Dive Brief:

• Less than two hours before President Donald Trump was scheduled to sign major bipartisan housing legislation Wednesday, he abruptly cancelled via a Truth Social post, saying he would not sign the bill until an unrelated voter ID law is passed. 
• The president had previously supported the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which aims to improve housing affordability and includes measures that he wanted. The SAVE America Act Trump wants would add new voter ID requirements and ban mail-in voting in most cases, but it is stalled in the Senate and doesn’t seem to have enough support to pass.
• Members of both parties have been eager to pass the housing bill ahead of the midterm elections and were preparing to celebrate a rare bipartisan achievement. The House passed the measure by a 358-32 vote on Tuesday evening after the Senate approved it 85-5 on Monday. 

Dive Insight:

It’s still possible for the bill to become law even if the president doesn’t sign it. After both chambers of Congress agree on a bill and enroll it, the president has 10 days, excluding Sundays, to sign or veto it. If the president doesn’t do either, then the bill becomes law without his signature.

It’s not yet clear what the president will do. Multifamily Dive reached out to the White House press office for more detail about Trump’s plans, but only received the president’s Wednesday Truth Social post announcing the cancellation in response.

In a separate Truth Social post earlier Wednesday morning, the president said the “Warren centric housing bill, which is of minor importance compared to lower interest rates, and even FISA, pales in comparison to passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.”

Members of both parties and the House and Senate voted overwhelmingly for the legislation because it lowers costs, improves affordability and expands housing opportunity, according to National Multifamily Housing Council spokesperson Colin Dunn. The housing industry and many housing advocates have championed the bill.

“NMHC and our members hope the legislation is quickly enacted and we look forward to celebrating that achievement with Members of Congress and the Administration,” Dunn said in an emailed statement.

Similarly, the National Apartment Association on Wednesday urged the president to swiftly sign the bill into law.

Dennis Shea, executive vice president of the Bipartisan Policy Center and chair of the Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy, called the legislation a “meaningful step forward in increasing housing supply and lowering housing costs.”

"We remain hopeful that the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, passed by large bipartisan majorities in both chambers of Congress, will become the law of the land soon,” Shea said in emailed comments to Multifamily Dive.

The move indicates that the president cares more about voter suppression than he does about Americans’ pocketbooks, National Housing Law Project CEO Shamus Roller told Multifamily Dive.

“Americans care a lot about housing because it costs so much. It’s one of the biggest bills they pay and the costs have been going up, especially in relationship to income. It really matters to people,” Roller said. “The kind of blatant disregard over that is pretty striking.” 

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