Trump delays housing bill signing over voter ID push
Trump said he would not sign a bipartisan housing construction bill until Congress advances his SAVE America Act voting measure.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was canceling a planned signing of a bipartisan housing bill until Congress passes his preferred voting legislation. The move put a home-construction measure on hold as Senate Republicans were preparing to meet with Trump amid growing tension over his demands, according to The Associated Press.
Trump said on social media that the housing event and signing would be canceled until lawmakers pass the SAVE America Act, which he called a “National Emergency.” The bill would add new voter identification and proof-of-citizenship requirements, the AP reported.
The housing measure had been expected to be signed at the Capitol on Wednesday, according to AP. Trump’s decision tied the legislation to a voting bill that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said lacks the votes needed to pass under current Senate rules.
Voting bill strains Senate GOP agenda
The AP reported that Trump was set to attend a closed-door Senate Republican lunch Wednesday, his first such meeting in more than a year. Republican senators have become frustrated as Trump has pressed them to focus on the SAVE America Act, delayed action on one of his own nominees, sought money for parts of a White House ballroom project and required them to defend the war in Iran, according to AP.
Thune said Tuesday that passing the voting bill “is just not realistic,” according to AP. He has said he supports the legislation and previously used weeks of Senate floor time on it, but he has also said Republicans do not have enough votes to eliminate the filibuster, which creates a 60-vote hurdle for most bills in the 53-47 Senate.
Democrats are uniformly opposed to the voting bill, AP reported. Democratic lawmakers say the measure would suppress voting.
Trump has urged Senate Republicans to end the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act. AP reported that he also wants to add a ban on mail-in ballots, along with provisions blocking sex reassignment surgeries for some minors and barring people born as men from women’s sports.
Republicans split over strategy
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, a close Trump ally, invited the president to the lunch without first telling Thune, AP reported. Scott told colleagues in a letter Monday that the Senate should hold weekly votes on some version of the SAVE America Act and other Republican priorities opposed by Democrats.
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah has also pushed Thune to change course, using daily posts on X to call for ending the filibuster and passing the bill, according to AP. Several Republican senators, including Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, confronted Lee at a private lunch last week and said his advocacy was dividing the party and creating unrealistic expectations, AP reported.
Cornyn said Tuesday that Republicans need to align their approach before the midterm elections. “We’re not on the same page now, and that I think is dangerous,” he said, according to AP.
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said many of his concerns with the administration had already been passed along and that he hoped the meeting would be “conciliatory,” AP reported.
Other issues could come up in the meeting. AP reported that Republicans may question Trump about his delay of Jay Clayton’s nomination to become national intelligence director, his demand that the SAVE America Act be attached to a surveillance law renewal, and the agreement with Iran to end the war.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.