Donald Trump doubled down on his refusal to sign a popular bipartisan housing-affordability bill “in protest” of Congress’ inability to force through his desired voter disenfranchisement legislation. The bill is set to become law with or without his signature, but leave it to Trump to remind Americans — at every opportunity — that their welfare is always secondary to his own political goals.
“I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” Trump wrote Friday morning on Truth Social. The “SAVE AMERICA ACT’S non-passage is CRAZY, and a serious threat to any politician who votes against it!.”
The ROAD to Housing Act is a landmark piece of legislation, the first major bill targeting housing affordability passed through the U.S. Congress in decades. In June, lawmakers approved it in a 358 to 32 vote in the House, and 85 to five vote in the Senate — a bipartisan consensus if there ever was one. What should have been a moment of achievement for the historically gridlocked legislative branch — and a much needed win for Republicans — turned into a disaster when the president canceled the signing ceremony at the last minute, and declared he would not put his stamp on the bill until Republicans in the Senate caved to his other priorities.
Thankfully, at least for Americans who are interested in reigning in corporate landlords and increasing the national housing stock, the ROAD to Housing Act is expected to become law at midnight on Friday regardless of Trump’s cooperation. The law provides that a bill goes into effect 10 days after it is presented to the president, so long as Congress remains in session and he does not exercise his veto power — no signature required.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the lead Democratic author of the legislation, said in a statement on social media that “Donald Trump cares so little about bringing down YOUR housing costs that he’s refusing to sign the biggest housing bill in 30 years. The good news: it’s going to become law anyway.”
In a June interview with Rolling Stone about the Trump-induced debacle surrounding the legislation, Warren stated that the bill’s passage was proof positive that the legislative process could still function in a predictive manner, “with one gigantic exception: when Donald Trump comes in and tells the Republicans to do something else.”
“Anyone who bets on congressional Republicans caving in to Donald Trump usually collects money on that deal,” Warren added. “But the SAVE Act is so bad that even Republicans are staying away from it.… His popularity is in the dumpster, so his last chance to save himself is to cheat — and that’s basically what the SAVE Act is.”
The president nearly said as much on Friday, writing on Truth Social that if Senate Republicans didn’t go for the nuclear option and overturn the filibuster — lowering the vote threshold for legislation from 60 to 50 — “The Dumocrats will TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, if and when they ever get the chance to do so, in their very first hour — And I will no longer be able to call them Dumocrats again! The title of DUMB will revert to the Republicans who allowed this horrible calamity to happen to our Party, and our Nation, itself!”
It might be a calamity for Trump if Democrats regain power in Congress, but Americans are dealing with daily calamities of skyrocketing prices and spiking inflation, high gas and high rent, and the President is once again making clear he will actively stand in the way of fixing any of these problems.
