Trump says he won't sign major housing bill until Congress passes SAVE Act

Trump says he won't sign major housing bill until Congress passes SAVE Act

The president posted on social media that he would no longer be signing, as planned for Wednesday, a bipartisan measure to increase home construction.

"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 said.

Trump has been pushing the Senate to remove the filibuster in order to pass the SAVE America Act, which would introduce new voter identification requirements.

Democratic lawmakers say the measure as written would be a form of voter suppression.

The president's announcement came at an awkward time for House Republican leadership, coming just as they were speaking at a press conference about the importance of the bill in addressing affordability - a key issue for voters this year. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise had just described it as "really important bill to lower housing costs."

Speaker Mike Johnson said he had spoken with Trump earlier Wednesday and was confident he would sign the bill. "The president, when we go through the details of the bill, he's going to understand that it's a good product," Johnson said.

The bipartisan housing bill was as close as it comes to a "Kumbaya" moment in Washington, but the Democratic senator who helped craft the measure said she couldn't understand why Trump thought canceling the signing ceremony was a smart idea. "This just doesn't make any sense," Warren said on CNBC. An analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center says the bill incorporates provisions from more than 60 measures introduced in the House, Senate, or both chambers.