Search Articles
WASHINGTON (CN) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday introduced fresh chaos onto Capitol Hill as he canceled plans to sign major bipartisan housing legislation and demanded Congress first move to pass his longshot voter ID bill.
The abrupt turn came moments after House Republican leaders held a news conference extoling the measure — approved by both the House and Senate — as a step toward achieving longstanding GOP goals of cutting government red tape in the housing market and addressing skyrocketing real estate prices.
Though the White House had said he was expected to sign the bipartisan housing bill, Trump on Wednesday morning hinted at his opposition to the measure. In a social media post, he said it was of “minor importance” compared with the Save America Act, a marquee piece of voter ID legislation which has languished for months in the Senate.
And minutes later, as staff put the finishing touches on a stage in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall where the president was slated to sign the bill, Trump announced the signing ceremony was canceled until Congress passed the “desperately needed” Save America Act, which he called “a National Emergency.”
That decree also came as top House Republicans, including bill sponsor and Arkansas Representative French Hill, held a news conference during which they portrayed the measure as not only a bipartisan triumph but also a realization of the president’s own policy goals.
“We did it in conjunction with President Trump and his priorities,” said Hill.
But the Arkansas Republican appeared unaware at the time that the president had torpedoed his legislation. House Speaker Mike Johnson, however, contended he’d been informed of the decision moments before his meeting Wednesday morning with the House Republican conference — which he framed as a temporary hold rather than an outright scuttling.
“We’re delaying this,” said Johnson. “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.”
The House speaker told reporters he’d spoken with Trump ahead of the Republican conference meeting and that the president had “expressed his priority.” Johnson appeared to suggest he’d gone ahead with a news conference on the housing bill despite knowing it was on hold because he did not want to get out ahead of Trump.
“I didn’t announce it — I wanted him to announce it,” said Johnson.
Speaking to reporters after Wednesday’s news conference, Hill struck a conciliatory tone. He argued he still believes lowering housing costs and addressing the ongoing housing shortage are Trump administration priorities and that his bill will still get signed.
“The president chose, for reasons known to him about what’s going on in the Senate, to delay the signing while he meets with the Senate and works on some other priorities of his,” said the Arkansas Republican. “That’s fully in his prerogative to do that. I don’t find that personally offensive.”
Johnson, meanwhile, predicted Trump would sign the housing bill over the next 10 days.
“I’ll leave that in the hands of the speaker and the president,” Hill said of the future signing date. “I believe it’s a good bill. The bill deserves to be signed.”
The Save America Act, Trump’s pet legislation which he has for months urged Congress to pass, would rework voting laws across the country and require Americans to provide identification and proof of citizenship to vote. The highly controversial measure has been tied up in the Senate, where even some Republicans are skeptical of its provisions.
Passing the bill in the Senate, which would require a 60-vote majority under normal rules, is widely viewed as a political nonstarter. Trump has advocated for Republicans to eliminate the legislative filibuster to approve it, an equally unlikely scenario.
Johnson on Wednesday argued the only way to pass the Save America Act would be through another budget reconciliation process — Republicans’ third such measure this Congress.
“Chuck Schumer will never vote for it or release any Democrat to do it,” said the House speaker. “You have to put it on a reconciliation bill.”
Follow @BenjaminSWeissSubscribe to our free newsletters
Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.
