Trump holding housing reform hostage over Save America Act

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Yesterday, I came on here talking about something we don’t see nearly enough in Washington: Democrats and Republicans actually working together.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act wasn’t some narrow partisan victory. It passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support. The goal was straightforward: make housing more affordable, cut red tape, and address some of the barriers that have made homeownership feel out of reach.

Then, just an hour before President Trump was scheduled to sign it, he canceled the signing ceremony.

In a Truth Social post, the president wrote: “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.”

Supporters of the SAVE America Act say the bill is necessary to ensure that only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections. It would require voters to provide documents such as a passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers when registering to vote or updating their voter registration.

But here’s the thing: Federal law already makes it illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. The penalties include prison time, fines and deportation. And according to multiple studies and audits, documented cases of noncitizen voting are extremely rare.

The Brennan Center found suspected noncitizen votes represented just 0.0001 percent of the 23.5 million ballots examined in its study. Even the Heritage Foundation’s election fraud database identified only 23 cases of noncitizen voting over nearly two decades. The Bipartisan Policy Center found 77 cases nationwide between 1999 and 2023.

State audits tell a similar story. Reviews conducted in states including Texas, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina and California found fewer than 50 noncitizens voting over election cycles involving tens of millions of ballots.

Now, none of that means election integrity isn’t important. Of course it is. Americans should have confidence in their elections. But the SAVE America Act is aimed at a problem that evidence suggests is already extremely uncommon, while potentially creating new hurdles for eligible voters who don’t have easy access to citizenship documents. Millions of voting-age Americans do not have those documents readily available.

Also, the bill just doesn’t have the votes.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has acknowledged the Senate does not have the support to pass this. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats. To overcome a filibuster, they would need 60 votes. That means at least seven Democrats would have to join them, and there is no indication that’s going to happen.

Trump has urged Republicans to eliminate the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act.

This isn’t the first time Trump has tied other priorities to the SAVE America Act. A few days ago, he pushed for the legislation to be attached to the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Now a bipartisan housing package has become the latest casualty of that strategy.

Housing affordability is one of the issues Americans consistently say they care about. It’s also one of the few issues where lawmakers from both parties actually found common ground and produced legislation that could move the ball forward.

Housing reform is now stalled while Washington argues over legislation that currently has no clear path through the Senate.

Lindsey Granger is a NewsNation contributor and co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising.” This column is an edited transcription of her on-air commentary.

Tags

21st Century ROAD to Housing Act

affordability crisis

Donald Trump

Housing

John Thune

SAVE Act

voter fraud

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