Trump cancels housing bill signing to press Senate on SAVE America Act

Washington,UPDATED: Jun 24, 2026 21:02 IST

US President Donald Trump sharply raised tensions with Senate Republicans on Wednesday by cancelling plans to sign a bipartisan housing measure that could help increase home construction. In a social media post, he said he now wants Congress to first pass the SAVE America Act, a bill that would impose stricter voter identification rules in federal elections.

The move came ahead of Trump’s planned visit to a closed-door lunch with Senate Republicans, his first such meeting in more than a year. The meeting was expected to focus on party unity before the November midterm elections, but it was also set against wider disagreements over the voting bill, Iran, and one of Trump’s own nominations.

Announcing the cancellation, Trump 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 Emergency." Trump has for months pressed senators to take up his proof-of-citizenship voting bill, even though it does not have enough support to pass.

He has also blocked the confirmation of one of his own nominees, asked senators to fund parts of his White House ballroom project despite opposition, and pushed them to defend his war in Iran even as some Republicans have questions about the strategy and endgame. Trump has also reduced some of his own support in the Senate after backing primary challengers against two Republican incumbents once seen as reliable supporters of his agenda, Texas Senator John Cornyn and Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy. Both lost their primaries and have since become more critical of the president.

Before Trump cancelled the housing event, some senators said they wanted the meeting to help repair divisions. "If we’re going to win the midterm elections, we need to get on the same page," Cornyn said on Tuesday. "We’re not on the same page now, and that I think is dangerous." Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said many of his concerns with the administration had already been conveyed and said he hoped the meeting would be "conciliatory". "That would be a big win for us tomorrow," Tillis said on Tuesday.

Another source of friction is Trump’s increasingly distant relationship with Senate Majority Leader John Thune. While the two remain cordial, Thune has repeatedly told Trump that the voting bill cannot pass in the Senate. Thune said on Tuesday that while Trump and some Republicans want to move the bill, "it’s just not realistic".

Trump has urged the Senate to scrap the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act, which would require voters to prove citizenship and show voter ID at polling stations. He has also demanded that the bill include a ban on mail-in ballots, as well as unrelated provisions to block sex reassignment surgeries on some minors and stop people born as men from competing in women’s sports. "John is a leader and hopefully he can get the votes," Trump said on Tuesday during a visit to Pennsylvania. Thune, who earlier this year gave weeks of Senate floor time to the bill and has said he supports it, has also said there are not enough votes to remove the filibuster in the 53-47 Senate and that Democrats are united against the measure. "Those are just hard realities," Thune said. "And I think people at some point have to come to grips with that." He added that he hoped the meeting would be about "sitting down as a family" and deciding their agenda for the time left before the election.

Thune said he learnt of Trump’s plan to attend the weekly Republican lunch from Florida Senator Rick Scott, who had invited him without informing the leader. Scott, a close Trump ally who leads the weekly lunch, said Trump agreed immediately. "He’s going to be very positive," Scott said. "There’s a lot that we can brag about that we’ve accomplished, and he wants to figure out how we can win November and continue to fulfil his agenda."

On Monday, Scott wrote to fellow Republicans arguing that the Senate should hold votes every week on some version of the SAVE America Act and other Republican priorities that Democrats oppose. "We need to show voters that we are listening to them and will fight for their priorities whether any Democrats vote with us or not," Scott wrote.

Utah Senator Mike Lee has also kept up pressure on Thune over the bill, using daily posts on X to argue that Republicans should end the filibuster and pass it. Several Republican senators, including Cornyn, confronted Lee at a private lunch last week, saying his campaign was dividing the party and creating unrealistic expectations. Lee has also repeated Trump’s claim that Republicans cannot win elections unless the bill passes, despite the party’s sweeping victories in 2024. Trump has continued to falsely claim that the 2020 election he lost was stolen. "The push to pass the SAVE America Act is not a fantasy," Lee wrote over the weekend. "It’s a plan to avoid a nightmare - one that’s coming soon unless we act." Thune said it was Lee’s right to post on social media, but added: "At the end of the day, I have a different reality. And sometimes the alternative universe that is X doesn’t reflect the facts on the ground."

Trump may also face questions from senators about his social media announcement last week that he was delaying Jay Clayton’s nomination to become national intelligence director. Republican leaders had hoped to confirm Clayton quickly and avoid keeping Bill Pulte, Trump’s interim pick, in the role. In the same post, Trump said he would not sign an extension of a key surveillance law unless Senate Republicans added the SAVE America Act. That line has support in the House, where 25 Republicans have said they will oppose all legislation until the voting bill moves ahead.

Republicans could also use the lunch to press Trump on the war in Iran and the agreement to end it, as most lawmakers have still not been briefed on the deal. Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota said there were many questions about the Iran agreement, though Trump might not be able to discuss the talks in public. "We’re there to listen" and to try to make sure the rest of Trump’s term is successful, Rounds said. But that means "we’ve got to come out with a united team."

In sum, Trump’s decision to cancel the housing bill signing and renew pressure for the SAVE America Act has exposed deeper strains with Senate Republicans, even as both sides say they want to show unity before the midterm elections.

With PTI Inputs

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