“This is a bipartisan bill that would’ve given the White House a nice victory,” said David Urban, a Republican strategist who advised Trump’s 2016 campaign. “And listen, it’s still going to become law. It’s not like the president is going to veto it. But it would have been a great story today.”
The housing bill — which passed with 358 votes in the House and 85 in the Senate — included a proposal intended to lower the cost of housing by banning institutional investors from purchasing single family homes, which Trump touted in his State of the Union. White House legislative affairs director James Braid worked for weeks to iron out differences between the House and Senate version. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt and former deputy chief of staff James Blair heralded the signing on Wednesday.
But Trump’s fixation on the SAVE America Act, which he believes is key to protecting election integrity, upended the stagecraft. Instead of spending the day celebrating, aides and lobbyists were left scrambling to pick up the pieces, trying to divine why Trump had changed course and what it all meant for the future of the housing bill.
Trump did not publicly address the issue or the sudden change during his brief stop on Capitol Hill where he joined Senate Republicans for lunch, which turned into a venting session that left the two sides no closer to a detente. Speaking in the Oval Office later, he said there was “no compromise” he was open to on the SAVE America Act to get it included in a third reconciliation bill Hill Republicans are working on.
The about face comes as White House is attempting to pivot away from the unpopular Iran war toward domestic issues and remind voters of the administration’s accomplishments. Beyond the housing bill, Trump is expected to give a rally-style speech on the National Mall Wednesday night. There are also plans to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Big Beautiful Bill, which Trump signed last July 4, “to remind the public that President Trump delivered on his promise to cut taxes – and Democrats opposed it every step of the way,” a senior administration official told POLITICO on Tuesday.
Instead, some Trump allies, including proponents of the SAVE America Act, argue the reversal squandered a day that should have been about affordability and stepped on a news cycle that had otherwise handed the party a gift in the form of dyed-in-the-wool socialists winning Democratic primaries in New York.
“The SAVE Act is important and deserves to become law,” said a person close to the White House, who like others in this story was granted anonymity to share details of private conversations. “But delaying a major housing package that would deliver real relief to American families risks cutting off our nose to spite our face.”
