Trump Refuses to Sign Housing Bill, Lets It Become Law

President Donald Trump said Friday he will not sign a landmark bipartisan housing bill sent to him by Congress, allowing the legislation to become law automatically at midnight without his signature — while using the moment to pressure Senate Republicans over a stalled voter identification bill.

Trump announced the decision in a post on his Truth Social platform, calling it an act of protest against the Senate's failure to pass the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo identification to cast a ballot. The president stopped short of issuing a veto, which would have triggered a battle he almost certainly could not win: the housing bill passed the House by a vote of 358-32 and the Senate by a vote of 85-5, margins that far exceed the two-thirds supermajority required to override a presidential veto.

Under the Constitution, if a president neither signs nor vetoes legislation within 10 days of receiving it — excluding Sundays — the bill automatically becomes law. House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated the president was not expected to issue a last-minute veto.

"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 wrote, adding a demand that Senate Republicans eliminate the filibuster to advance his priorities.

The legislation — formally called the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act — is the most sweeping housing bill Congress has produced in decades. It seeks to lower costs for homebuyers and ease a supply shortage by streamlining environmental reviews, incentivizing construction, expanding modular home development, and limiting institutional investors that own at least 350 single-family homes from purchasing additional ones. The median price of an existing home sold in June reached $440,600, a record high, according to the National Association of Realtors — an increase of 1.8 percent from the prior year.

Trump had previously described the housing bill as "a big yawn" and abruptly canceled a scheduled White House signing ceremony on June 24, citing the same demand that Congress act first on the SAVE America Act. The SAVE Act passed the House but failed to clear the Senate's 60-vote filibuster threshold.

Early reaction on X centered on the ambiguity of Trump's announcement. Cami Mondeaux, @cami_mondeaux, wrote in a post on X that Trump "will NOT sign the bipartisan housing bill — but he doesn't say he will veto it either." Sam Lisker, @slisker, noted in a post on X that Trump "does not say whether or not he would veto the housing bill," adding that if Trump "does nothing at all, it becomes law automatically after midnight." Julia Manchester, @JuliaManch, wrote on X that the bill "is slated to automatically go into law at midnight if Trump does not sign or veto it."

Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota has repeatedly defended the filibuster and declined Trump's calls to eliminate the rule. Senate Republican leaders did not schedule any immediate response to Friday's announcement.

Democrats swiftly seized on the president's decision, framing it as indifference to housing affordability ahead of November's midterm elections. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Trump had "refused to sign the most significant bipartisan housing bill in decades" and accused him of prioritizing "more power for himself" over struggling families.

The SAVE America Act, which would also impose new restrictions on mail-in voting, has been a top White House priority. It is already a federal crime for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and research has found such cases to be extremely rare.