Housing bill gave Republicans a win. Then Trump showed up. | Opinion
That sound American voters didn't hear when Friday, July 10, became Saturday, July 11, was the poof of political opportunity eagerly awaited by Republicans in Congress – until President Donald Trump snatched it away.
A piece of legislation, passed on June 23 in a rare show of bipartisan agreement in Congress between those Republicans and the Democrats in the minority, became law at midnight. That new law will try to make buying a house a little less arduous.
That sort of win usually brings on the political theatrics, a show of pomp and ceremony. Full-throated speeches about accomplishing things for Americans, delivered by members of Congress from a stage festooned with flags. But that's not what Trump wants.
Only Trump could turn a Republican win into a failed power grab
Oh, the Republicans built a stage all right, with a desk adorned with the presidential seal. They were standing on it, on June 24, the day after passing the legislation, talking about how it will help Americans, while waiting for Trump to join them on stage in the Capitol to sign it into law.
But Trump, in a petulant fury because Congress has no bipartisan movement to pass a completely unrelated piece of legislation, canceled his appearance at the June 24 signing ceremony at the very last minute. Then he let his Republican allies in Congress twist for 16 days, while he thrashed them in social media posts and belittled the housing legislation.
On July 10, Trump delivered his final blow against the Republican ambition to show American voters that they had actually accomplished something. In a social media post, Trump announced that he would not sign the housing bill "in PROTEST" because Republicans in the Senate lack the votes to pass the SAVE America Act.
The good news here is that the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law anyway when July 10 became July 11 because House Speaker Mike Johnson sent the legislation to Trump 10 days earlier. The U.S. Constitution says a bill passed by Congress becomes law 10 days after the president receives it if it is not signed or vetoed.
The new law reduces regulations on home builders, makes it easier for would-be homeowners to buy and finance a house, and limits the ability of large institutional investors to buy up batches of houses.
The bad news here is this: It's a story Republicans in Congress were eager to tell voters back home, a win to tout as the Nov. 3 midterm elections loom in less than four months, with their narrow majorities in the House and Senate at risk.
That would have required Trump to be a team player, to help boost his own political party by signing the legislation and giving Republicans in Congress a platform to proclaim a victory.
Trump thinks affording a home is a 'big yawn'
That's not Trump's way. He prefers an autocratic grab for power, like the SAVE America Act. And he'll savage Republicans in Congress as if they were Democrats if he doesn't get his way. That voting legislation has nothing to do with housing affordability. Instead, it proposes an unconstitutional federalization of election administration, allowing Trump to meddle in issues like voter ID and mail ballots, duties reserved for the states.
The president is obsessed with that unrelated bill because he fears Democratic congressional victories in November will give life to oversight of his presidency in January.
In his July 10 social media post, Trump proposes shifting his childish insult for Democrats – "Dumocrats" – onto his own Republican allies: "The title of DUMB will revert to the Republicans who allowed this horrible calamity to happen to our Party, and our Nation, itself!"
Does that sound like a president trying to help his party win the midterms?
Trump has spent most of June and July laying legislative land mines for congressional Republicans while spouting his fury because they can't muster the votes to pass the SAVE America Act. At the same time, he has been indifferent or antagonistic about the housing legislation.
This, after Trump, in a May 11 social media post, called on Congress to pass that legislation "to save the American Dream of Homeownership." A White House spokesperson, after it passed, declared that "it's time to restore fairness to the housing market and put families first."
Compare that with what Trump has said since then. Just before he canceled the signing ceremony on June 24, Trump posted that the legislation "is of minor importance" while complaining about it being a bipartisan effort.
On June 29, Trump derided the legislation as "so unimportant" and a "big yawn" while rambling on again about the SAVE America Act.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed in the House on June 23 in a vote of 358 to 32, with 166 Republicans in support. That came a day after it passed in the Senate in a vote of 85 to 5, with 42 Republicans in support.
The legislation wasn't "unimportant" or a "big yawn" to them. Now Trump has shown their prospects for winning new terms in office in November are just as unimportant to him as a new law to help Americans buy houses.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Housing bill gave Republicans a win. Then Trump showed up. | Opinion
Reporting by Chris Brennan, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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This story was originally published July 11, 2026 at 2:01 AM.