Trump refuses to sign housing bill, upending bipartisan affordability push

It was all going so well.

The 21st Century Road to Housing Act championed by Senator Elizabeth Warren was on a glide path to becoming law after a round of haggling between the House and Senate resulted in compromise legislation that everyone seemed to agree was needed to start alleviating the country’s housing crisis.

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It sailed through the Senate 85-5 on Monday and passed quickly through the House 358-32 on Tuesday. The White House said the president was ready to sign it into law.

And then, less than two hours before the scheduled signing ceremony, Trump pulled the plug.

“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. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT”

The post caught everyone off guard. Inside the Capitol, the signing stage festooned with American flags, a podium and desk affixed with the presidential seal were already set in stately Statuary Hall.

But there were hints that trouble was brewing.

Representative Anna Paulina Luna who posted on X on Tuesday evening that she was voting against the bill because the Save America Act – an unrelated bill that would greatly restrict mail-in voting, among other election-related changes – was not included.

When it became clear Republican leadership was going forward, she urged the president to veto the housing bill.

Trump’s actions now put in limbo was set to be a key bipartisan affordability win ahead of the midterm elections.

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The legislation was a melding of 47 initiatives from Democrats and Republicans and would have cut some of the red tape surrounding environmental approvals to build homes and incentivized communities to create pre-approved building plans to speed up the time and costs for new construction.

Most notably, it included tough restrictions on private equity purchases of single family homes.

In a statement posted on X, Warren fumed.

“Huge bipartisan majorities in Congress passed a bill to lower housing costs,” she wrote. “But at the 11th hour, Donald Trump is refusing to sign it into law. His policies have made your costs go up — and he doesn’t care.”

But some Republicans who supported the housing bill were supportive of the president’s decision to suddenly change course.

Indiana Republican Senator Jim Banks defended Trump, saying the president has been “transparent” that he wouldn’t sign anything until the SAVE Act passed.

“I like the housing bill, I voted for it,” Banks said. “But I stand with President Trump. Let’s fight to pass the SAVE Act.”

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Tal Kopan of Globe staff contributed to this story.