President Donald Trump reiterated on Friday that he won’t sign a sweeping bipartisan housing package “in protest” over the fact that Congress hasn’t passed the restrictive voter ID legislation he has forcefully pushed for. But the housing bill is set to become law after midnight—even without his signature.
“I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “THE SAVE AMERICA ACT’S non-passage is CRAZY, and a serious threat to any politician who votes against it!”
But the housing legislation, which was formally presented to Trump on June 29, is poised to become law anyway. Typically, if Congress is in session, a bill can become law 10 days—excluding Sundays—after it is presented to the President, even if the President doesn’t put their signature on it. For the housing package, that period ends on Friday, meaning that even if Trump doesn’t sign the bill, it will become law after midnight, unless he decides to veto it.
The President didn’t mention the possibility of vetoing the bill in his Truth Social post, and when asked by TIME for clarification on whether he is planning to do so, the White House replied by sending Trump’s Truth Social post.
The housing bill, known as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, is a landmark piece of legislation that includes dozens of provisions intended to remove barriers to building homes and lower the cost of housing. The bill passed the House and the Senate last month, with significant support on both sides of the political aisle.
Read More: What to Know About the Landmark Housing Bill Congress Just Passed
The White House initially championed the legislation after it passed both chambers of Congress, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt calling it “one of the most significant pieces of housing affordability legislation in American history” and saying that the bill signing would be “another promise made, promise kept” by Trump.
But less than 24 hours later, the President abruptly canceled the bill signing, saying that he wouldn’t put his signature on the legislation until Congress passed the SAVE America Act—the controversial legislation that, among other provisions, would require people voting in federal elections to show proof of citizenship and photo identification.
Trump has repeatedly characterized the bill as his number one legislative priority, stating that he would not sign any other legislation until it has been approved by Congress. The House passed the bill in February, but Republicans have said that the party doesn’t have enough votes for it to pass in the Senate, which has provoked the President’s ire and inflamed tensions between him and Republican lawmakers.
In his Truth Social post on Friday, Trump went on to urge the Senate to “TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER” to pass the SAVE America Act “and every other Bill that true Republicans have ever dreamt of.” The President has called for Republicans to end the filibuster in the past. While some lawmakers in his party have backed the idea, Republican leaders in the Senate have dismissed or objected to it.
Trump took a swipe at Republicans who disagreed with the idea on Friday.
“The Dumocrats will TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, if and when they ever get the chance to do so, in their very first hour—And I will no longer be able to call them Dumocrats again!” he said. “The title of DUMB will revert to the Republicans who allowed this horrible calamity to happen to our Party, and our Nation, itself!”
The post The Bipartisan Housing Bill Is Set to Become Law, Despite Trump’s Refusal to Sign It appeared first on TIME.
