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The Senate was left in a state of confusion. anger in the wake of PresidentDonald Trump'slast-minute declaration that he would not sign into law a colossal housing package filled with his own priorities.
It comes as Trump is expected to have aclosed-door lunch with Senate Republicanswho are already frustrated with a laundry list of his recent decisions. have either derailed or blown up their attempts to move forward with his agenda.
Trump said he wouldn’t sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Package into law, which passed both chambers with overwhelming bipartisan support, unless Republicans ram through the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, a voter-ID. citizenship verification package that doesn’t have the votes to succeed in the Senate.
TRUMP HEADS TO CAPITOL HILL FOR PIVOTAL MEETING AS SENATE GOP DIVISIONS DEEPEN
President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. D.C., on June 22, 2026.(Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
"Today's Housing News Conference. Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which Iconsider to be a National Emergency,"Trump said on Truth Social.
The sudden decision had some Republicans accusing Trump of handing Democrats a victory.
"There is a huge group of people who really appreciate what the president's doing right now,. it's the Democratic Party," Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said. "And we've got to get our act together and stop surprising people and start having … working messages.
"This housing bill was a very clear, bipartisan effort to address some of the basics of affordability,. we are here," he continued. "It makes no sense."
TRUMP-BACKED HOUSING OVERHAUL TARGETING WALL STREET INVESTORS CLEARS SENATE
Sen.Elizabeth Warren,D-Mass. one of the chief architects of the housing package, was furious that Trump refused to sign the bill into law.
"Can I underline crisis three times? We have a bill that Republicans and Democrats have built. It is good for urban America, rural America, first-time homebuyers, renters, seniors, families that are expanding," Warren said. "It's a bill about doing good things. And Donald Trump says he just doesn't care."
Before torpedoing the housing package, Trump had already earned the frustration of Republicans with his decision to derail the process of reauthorizing the nation’s keycounter-terrorismtool, the memorandum of understanding with Iran,. his push for an "anti-weaponization" fund that nearly blew up a $70 billion immigration enforcement package.
The GOP is hungry for a stream of wins to push on the campaign trail as they inch closer tomidterm electionswhere several incumbent Republicans are running in tight races.
TRUMP SCORES MAJOR WIN AS CONGRESS PASSES HOUSING CRACKDOWN ON WALL STREET INVESTORS
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., speaks to reporters after a vote in the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 18, 2025.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
But for now. they are mired in debate over whether they can pass the SAVE America Act, which Trump is expected to push for during the lunch.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, described the situation as "inexplicable."
"I mean, this, this is not — I don't know if there is precedent for it," Cornyn said.
When asked if Trump would be any more successful in generating the votes to pass the legislation, Cornyn acknowledged that the president had a lot of sway,. that if the solution was to eliminate the filibuster, the votes similarly weren’t there.
"At some point, we got to deal with reality," he said.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who worked on the housing package, agreed with Trump that Republicans should try to pass the SAVE America Act. explore all options to do so, likeattaching it to a thirdbudget reconciliation package or forcing debate on the floor.
But he acknowledged that the votes currently weren’t there to pass it.
"I will stand on one leg. bark like a dog if that's what it takes to help this pass," Kennedy said. "But you can't make people vote in a way that they don't want to do. I mean, that's what we're up against."
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
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