US President Donald Trump on Wednesday rejected to sign a bipartisan housing bill that had cleared both chambers of Congress with veto-proof majorities and made his signature conditional on the Senate passing a controversial voting rights measure.
Trump announced the move on Truth Social hours before a planned signing ceremony on Capitol Hill, writing that the event was canceled “until we pass the much-needed SAVE AMERICA ACT.” Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Actwhat he described as a national emergency measure. He had previously dismissed the housing project as “of minor importance”.
The The Path to 21st Century Housing Act passed the house 358-32 the Tuesday after Discharge of the Senate a day earlier. It would ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes and relax building regulations to expand supply and ease affordability.
Real estate prices have skyrocketed in recent years, making homeownership impossible for many Americans. Accordingly Data As Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies published this month, average prices for new and existing homes nationwide are over $400,000. The report states:
Existing home prices nationwide have risen 54 percent since 2020 and remain at almost five times average income – well above the standard ratio of 3 that applied in the 1990s. Additionally, with interest rates above 6 percent, median-priced home payments in the fourth quarter of 2025 will be as much as $3,100, up from $1,700 in early 2020. Households would need an income of over $20,000 to afford this payment, up from $66,000 in 2020.
In accordance with Article 1, Section 7 According to the U.S. Constitution, the president has ten days (excluding Sundays) to sign or veto a bill. Because both chambers approved the measure by a majority of more than two-thirds, a traditional veto could be overridden. A pocket veto, which cannot be overridden, is only available if Congress adjourns before the window closes. Congress begins a two-week break on Friday but is planning pro forma meetings, This generally prevents a formal adjournment and would instead result in the bill becoming law without Trump’s signature if he fails to take action.
The SAVE America Act would require documentary proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, to register and a photo ID to vote in federal elections, which supporters see as a safeguard against non-citizens voting.
Non-citizen voting is already illegal and, studies show, vanishingly rare. Critics warn that the documentation requirement could disenfranchise millions of eligible citizens who do not have easy access to such documents (the Brennan Center estimates that about 21 million voters could be affected), and exposes election officials to criminal penalties for bona fide errors. The Non-partisan policy centerwhich supports the goal, has found that most election offices lack the ability to verify the authenticity of birth certificates and passports.
The House passed the bill in February, but it has stalled in the Senate, where Republicans lack the 60 votes to overcome it filibuster. Democrats and voting rights advocates call it voter suppression. Trump has urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune to eliminate the filibuster; Thune has rejectedsaid the voices weren’t there.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a co-sponsor of the housing bill, emphasized the bill’s bipartisan support and criticized the cancellation in a filmed video opinion Posted on X:
We should be here today to celebrate because we should have a housing bill that is now law. Instead, we are here with a call to action, and the call is: Sign the bill, Mr. President. Americans want housing costs to go down.
