The stage was set on Capitol Hill Wednesday for President Trump to sign an overwhelmingly bipartisan Housing affordability bill — hailed as the most significant housing reform in three decades.
But the president had other plans, canceling the signing via social media post.
Trump wrote he would not sign the Housing bill “until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT,” an unrelated election reform bill that Democrats and a handful of Republicans oppose.
The rejection of a public bill signing only added to the tension between the President and Senate Republicans.
One day earlier a handful of Senate Republicans joined Democrats to issue a rebuke of the war in Iran. on Wednesday, President Trump came face-to-face with some of the defectors, who he attacked online.
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The SAVE AMERICA ACT, which Trump pushed for Wednesday, has caused tensions to boil over in recent weeks on Capitol Hill, though the bill has come up short in the Senate several times.
President Trump has said he wants the Senate to abolish the 60-vote-filibuster which most legislation needs to pass to get it done.
But a significant number of Senate Republicans — led by Majority Leader John Thune — have said they don't have support to get rid of the filibuster.
So the president’s agenda on Capitol Hill appeared stalled yet again, with just months to go before the midterm elections.
And it's still not clear when or if President Trump will sign the housing affordability bill.
The bill aims to make home buying more affordable by cutting red tape and limiting the number of single family homes that private investment firms can purchase.
