U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he was optimistic President Donald Trump would sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act after delivering it to his desk on June. 29, despite the president’s indications to the contrary. If Trump does not sign the bill or veto it within 10 days, it will become law automatically.
Trump has referred to the expansive, industry-supported housing legislation as “a yawn” and “so unimportant” compared to the SAVE Act’s provision’s intended to strengthen election security, according to various media reports by White House correspondents. Furthermore, Trump has asserted the bipartisan nature of the bill is a major reason he does not want to sign it.
“It’s very bipartisan — that means the Democrats like it,” he told reporters. “They’re getting things that I wouldn’t necessarily agree to.”
Meanwhile, scores of financial industry leaders and lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have praised the bipartisanship demonstrated in both chambers of Congress more than two years after the original version was introduced.
Johnson told reporters he believes Trump will sign the housing bill within the 10-day time window, and at the very least will not veto it, based on a discussion he had with the president about a strategy for getting the SAVE Act passed via reconciliation.
The speaker affirmed that House Republicans share Trump’s commitment to passing SAVE Act provisions they champion as integral to ensuring the integrity of federal elections. He contended that including it in a broader budget reconciliation bill is the only way for Republicans to convince enough Democrats to vote for the SAVE America Act.
“We believe that if you create a grant program that ties it to reconciling the budget, and you allow blues states … [to] draw down from a federal fund and use those funds,” Johnson said. “We’re willing to invest heavily in that. And House Republicans will put together a reconciliation bill, a Reconciliation 3.0, that will have that.”
Johnson did not provide further details about what such a grant program might look like, including for what purposes the states could use the allocated funds.
The SAVE Act includes provisions requiring prospective voters to provide a photo ID and proof-of-citizenship when registering to vote. Opponents to the bill argue it does not account for instances where a person’s last name or address may have changed due to marriage, a move or other legitimate reasons that could complicate the identification verification process.
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