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Senate Republicans expressed shock and bewilderment over President Trump’s threat not to sign a highly touted bill to address housing affordability, describing the move as “inexplicable” and making “no sense” at a time when voters are worried about rising costs.
GOP senators took some solace in the fact that Trump only canceled a signing ceremony for the bill and didn’t outright threaten to veto it, which means — unless Trump raises his veto pen — the legislation will become law after 10 days.
But Senate Republicans expressed concern that Trump’s refusal to sign a bill that passed both chambers with overwhelming bipartisan majorities and that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has touted as a major GOP accomplishment sends a bad political message to voters before the midterm elections.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Trump’s out-of-the-blue threat not to sign legislation that he had endorsed earlier this year was “inexplicable.”
“I don’t know if there’s a precedent for it,” Cornyn said.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Trump’s threat “makes no sense” because the bill would address a core concern of voters before the election.
“It makes no sense. This bill has very strong bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. The primary author is a Republican senator and it addresses an issue that affects many American families who find the cost of housing to be a tremendous burden,” Collins told reporters.
The lead Senate Republican sponsor of the bill is Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (S.C.).
Scott declined to comment on Trump’s threat not to sign the bill.
One Republican senator who requested anonymity to comment frankly on Trump’s comments about the housing bill warned “it’s not a very good move.”
Trump said Wednesday morning that he won’t sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act until the Senate passes what he called “the desperately needed SAVE America Act.”
Trump has called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act his No. 1 legislative priority. It would require people to show documented proof of citizenship when registering to vote and photo identification when voting.
The bill, however, does not have unanimous support within the Senate GOP conference and is well short of having the 60 votes necessary to overcome a Democratic filibuster.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has relentlessly pushed GOP leaders to require Democrats to use a talking filibuster to stop the SAVE America Act. That would require them to actively hold the floor with round-the-clock debate for days or even weeks on end to block the bill.
Many GOP senators, however, have rejected the strategy as unworkable.
Cornyn on Wednesday said he doesn’t understand why GOP colleagues are whipping up Trump over the SAVE America Act when there aren’t enough votes to pass it or eliminate the Senate filibuster.
“Ultimately, I think what the president wants to do is eliminate the filibuster, and there’s not the votes to do that. At some point we have to deal with reality,” he said.
Cornyn said GOP colleagues who are persuading Trump to keep pushing the issue aren’t helping Republican chances of winning tough races in the fall.
“I just don’t understand what they’re doing, what the point is. We do have midterm elections coming up here,” he said.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told reporters canceling the bill signing was politically unwise and “makes no sense to me.” “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, makes no sense to me,” Tillis said. “There is a huge group of people who really appreciate what the president’s doing right now, and it’s the Democrat party,” Tillis added.
GOP senators expressed hope that the bill would become law after 10 days, despite Trump’s ambivalence over it.
“I assume in 10 days it goes into law,” said Sen. James Lankford (Okla.), the vice chair of the Senate GOP conference.
Sen. Steve Daines (Mont.), an adviser to Senate GOP leadership, said: “We need to get it signed.”
“I know the president is passionate about the SAVE Act. So many of us support it. We don’t have the votes to get it,” he said. “Hopefully we can work though this. It’s an important win.”
Helen Huiskes contributed.
Add as preferred source on Google Tags James Lankford John Cornyn John Thune Mike Lee Steve Daines Susan Collins Thom Tillis Tim ScottCopyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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