House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Sunday that he intends to send a bipartisan housing affordability bill to President Donald Trump on Monday, asserting that the measure will become law after being approved by both chambers of Congress.
Speaking on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" program, Johnson said: "It’s passed by both chambers. I’m sending it to him on Monday, and it will become law."
The announcement follows an episode last week in which the president declined to sign the housing bill at a planned ceremony. Trump canceled the signing on Wednesday as a way to press Republicans to move forward on a separate piece of legislation - the SAVE America Act - that would impose new voter ID and registration requirements.
The SAVE America Act, as described by congressional Republicans, would require photo identification to cast ballots in federal elections and proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. The legislation also would mandate that states provide their voter registration rolls to the federal government. That measure cleared the House of Representatives in February but has not advanced in the Senate, where it encounters strong opposition from Democratic lawmakers.
Johnson and the president met on Thursday to discuss next steps for the voting bill and to attempt to reschedule the housing bill signing that had been called off earlier in the week. The meeting did not, according to Johnson’s Sunday comments, prevent him from moving forward with delivering the housing measure to the White House.
Supporters of Trump within the Republican caucus have pushed to include the SAVE America Act in a budget reconciliation package that could potentially pass the Senate with a simple majority of 51 Republican votes. Proponents argue this route would allow Republicans to avoid the chamber’s parliamentarian, who previously ruled the voter ID provisions ineligible earlier this year.
Contextual note: The status of the voter ID measure remains an outstanding legislative hurdle; Johnson’s statement on the housing bill confirms a separate path to completing that legislation despite the lingering disputes over the SAVE America Act.