Trump Calls Landmark Housing Bill ‘a Big Yawn’—and Doesn’t Commit To Signing It

President Donald Trump equivocated on whether he'd sign the bipartisan housing bill that is headed to his desk today, saying his voter ID law was more important.

"I don't know, I think it's so unimportant by compared to the SAVE America Act," the president said in a White House press conference with reporters, when asked whether he'd sign the landmark 21st Century Road to Housing Act, which is now in limbo since he abruptly canceled signing it last week.

He called on Congress to first pass the SAVE Act, an election security bill that is deeply unpopular with Democrats. Trump reiterated at the White House that he wanted the voter ID act to pass. He downplayed the importance of the housing bill by comparison.

"The housing bill is a bill that could get approved, they worked on it long and hard, it's very bipartisan, that means the Democrats like it," Trump continued. "I think it's maybe even, it's probably maybe more that way—they're getting things that I wouldn't necessarily agree to."

Ultimately, the president said he would make a determination once the bill arrived at his desk.

"Big deal, it's a yawn," he said of the housing bill. "To me, compared to the SAVE America Act, just about everything is a big yawn."

Parties line up messaging on bill

As members of Congress took to the weekend circuit of news shows, Republicans projected confidence the bill would pass. The bill remained with Congress since the House passed it by a vote of 358-32 on June 23, one day after the Senate passed it 85-5.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on a Fox News segment Sunday that he'd formally send the bill to Trump on Monday, after talking to him "at length" about it late last week.

"I'm sending it to him on Monday, and it will become law," Johnson said.

Once he formally receives it, Trump has 10 days to either sign or veto the measure. If he takes no action while Congress is in session, it will automatically become law.

"This is classic Donald Trump negotiation style, he's going to grab every leverage point he can and this is one to get the bigger priority across the finish line" Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), meanwhile, told "Meet the Press." He also said he thinks the housing bill will be signed.

Democrats have their own affordability platform for the coming midterms, and castigated Trump's delay.

"I don't know with this president. He's said that he doesn't care about rising costs," Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) told "NewsNation Sunday." "If he doesn't have a housing problem, and his friends don't have a problem with housing, then it doesn't matter to him. So I actually wouldn't be surprised if he didn't sign it."

"What changed? I don't know," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told NBC Connecticut. "He knows the momentum is with the Democrats for the midterms."

Consternation

The SAVE Act, which Democrats fiercely oppose, is a major roadblock. Blumenthal said it is a "voter suppression" bill. Johnson said Republicans would try to add the SAVE Act to a reconciliation bill, thus going around Democratic resistance.

A public poll released Monday by DC-based housing research group The Housing Narrative Lab and Voss Research shows how urgently Americans view the housing problem. About 78% of those polled said they supported policies to build more housing that low- and middle-class people could afford.

Large majorities of Americans said the cost of groceries, utilities, housing, and healthcare are all going up. About 56% of those polled said they couldn't afford a $200 increase in housing costs. And the support for housing crosses all demographic lines, said Marisol Bello, executive director of the Housing Narrative Lab.

“These struggles, these challenges, these trade-offs compound, and it is why we see such dramatic incidence of people being worried and unable to afford these $200 increases," Jonathan Voss of Voss Research and Strategy said.

Even Bed Bath & Beyond has done a little thinking about the bill. In a position paper it published Monday, the home goods retailer said it took the bill as a sign that it needs to evolve. The bill shows public frustration with a disconnected housing system, and other services around homebuying need to adapt.

“We intend to understand neighborhoods," CEO Marcus Lemonis said. The policy world is trying to solve housing from the top down. We have the chance to solve it from the homeowner, the neighborhood, and the home up—and we believe homes should be accessible to the families who live in them, not just to the largest pools of capital.”