Trump cancels housing bill signing over Senate inaction on SAVE Act

President Trump canceled the signing of a bipartisan housing bill on Wednesday, saying he would not sign the legislation until the Senate passes the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act.

“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 in a Truth Social post.

The development underscores the tension between Trump and Senate Republicans on the SAVE America Act.

Trump has pressured Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to abolish the filibuster in an effort to pass the legislation, something Thune has so far refused to do.

The Housing bill passed the House and Senate with large, veto-proof majorities, though if the president doesn’t sign the bill within 10 days and Congress adjourns, it could fall victim to a pocket veto.

Congress is scheduled to begin a two-week recess on Friday, though that will not be a formal adjournment. Senate leaders will schedule pro forma sessions over that recess.

The president’s relationship with Senate Republicans, including with Thune, has increasingly grown more tense after a string of clashes over what the party should do on certain issues.

Thune told reporters Wednesday after Trump announced he would not sign the housing bill: “At this point, I don’t have any observations about that.”

The president was supposed to travel to Capitol Hill to sign the bill and speak to the Senate Republican Steering Committee, but it’s unclear if he will still participate in the committee meeting.

Republican senators have been frustrated with Trump’s repeated calls to pass the SAVE America Act since it failed five times previously on the floor.

Trump has refused to sign an extension of enhanced surveillance authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act without the SAVE America Act attached to it.

He also shocked Republicans when he told his nominee for director of national intelligence, Jay Clayton, to not show up for his Senate confirmation hearing and by ignoring Republican senators’ request for a briefing on the memorandum of understanding he signed with Iran.

The House could seek to move a third reconciliation package that could include the voting legislation prized by Trump. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Wednesday said that was a plan he’d discussed with Trump and described it as the only way to get the SAVE America Act passed.

“The only path, I think, to get that done, because you’re never going to get seven Democrats to join 53 Republicans in the Senate to do that. They will not do it. Chuck Schumer will never vote for that or release any Democrat to do it. You have to put it on a reconciliation bill,” Johnson said.

“I talked the president through that in detail this morning, as I have in the past, and he said, ‘Can we do it?’ I said, ‘We can, if the Republicans will stand together.’ We’re on the line right now to defend it. So that’s what we’re going to do,” Johnson said.

This story was updated at 11:12 a.m.

Alexander Bolton and Sudiksha Kochi contributed to this report.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.