Trump Cancels Signing Housing Bill, Hours After White House Called It 'Historic'

U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly canceled the signing of a landmark bipartisan housing affordability bill just hours before the ceremony on Wednesday.

Trump said he would not sign the legislation until Congress passes the SAVE America Act, a controversial voter ID bill that has stalled in the Senate and lacks enough support to pass.

"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," Trump posted on Truth Social, roughly an hour before he was due at the Capitol to sign the bill into law.

The cancellation came less than 24 hours after the White House itself called the housing package "one of the most significant pieces of housing affordability legislation in American history."

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had said Tuesday that Trump "promised to lower housing costs, and he is delivering."

What the Bill Does

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed both chambers of Congress this week with overwhelming bipartisan support, an unusual feat in the sharply divided legislature.

The legislation aims to increase housing supply, eliminate barriers to home building, make homes more affordable, and cap the amount of single-family homes private equity firms can purchase.

The latter provision had been listed as a top Trump priority and a requirement for his signature.

Both Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune had celebrated its passage and scheduled a signing ceremony in Statuary Hall.

The cancellation caught Republican leaders by surprise.

Johnson told reporters after Trump's post: "We're delaying this. He has a window of time before he has to sign a bill, and he's going to use a little bit more of this window."

The SAVE America Act Problem

The SAVE America Act would impose strict new requirements for voter registration and casting ballots, including mandatory photo ID, restrictions on mail-in voting, and, Trump has said, prohibitions on transgender athletes competing.

The House passed the bill in February. But it faces near-certain defeat in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to overcome the Democratic filibuster, votes Republicans do not have.

Johnson told reporters the only realistic path for the SAVE America Act was through budget reconciliation, a process that bypasses the filibuster but is typically limited to spending and budgetary measures.

Whether an election bill would qualify under Senate rules remains highly uncertain, and the reconciliation process is slow.

This marked the second time in a week Trump upended congressional Republican plans at the last minute by tying action to the SAVE America Act.

Last week, he directed his pick for director of national intelligence not to appear for a scheduled Senate confirmation hearing hours before it was set to begin, and has also threatened to block a foreign surveillance provision over the same demand.