Senators celebrate bipartisan housing bill becoming law despite Trump's refusal to sign
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle celebrated the landmark bipartisan housing bill becoming law overnight Saturday despite President Donald Trump's refusal to sign it.
The 21st Century Road to Housing Act aims to address the country’s housing shortage by increasing the supply of homes and overall homeownership. The legislation loosens regulations to encourage housing construction and limits Wall Street investors from buying homes that could go to families instead.
It passed in the Senate 85-5 and in the House 358-32, both veto-proof majorities, last month.
Trump said he was refusing to sign the bill because the Senate has not taken up the unrelated Save America Act which would make significant election and voting reforms, including requiring photo ID at polling places and proof of citizenship before a person could register to vote. The voting bill has been flatly rejected by Democrats and would require 60 votes to prevail in the Senate.
In a post on social media Friday, Trump said he would not sign "in PROTEST" over the Senate's inability to pass the voting bill.
Since the president did not sign or veto the housing bill following the 10-day window after Congress presented it to him, it became a law midnight Saturday.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman, Sen. Tim Scott, R, S.C., lead efforts in crafting the housing bill and said in a statement Saturday that the law puts the "American Dream" in closer reach.
"The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act will help more Americans plant roots, build stability, and pass opportunity to the next generation," he said.
Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota praised the bill's bipartisan support.
"A good example of what we can accomplish when we work together," he said in a statement on X Saturday.
While some Republicans did not mention or comment on Trump's refusal to sign the housing bill in their statements, some Democrats said that the president slow-walked delivering these bipartisan cost saving measures to voters by refusing to sign it.
"Donald Trump couldn’t pick up the pen because he just isn’t interested in lowering costs for American families," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said in a statement Saturday.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., called Trump's delays in signing the housing bill "childish," and touted the law's benefits for Americans.
"This legislation is going to lower housing costs, build more homes, and ensure working families can afford to keep a roof over their heads," she said in an X post.
The White House did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.
-ABC News' John Parkinson and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
