Trump threatens housing bill as GOP feud escalates over SAVE Act

President Donald Trump refused to sign the 21st Century Road to Housing Act on Wednesday, demanding the Senate first pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act — a voter ID bill that lacks the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

"I don't know why you're holding a bill that's ready for signature hostage over a bill that will never pass this Congress," Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told reporters, calling the move a political gift to Democrats.

The housing bill, which passed the Senate 78-18 and the House 312-112, will become law in 10 days unless Trump issues a veto. The SAVE Act cleared the House in February but has languished in the Senate, unable to reach the 60-vote threshold. Trump's demand also blocks the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the nomination of Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence.

The standoff leaves Republicans with a shrinking legislative window before the August recess and the November midterms. The Senate departed Wednesday for the July 4 break with no path forward on Trump's priority legislation, while the House faces a September government funding deadline that will consume much of the fall calendar.

Showdown at the Senate Lunch

The confrontation escalated hours later at a Senate GOP lunch meeting where Trump, invited by Steering Committee Chairman Rick Scott of Florida, erupted at lawmakers over a separate issue: the Senate's passage of a War Powers Resolution directing him to withdraw US forces from hostilities against Iran. Four Republicans had joined Democrats in the 51-47 vote Tuesday, the largest GOP defection since the Jan. 6 attack.

Trump singled out Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who lost his primary last month to a Trump-backed challenger, calling him a "lunatic" and a "loser" after Cassidy demanded more transparency on the four-month Iran campaign. Cassidy, a former medical doctor, shouted back, telling Trump "I don't work for you; I work for the people of Louisiana," according to two people familiar with the exchange.

"I make no apologies for standing up to the president, trying to demand that more information be shared with the Senate and more information be shared with the American people," Cassidy told reporters afterward.

By Wednesday evening, the Senate GOP had reversed course, rejecting a nearly identical War Powers Resolution 47-50 after Cassidy and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky — another defector — received a White House briefing from Vice President JD Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Cassidy voted against the second measure, saying he was satisfied with what he heard.

Legislative Gridlock Deepens

The twin confrontations mark the most serious rupture between Trump and Senate Republicans since the Jan. 6 aftermath. In late May, a separate lunch meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche devolved into a revolt over Trump's demand for a $1.776 billion fund to combat alleged "weaponization" of the Justice Department.

The current standoff carries market implications. The housing bill, sponsored by Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott of South Carolina, includes deregulatory measures aimed at boosting supply and expanding mortgage access — policies the White House endorsed as recently as June 12, calling the legislation "the most comprehensive and consequential in the history of our country." A veto would remove those provisions from the economic outlook at a time when home prices remain elevated.

Trump's insistence on the SAVE Act also complicates the third budget reconciliation package Republicans are planning, which aims to fund the Iran war and potentially advance other policy goals. With the Senate in recess until mid-July and only a handful of legislative weeks before the August break, the window for passing major legislation is narrowing. The last time a Republican president faced this level of Senate intraparty resistance was in the final months of the George W. Bush administration, when defections over the Troubled Asset Relief Program reshaped the political landscape.

Trump, asked about the meeting, told reporters "we like everybody really in the room, I don't like a few people, but that's OK, I think you know who they are."

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.