U.S. President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on June 22, 2026 in Washington, DC.
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President Donald Trump on Wednesday canceled the Capitol signing of a landmark bipartisan housing bill that leaders of both parties had declared a victory, via Truth Social.
“Today’s housing press conference and signing is hereby suspended until we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider a national emergency. Thank you for your attention to this issue!” President Trump posted Wednesday, a little more than an hour before he was scheduled to sign the bill at the Capitol.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-La.) both celebrated the passage of the housing bill, which passed both chambers of Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support, an unusual feat in a bitterly divided Congress.
The measure aims to increase housing supply, make housing more affordable and limit the amount of single-family homes that private equity can buy. Two congressional Republican leaders announced that President Trump will sign the bill at noon (Eastern time) Wednesday in Statuary Hall.
But President Trump downplayed the bill in a Truth social post Wednesday morning, then rescinded his signature altogether, saying he would not sign the controversial election bill, known as the SAVE America Act, until Congress approves it.
The SAVE America Act aims to curtail noncitizen voting in U.S. elections (which is rare and already illegal in federal elections) and impose voter ID laws nationwide. The House passed the SAVE America Act in February, and the bill has wide support among Republicans. But without Democratic support, Republicans will fall well short of the 60 votes needed to pass the bill due to the Senate’s filibuster rules.
President Trump has called on Republicans to either abolish the filibuster or incorporate the bill into another, larger bill. He was scheduled to meet with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon, and the signing of the housing bill was scheduled to take place ahead of that lunch.
In particular, Mr. Trump was invited to meet with Republican senators by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, as opposed to Mr. Thune and other Republican leaders as is customary. MS NOW reported Wednesday that Trump still plans to attend the Senate luncheon, citing people familiar with the plan.
The president has 10 days to sign or veto the bill, leaving little time for Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which is widely opposed by Democrats and voting rights advocates, before time runs out.
Johnson told a House Republican press conference on Wednesday that the only way Congress has a chance of passing the SAVE America Act is through budget reconciliation, a parliamentary process that allows the Senate to bypass the filibuster. It can only be used for spending and appropriation measures, allowing narrowly divided chambers to pass controversial legislation along party lines.
But there are serious questions about whether election bills like the SAVE America Act qualify for reconciliation under Senate rules. And the reconciliation process can be long and arduous.
“He is passionate about the SAVE America Act, as are most common-sense Americans,” Johnson said. “I think the only way to get that done is to put it in a reconciliation bill.
Rep. French Hill, the Republican who chairs the House Financial Services Committee and is leading the House housing bill, told CNBC on Wednesday that President Trump “picked that day, and now he’s chosen to change that day. So we’re going to let him do that and see what he decides.”
—Emily Wilkins contributed to this story.
