WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump abruptly canceled his plans to sign a major, bipartisan housing bill 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 said on Truth Social.
It was not clear whether he still plans to sign the housing bill or veto it. Trump did not address the bill at all in comments to reporters after he met with Republican senators for lunch on Capitol Hill.
Wednesday’s surprise development underscores the growing tensions between Trump and Senate Republicans, many of whom have said they feel blindsided by the president’s actions and find that his unpredictability makes it harder to pass his agenda. Trump’s undercutting of a rare bipartisan achievement also frustrated many senators, who say they need to show voters results on key economic concerns ahead of the midterm elections.
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 leaders insist they do not have the votes to pass it, given Democrats’ strong opposition and an unwillingness among Republicans to get rid of the filibuster (changing the rules to get rid of the 60-vote threshold to pass most legislation).
Trump’s decision to cancel the signing ceremony for the housing bill, which passed the House and the Senate this week with huge, bipartisan majorities, will only add to the tension between the White House and Senate Republicans.
Trump attended the Senate GOP’s weekly lunch after having been invited by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., to discuss SAVE and other issues. The invitation predated Trump’s decision not to sign the housing bill Wednesday.
After the meeting, Trump told reporters that the party is “unified” and touted the U.S. economy and the state of talks to end the Iran war, but he did not address the housing bill or the SAVE America Act. He did not take questions.
“We’re very proud of the party. We like our leader; we like everybody, really, in the room. I don’t like a few people, but that’s OK,” he said.
Several senators told NBC News that Trump did not focus much on the housing bill during the lunch, talking instead about the election bill and the Iran war.
The latter led to a contentious back-and-forth between Trump and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who was defeated by a Trump-backed challenger last month.
Cassidy told reporters that he stood up and “lost my temper” over a lack of information from the administration on Iran. Trump, he said, raised his voice, as well.
Cassidy recounted telling Trump that the war “was supposed to last four weeks. It’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved, and I want to know what’s going on.”
Cassidy added that Trump brought up his election loss, but he said the comments did not discourage him.
A spokesperson for Cassidy said later on Wednesday that the senator received a briefing in the White House Situation Room on Iran following his contentious exchange with Trump. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff led the briefing.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said of the exchange between Cassidy and Trump: “It wasn’t personal. It was just one of those things about losing an election.”
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, another Republican who will not be returning next year after public clashes with Trump, said: “Not all of the meeting was contentious, but there’s a general consensus that we on Capitol Hill have to start getting in lockstep and the White House, vice versa. We both have to coordinate, make sure our messaging and timing is in better sync.”
Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., described the meeting as a “tough love message” from Trump in a post on X.
Trump handed out MAGA hats to senators during the lunch, according to a source familiar with the meeting.
Republicans said they have repeatedly made it clear that they do not have the votes to nuke the filibuster, regardless of Trump’s demands to do so.
“I think everybody walked out with the very same opinion they had before he came in,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said of the filibuster. “But, you know, but we heard him out.”
Cramer said he did not know what would happen with the housing bill after the meeting.
The bipartisan bill aims to lower costs, in part by building more homes and restricting large investors from buying up single-family homes. It would give Republicans a major legislative accomplishment to point to as voters rank the cost of living as a top issue in the November elections. It is the kind of thing Republicans have been clamoring for amid worries that the Iran war’s driving up gas prices will cost them control of Congress.
But Trump undercut the bill just hours before he canceled the planned signing, writing in another Truth Social post that it was “of minor importance” before he pivoted back to the SAVE America Act.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., laughed when reporters asked him about Trump’s canceling the signing. “I just heard that. … I guess I would say at this point I don’t have any observations about that,” he said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., defended Trump’s decision to hold up the housing bill as leverage for the SAVE America Act.
“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 at a House GOP leadership news conference, adding that it is his “estimation” that Trump will sign it within the 10-day window the Constitution sets for the president to sign bills before they automatically become law.
Johnson said Republicans should pass the SAVE America Act through budget reconciliation, an expedited procedure that allows the Senate to circumvent filibusters by advancing partisan tax or spending bills with simple majorities.
Other House Republicans were dumbfounded by Trump’s decision but spoke candidly on the condition of anonymity. “What a s— show. … Crazy crazy crazy,” a House Republican said in a text to NBC News. “A once in a generation housing bill falls victim to the nuts.”
Another expressed less surprise: “Trump did something outrageous to keep the spotlight focused on him. Shocker.”
And a third House Republican who represents a district Trump won handily in 2024 warned about the potential consequences for November. “I’m not that safe. No incumbent is safe,” the Republican wrote. “People are pissed off that we are not taking care of business.”
At a meeting in the Oval Office with Republican lawmakers in recent weeks ostensibly to discuss housing affordability legislation, Trump “talked about his building stuff for all but about 15 minutes,” said a person familiar with the meeting.
“He then said, ‘I don’t care about housing, but if you want me to help, I will,’” the person added.
The housing bill was negotiated across the House and the 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.
Trump focused on Warren in his Truth Social post, calling the measure a “Warren centric housing bill.”
Some House Republicans expressed support for Trump’s focus on the SAVE America Act.
A group of GOP lawmakers led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida have now vowed to block any legislation in the House until Congress passes the election bill. The effort forced the House to cancel “rule” votes Wednesday afternoon that would have brought several bills to the floor this week.
Luna said on X that she will “have to be a NO on rules for this week (and maybe even longer).” Without rule votes, which are typically approved along party lines, the House cannot bring forward bills to be debated and voted on.
Democrats were quick to capitalize.
“Congress passed a bipartisan bill to make it easier to own a home,” Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., wrote on X. “The President is refusing to sign it. Donald Trump doesn’t care about lowering costs for you.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Trump was “making such a fool of himself” by refusing to sign a bill that would make housing more affordable. But he added, “It looks like even if Trump decides to veto it, there are probably enough votes in both houses to override that veto.”
