The president is forcing his biggest supporters to choke down his incompetence and delusions like so much algae.
Housing affordability is one of the issues Americans consistently say they care about. It's also one of the few issues where lawmakers from both parties actually found common ground and produced legislation that could move the ball forward. Enter President Trump.
After meeting with the president, the speaker said he would send him a housing bill that Mr. Trump declined to sign this week. There was no word on whether he would sign it.
The Supreme Court handed the Trump Administration two major victories on Thursday, voting 6-3 in decisions regarding Haitian and Syrian immigrants. NBC News Senior Legal Correspondent Laura Jarrett and Senior Homeland Security Correspondent Julia Ainsley join Meet the Press NOW to break down how these decisions could deport thousands of immigrants.
President Trump abruptly scrapped plans to sign a major housing bill. It could still become law, with or without a presidential signature. But Mr. Trump could also try to kill it.
House Democrats are launching a discharge petition to force a vote on permanently blocking the Trump administration's nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund.Why it matters: The petition tests whether Republicans' complaints about the fund will turn into votes to kill it and whether Democrats can keep using discharge petitions to drag sensitive Trump fights onto the House floor over GOP leaders' objections.A staggering eight discharge petitions have garnered the necessary 218 signatures to force a House vote this congressional session, meaning the tactic cannot be dismissed as a hopeless long-shot.The Justice Department scrapped the fund earlier this month after intense backlash from lawmakers in both parties.But Democrats and other critics — including a federal judge — have expressed skepticism that it is truly gone, fueling the push to outlaw it for good.Driving the news: House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) announced Thursday he is launching the discharge petition on his bill, the NO CARTE BLANCHE Act.The legislation would prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to compensate anyone covered under President Trump's settlement with the IRS in May.It would also block a sweeping legal immunity deal for Trump, his family and their businesses reportedly arranged by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as part of the settlement.What we're hearing: Raskin announced the discharge petition plan in House Democrats' whip meeting Thursday morning.The petition is set to go live Friday.What they're saying: "Although Todd Blanche initially said the $1.8 billion slush fund would not move forward, his own Justice Department emphatically refuses to commit that promise to writing," Raskin said in a statement.He continued: "The NO CARTE BLANCHE Act blocks this and any future taxpayer-funded slush fund, voids this unprecedented attempt to grant immunity, and permanently blocks any future abuse of the Judgment Fund.""I am filing a discharge petition to put this legislation on the floor, and I urge all my colleagues opposed to this radical assault on the rule of law to join me in signing it."Between the lines: While GOP lawmakers have joined in the criticism of the anti-weaponization fund, signing onto this discharge petition may be a step too far for some of them.Trump has retaliated brutally against Republicans who break with him, most notably his successful effort to oust Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a leader on the discharge petition that pried the Epstein files loose.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) emerged from a White House meeting Thursday with two much-needed wins: President Trump publicly urged House Republicans to stop tanking procedural votes, which could help unstick the House floor. Johnson officially transmitted the bipartisan housing bill to the White House, a sign of confidence that it's on track to become law after Trump had refused to sign it just a day earlier.Why it matters: The SAVE America Act has consumed the House GOP, with some Republicans frustrated that a bill they've already passed three times is now paralyzing their agenda.Johnson was forced to scrap votes and end the House's workweek early after conservatives made clear they would tank rule votes on the floor over the Senate's failure to act on SAVE.Driving the news: "I think it's a shame that it got canceled yesterday," Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) told Axios of the housing bill signing ceremony."I totally disagree with the tactic. These are his New York real estate leverage tactics he's trying to apply to the government, and I don't agree with it," Fitzpatrick added."He should sign it. ... This is a win, and the House already voted on this SAVE Act three times," Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told Axios, adding that Republicans should work with Democrats on a bipartisan version of SAVE.Zoom in: The repeated shutdowns of House floor action are wearing on members across the conference."The SAVE America Act? It's over there," Rep. Carlos Giminez (R-Fla.) told Axios, gesturing towards the Senate. "We did our thing, all right. So what you're gonna.. you think you're going to force over here them to do something different? That's insane, and I don't play insane." "What I don't like about holding the rule hostage ... is that it denies me, and the 750,000 people I represent, a vote," House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) told Axios."With them being obstructionist like they are, that's unfortunate, because we can't get our work done," Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) told Axios.Yes, but: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) told reporters Thursday she isn't promising to support next week's rule if leadership blocks her effort to attach SAVE to the annual defense bill.
The White House meeting came a day after Trump canceled plans to sign a bipartisan housing bill and urged Republicans to first pass his election overhaul bill.
President Donald Trump is backing down on his holdout on signing a popular, bipartisan housing bill that he's held hostage for the last 24 hours after a "lengthy" meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), according to a new report. Johnson went to the White House on Thursday to talk to Trump about his abrupt decision to cancel the signing ceremony for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bill that passed through Congress with enough support to override a presidential veto, if Trump chooses to go that route. The bill seeks to address one of the main concerns on Americans' minds as the midterm elections approach -- the cost of housing. Chad Pergram, the chief congressional correspondent for Fox News, spoke with Johnson after the meeting, which Johnson described as "productive." Johnson also told Pergram that the president just wanted to ensure Republicans "stop any blockade in the House.""Congress has work to do, and that's what we're going to do. And so we'll be moving forward on all of that. We're transmitting the housing bill to the White House," Johnson said, according to the report. Trump's decision to back down came as MAGA Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) was disrupting proceedings in the House of Representatives. Luna and her allies have threatened to vote down any measures this week until the Senate passes Trump's SAVE America Act, a deeply unpopular bill that would fundamentally rewrite the way elections are conducted, Politico reported. In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump called on Luna and other Republican holdouts to drop their blockage. "House Republicans should unify, and stop voting down 'Rules' or, threatening to do so," Trump wrote. "Giving power to the Radical Left Dumocrats in the House to control what goes up for a Vote will make our outcomes worse, not better. No more grandstanding, please! They are the Dumocrats, and we can’t let them WIN!"Johnson seemed optimistic that Trump would sign the ROAD Act early next week. "We got to be able to move forward on legislation and continue the America First agenda," Johnson said, according to Pergram's report. "And so we're happy to do that. It's another day at the office, you know, this is a process in an era with small margins, but we'll get the job done."