WASHINGTON – The landmark housing bill that Congress approved last week will become law with or without President Donald Trump’s signature, House Speaker Mike Johnson says.
The president will either allow the bipartisan bill that passed the House and Senate with overwhelming majorities to go into effect or he will come around to signing it, Johnson told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview at the U.S. Capitol.
Johnson said he again pushed the president during a two-hour Oval Office meeting on Monday, June 29, to sign the legislation that aims to make housing more affordable.
“He said he’ll think about it, and we’ll talk about it again this week,” Johnson said.
Either way, the bill will become law, Johnson asserted. “He won’t veto the bill. We already know that. He’ll either allow it to just go into law, or he’ll put his signature on it and take partial ownership, and I hope he does the latter.”
Trump Holds the Bill Hostage Over Voting Legislation
Earlier in the day, Trump called the measure “a big yawn” and characterized it as “so unimportant” compared to the SAVE America Act, a Republican bill that would require would-be voters to provide proof of citizenship to register and photo identification to cast a ballot. Last week, the president abruptly canceled a housing bill signing ceremony, blocking the legislation from immediately becoming law.
Trump said he would not support the housing bill until the GOP-backed voting legislation passes in the Senate, where it has not been able to gain the necessary support.
The 10-Day Clock Starts Ticking
The housing bill, formally called the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, can still become law if Trump neither signs it nor vetoes it in 10 days, excluding Sundays. Johnson said over the weekend the bill would be formally transmitted to the White House on June 29, officially starting the clock.
“He has, as you know, 10 days to make that determination. His point that he’s been trying to make is that the SAVE America Act is his top priority, and it is mine, as well. But I said, ‘Mr. President, we can walk and chew gum at the same time,’” Johnson told USA TODAY on Monday evening. “The housing bill has a lot of great policy, a lot of important things that he and I both promised to the voters.”
Republican Infighting Complicates the Path Forward
The last week has been a hectic one for the speaker of the House.
After the president played hardball with GOP leaders by holding the housing bill hostage, conservative hardliners in the House followed suit. A group of Republican lawmakers hijacked the legislative schedule, withholding votes until Johnson could find a viable path forward for the SAVE America Act.
The GOP-run House has already passed versions of the voting reform bill multiple times. In the Senate, it faces opposition from moderate senators such as Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Maine’s Susan Collins.
Amid the mutiny in the House, Johnson canceled unrelated votes, struggling to get enough support to move the legislation. The party infighting has fueled fresh fears from moderate Republicans in Congress about exactly how much the GOP can get done before the midterms, with lawmakers set to go on an extended recess at the end of next month.
Despite the logistical chaos, Johnson told USA TODAY he understands the political argument the president and conservatives in his party are trying to make. But he said that the housing bill will bring the country closer to the president’s affordable housing objectives.
“I said, ‘You should get the biggest black marker you can, do that giant Trump signature across that, because there’s a lot to be proud of there,’” Johnson said.
Johnson also told reporters at the Capitol he had a plan to satisfy Trump by merging the SAVE America Act with a must-pass annual defense policy bill. That gambit, however, could doom the defense bill, which authorizes key national security programs.
All of Johnson’s scrambling still hasn’t satisfied hard-right Republicans in his party such as Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, the Florida Republican leading the House charge to pass the SAVE America Act.
“I’m not trying to be difficult, but this is what 80% of Americans want and what we promised the American people,” she said Monday on X.
Reporting by Francesca Chambers and Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY.
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