President Trump said Monday that he hasn’t decided whether to sign a bipartisan bill aimed at lowering the cost of housing, saying it was “so unimportant” compared to his stalled election-integrity legislation.
“It’s so unimportant compared to the SAVE America Act. When I look at the bill, it’s a bill,” Mr. Trump said of the housing legislation during an Oval Office event. “When I look at the SAVE America Act, it’s about saving America,” he said.
“It’s a yawn,” he said of the housing measure. “To me, compared to the SAVE America Act, just about everything is a big yawn.”
But Mr. Trump acknowledged that passing the SAVE Act is “probably not going to happen,” blaming “four Republican senators, maybe five, that just won’t vote for it. It’s crazy.”
The base version of the SAVE America Act requires proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID to cast a ballot, but the president has pushed for a more expansive version.
The president called out GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan M. Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana for opposing the legislation.
Mr. Cassidy, however, has voted for every version of the SAVE America Act that has been brought before the Senate.
“I am a cosponsor and support the latest version. I don’t know which staffer misled you, but thank you for your attention to this matter!!” the senator said in a social media post correcting Mr. Trump.
“Btw, it’s irresponsible to postpone signing the Housing bill due to the SAVE Act,” Mr. Cassidy wrote. “We need to start delivering relief to people for the high cost of housing ASAP!!”
Mr. Trump shocked Washington last week when he abruptly canceled the signing of the bipartisan housing bill, dubbed the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, which overwhelmingly passed both chambers. The president said he would not sign the housing bill or any other legislation until Congress passes the SAVE America Act.
The housing bill would prohibit large investors from buying up single-family homes and create pilot programs to expand access to smaller mortgages, with a goal of increasing the housing supply.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, transmitted the housing affordability bill to the White House on Monday. That starts the clock on a 10-day window for the bill to become law, excluding Sundays, even if Mr. Trump does not sign it.
Mr. Trump’s decision not to sign the housing bill frustrated some congressional Republicans, who touted the legislation as a key part of their affordability pitch to voters ahead of November’s midterms.
The president said Monday that he disagreed with parts of the bill because it included some things that Democrats had pushed to include.
“It’s very bipartisan — that means the Democrats like it,” he said. “They’re getting things that I wouldn’t necessarily agree to.”
A version of the SAVE America Act has passed the House, but was blocked by Democrats in the Senate. Mr. Trump has repeatedly pressed Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, to abolish the filibuster to get the bill passed, but Mr. Thune says the GOP doesn’t have the votes to do so.
Mr. Trump said passing the SAVE America Act is even more important after the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday allowing mail-in ballots received after election day to be counted.
The president has pushed for a version of the bill that would ban mail-in voting, with exceptions for active duty military and people who are disabled, ill or traveling.
The provision banning mail-in ballots is “maybe the most important of all, because it’s so corrupt,” Mr. Trump said.
The House version of the SAVE America Act with the mail-in ballot ban has not passed the House and lacks enough Republican support to earn a majority in either chamber.
Mr. Trump, nonetheless, is reiterating his call for the Senate to blow up the filibuster to pass the legislation — a move that also lacks enough GOP support to be executed.
