Republican infighting broke out Saturday as Democrats presented a unified front celebrating a bipartisan bill that President Donald Trump allowed to pass at midnight by refusing to either veto or sign it.
The ROAD to Housing Act, described by CNN as a “sweeping” bipartisan bill to tackle housing affordability, spurred cheers of joy from Democrats and a scattered, sometimes hostile, response from Republicans.
“NOT GOOD ENOUGH!” conservative pundit Ann Coulter scolded Trump on Friday. “You need to veto it before midnight, Mr. President!!! The housing bill furthers the destruction of working and middle class neighborhoods by expanding Section 8 housing, moving ghettos into formerly safe towns.”
The law caps the number of single-family homes big investors can buy, allows developers to skip an environmental review for properties between two previously reviewed buildings and creates a grant program communities can use to develop preapproved housing designs, according to NPR.
On Saturday, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) responded to Coulter and tried to justify Trump’s actions by arguing he’d outmaneuvered Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Majority Leader Mike Johnson.
“Only 32 of us voted against the Housing bill in the House,” Massie said. “But had Trump vetoed it, I can assure you that Thune & Johnson would not have rallied votes to override his veto and the bill would have died. By not vetoing it, Trump took ownership of the bill.”
This notion received an indirect rebuttal from Fox News correspondent Chad Pergram, who pointed to bills’ 358-32 win in the House and its 85-5 victory in the Senate.
“It takes two-thirds to override a veto in both chambers,” he said. “Thus, the House and Senate both had supermajorities capable of overriding the President’s veto to convert this bill into law.”
Pergram also acknowledged such action was rare.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-NC) did not name Trump in his response, but he did throw support behind the bill the president refused to sign.
“The American Dream is a little more within reach for families across this country,” he said. “The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law last night and will help more Americans plant roots, build stability, and pass opportunity to the next generation.”
Meanwhile Democrats both celebrated the bill’s passage and slammed Trump for failing to support it in a bid to pressure Congress to pass his SAVE America Act voter ID bill.
Among those to celebrate was Rep. Jonathan L. Jackson (D-IL).
“At midnight, the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act became law—despite President Trump holding the bill hostage and refusing to sign it,” Jackson wrote. “Families in IL-01 can’t afford political games when housing costs are soaring, but President Trump would rather see Americans on the street than at the ballot box.”
Mike Nellis, former Kamala Harris campaign advisor, professed himself confused by Trump’s tactics.
“Again, it’s bafflingly stupid that Donald Trump let a housing bill become law without signing it, ensuring he gets no credit for it,” said Nellis. “It’s literally the only thing they’ve done on affordability, and he managed to completely disown it.”
Political consultant Saikat Chakrabarti, a progressive Democrat, chastised Trump as ineffective.
“The President of the United States just refused to sign a housing bill in ‘protest,’ and the bill became law anyway,” he said. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen a weaker or more pathetic move. The most powerful person in America is playing the role of activist.”
“President Trump chose politics over this effort to lower housing costs,” added Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), “but I’m glad that this bipartisan bill is now law.”
Even White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt praised the bill in June, before Trump announced he would not sign it.
“President Trump promised to lower housing costs, and he is delivering, making it easier for every family to achieve the American Dream of homeownership, she wrote. “Tomorrow’s historic bill signing is another promise made, promise kept.”
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