Trump cancels housing affordability bill signing until SAVE Act is passed
President Trump cancelled Wednesday's planned signing of a landmark bipartisan housing bill, demanding Congress pass the unrelated SAVE America Act first.Why it matters: Trump has been angling for Congress to pass the voting bill for months, and previously threatened to withhold his signature on any other legislation until lawmakers passed it. What they're saying: "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 Wednesday morning. Zoom out: The president's decision came as House GOP leaders were touting the housing bill's attributes during their weekly press conference. Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) praised the bipartisan effort to pass the bill — alongside Trump's support — mere minutes before the president's post. "Let's show the American people what legislating looks like," French said. "Let's show the American people how you bring together and do something on a bicameral basis, and we did that, and we did that in conjunction with President Trump and his priorities." The Capitol's Statuary Hall, set up and ready for Trump to sign the housing bill. Photo: Stef Kight/Axios.The intrigue: Shortly after Trump's post, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters he spoke with Trump on Wednesday morning and said the president still plans to sign the bill in the next 10 days."We're delaying this, as you know, 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 added that the SAVE Act is important because "[Democrats] do want to allow for cheating and fraud in the elections, because it is the only way that the Marxists can win."What we're watching: Trump is expected to put pressure on Senate Republicans to pass the SAVE Act during a lunch at the Capitol later today.Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and others have been adamant that they do not have enough votes to pass the bill — nor eliminate the filibuster.Thune was on the Senate floor when Trump announced the signing cancellation and told reporters, "At this point, I don't have any observations about it.Editors note: This story has been updated with additional information throughout.
