America Act.
Although he has repeatedly threatened not to sign any other legislation until the election bill is approved, he has signed 20 bills into law since last March.
President Trump said on social media on March 8, “As President, I will not sign any other legislation until this passes.”
Since then, new legislation President Trump has signed includes major legislation such as funding for the Department of Homeland Security and legislation on rural broadband access.
But some were narrower in scope, such as the Gerald E. Connolly Esophageal Cancer Awareness Act of 2025, named after the late Virginia House Democrat.
Some Senate Republicans weren’t happy with President Trump’s 11th-hour blowout of signing the housing bill.
“We have to get our act together and stop surprising people,” said retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina). “That doesn’t make sense.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he couldn’t think of any precedent for something like that happening. He called it “a kind of incomprehensibility.”
“I think ultimately what the president wants to do is get rid of the filibuster,” he said. “And we don’t have the votes to do that.
“At some point you have to deal with reality,” he added.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) said it would be “really sad” if President Trump ultimately vetoed the housing bill because of the SAVE debacle.
“You’ll see a grown man cry,” he said, pointing to himself.
At the same time, President Kennedy said it was the president’s prerogative to set other legislative priorities.
Senate Republicans are debating a number of creative ways to potentially pass the SAVE America Act.
One of them involves updating the government’s key spying law, a bill that Kennedy said he supports.
“I’ll stand on one leg and bark like a dog if that’s what it takes to get this passed,” he said of SAVE.
This housing bill is called the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. It’s bipartisan legislation designed by advocates to increase the number of homes built in the United States. Housing advocates have long argued that the low supply of housing means that real estate prices are too high for many Americans to buy.
The bill targets construction costs, regulatory bureaucracy, zoning restrictions and banking hurdles. The bill also modernizes programs through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
– Erin Mansfield
Trump made the announcement while Republican leaders in both chambers were busy with other matters. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota), who was scheduled to attend the bill signing, spoke on the Senate floor about abortion. As he left the chamber, he said he had just learned of the schedule change.
“I don’t have any opinion on that at this point,” he told reporters.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) was in the middle of a press conference. He said he spoke with the president for 20 minutes earlier in the day and understood the White House’s urgency to pass voting reform.
“The president believes in the integrity of elections,” Johnson said. “That’s the top priority.”
The SAVE America Act was amended several times and passed by the 119th Congress. Key parts of the bill, which President Trump has placed at the top of his agenda on Capitol Hill, include requiring proof of citizenship to vote and directing states to turn over voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security. There will also be barriers to registration. Voting rights advocates have expressed concern that the bill could disenfranchise millions of voters.
Politically, President Trump’s attempts to push this bill through Congress are creating a huge wedge between the White House and the Republican Party, especially the Senate. Democrats, on the other hand, rejoice in the Republican family drama.
“Watching President Trump come to the Capitol today to meet with Senate Republicans is like watching a clown car arrive at a circus,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor. “Republicans are strangling each other.”
The American Voter Eligibility Protection Act (SAVE America) is a law that requires voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and to present a government-issued photo ID to vote.
It would also create new rules for voting by mail, requiring Americans to send a copy of their ID when requesting and submitting a ballot.
Republicans say the bill is needed to protect elections and prevent non-citizens from voting, but the data rarely shows that’s the case. Meanwhile, Democrats and voting rights groups say the bill would disenfranchise millions of Americans by making it harder to register and vote.
For example, if the bill passes in its entirety, millions of married people whose names on their birth certificates or passports don’t match the names on other forms of identification could face additional hurdles when registering to vote or voting, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy organization.
Under current law, many Americans must show some form of identification to register to vote. The law would require Americans to present additional documents proving their citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate.
– Terry Collins
Zachary Schermele is USA TODAY’s Congressional Correspondent. You can email us at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him at @ZachSchermele on X and @zachschermele.bsky.social on Bluesky..
