The president let the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act become law without his approval, deepening tensions with his own party
President Donald Trump declined to sign a sweeping bipartisan housing affordability bill, announcing the decision as a protest over the Senate's failure to pass strict voter identification legislation.
"I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT," Trump posted on social media, according to The Associated Press.
Under the 10-day constitutional clock, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed into law after Trump took no action to block it, according to the AP. The law targets state and local red tape that has constrained new residential construction in economically thriving communities, and represents the most significant federal push on housing costs in a generation, according to the AP. White House economists had earlier estimated a national shortage of 10 million homes.
Trump had called the bill "a yawn" and "so unimportant" compared to the voter ID measure, according to the AP. He first surprised Republican lawmakers when, shortly before a planned signing ceremony at the Capitol in late June, he announced he would withhold his approval until Congress passed the citizenship documentation requirement for voter registration — a bill that lacks sufficient Senate support to advance.
By walking away from the legislation, Trump has strained relationships within his party and undermined a Republican priority just as voters heading into midterms have grown increasingly anxious about the cost of housing, according to the AP. Senior Democratic members of congressional election oversight committees issued sharp criticism of Trump's moves against the Election Assistance Commission, calling the removal of commissioners a deliberate attempt to inject partisan influence into the electoral process, according to the AP — a separate matter from the housing bill dispute.
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