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WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump on Wednesday shocked lawmakers by canceling plans for a ceremonial signing of a housing affordability bill at the Capitol.
Trump said he would withhold his signature from the bill ― a major bipartisan breakthrough that passed both chambers of Congress this week by overwhelming margins ― to force lawmakers to enact a radical overhaul of voting procedures.
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"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," he posted on Truth Social.
The cancellation is an escalation of Trump's feud with Republican senators, especially Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), who has repeatedly said the elections bill can't get 60 votes in the Senate, and that there aren't 50 Republican votes for changing the rules so the bill could pass without having to beat a Democratic filibuster.
The SAVE America Act would require proof of citizenship for voter registration and photo identification for voting, and it would require states to purge their voter rolls and also open them up to lawsuits and criminal penalties ― all to address the imaginary threat of voter fraud.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, meanwhile, written to address the real problem of housing affordability, would reduce costs by speeding development and barring private equity firms from buying up single-family homes. Republicans in particular had been planning to celebrate the bill's passing in an election year when voters are furious about price inflation.
"We are in a housing emergency. This bill is a major step toward reducing housing costs for millions of American families, and Donald Trump just doesn't care," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), one of the bill's principal co-authors, told HuffPost on Wednesday. "Democrats and Republicans have worked together, both here in Congress and across the country, to put together a good bill. It's time to get it passed."
The president still plans to have lunch Wednesday with Republican senators, several of whom have loudly complained about his creation of an "Anti-Weaponization Fund" to reward Jan. 6 rioters and his appointment of an unqualified loyalist to head up the government's spy apparatus. Canceling the bill signing will only add to the tension.
The housing bill would still become law without Trump's signature in 10 days after Congress formally submits the bill. He did not threaten to veto the measure. It's not clear if a president has ever refused to sign a bill he supported in similar circumstances before.
Thune seemed stunned by Trump's announcement that he wouldn't sign the bill.
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"I just heard that. I guess I would say, at this point, I don't have any observations about that," he told reporters.
Shortly after the announcement, workers began dismantling a stage set up in the Capitol for a signing ceremony and removing the presidential seal from the lectern where Trump had planned to speak.
Warren said she had no idea if Trump would let the bill become law. He supported the measure from start to finish, especially the private equity provision that Warren championed. He'd even mentioned it in his State of the Union address on his prior visit to the Capitol.
"Don't ask me to rate Donald Trump's tantrums. That's not my specialty," she said.
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