The intraparty rifts dividing both Democrats and Republicans have been on very public display over the last 24 hours.
In New York City last night, a trio of progressive congressional candidates backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani defeated candidates supported by the Democratic Party establishment, including two incumbents. The results dealt a blow to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who hopes to be speaker in the next Congress and could face challenges from the left flank of his caucus.
Then today, President Trump again blindsided congressional Republicans, abruptly canceling a signing ceremony for a housing affordability bill that had passed both the House and Senate this week with overwhelming bipartisan support.
Trump had been scheduled to sign the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” in the Capitol at noon before joining Senate Republicans for what was expected to be a tense lunch to discuss party priorities (it lived up to those expectations — see below for more). Instead, the president sprung a surprise on lawmakers in his own party by demanding that Congress first approve the SAVE America Act, his controversial bill to tighten voter restrictions, which has stalled in the Senate with no clear path to passage. The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and have voters present identification before they can cast a ballot. It also includes limits on mail-in ballots and restrictions on transgender care.
“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 wrote on his social media site shortly before 10:30 a.m. In a separate post, Trump downplayed the importance of the housing bill, writing that it “is of minor importance compared to lower interest rates” and “pales in comparison” to his election reform package.
It was a bewildering move that again upended Republican lawmakers’ plans and undercut their efforts to show that they are responding to voters’ top concern, affordability.
Congressional lawmakers were eager to celebrate a significant legislative victory that gave them a measure they could point toward as addressing cost-of-living concerns. The housing bill, reportedly the first major legislation in more than three decades aimed at boosting housing programs, passed by a margin of 358 to 32 in the House on Tuesday, a day after the Senate approved it in an 85-5 vote.
The White House had also touted the signing ceremony, sharing a social media post from press secretary Karoline Leavitt calling the bill “one of the most significant pieces of housing affordability legislation in American history” and describing it as another promise kept by the president. “This bipartisan bill includes policies long championed by the President. It cuts unnecessary red tape, helps increase housing supply, and limits the ability of large institutional investors to purchase single-family homes,” Leavitt wrote.
What’s next: Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Wednesday that he will look to pass the SAVE America Act as part of Republicans’ third budget reconciliation bill, now in the planning stages. “We believe that if you create a grant program that ties it to reconciling the budget, and you allow blue states, if they come to their senses and they want to avail themselves of election integrity proposals and ideas and policies, they can draw down from a federal fund, and use those funds,” Johnson said, adding that he had discussed the plan with Trump this morning.
Other Republicans have expressed serious skepticism about the likelihood of passing a third party-line bill. Even if they can put together a package, likely built around supplemental Pentagon funding, any attempt to shoehorn the SAVE America Act into it will face challenges in the Senate, where the parliamentarian has already ruled that it does not satisfy the complex rules that allow a reconciliation bill to be passed with a simple 50-vote majority.
“Save America Act cannot be done in reconciliation,” Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a strong supporter of the election bill, wrote in a post on X Wednesday. “Why would the same senate that is blocking voter ID all of a sudden magically change their mind to overrule the parliamentarian? Not happening.”
Luna and a group of Republicans said they will block other legislative business in the House unless Congress passes the election bill. That forced GOP leaders to cancel some procedural votes meant to tee up other bills for this week, leaving the House stuck.
Why it matters: “A once in a generation housing bill falls victim to the nuts,” one unnamed House Republican reportedly said in a text to NBC News.
Trump’s decision Wednesday is the latest in a series of actions that have heightened tensions with Senate Republicans and disrupted plans to pass key pieces of legislation, raising GOP concerns that the president is actively undermining their chances of maintaining their congressional majorities in November’s midterms. “People are pissed off that we are not taking care of business,” another House Republican reportedly told NBC News.
In this case, Trump has little leverage if he really wants to use the housing bill to push for his election reform package. If he doesn’t sign the bill within 10 days, it will automatically become law. And if he vetoes the measure — which would be a politically foolhardy move — Congress has more than enough votes to override the veto.