House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., officially transmitted a landmark housing reform bill to the White House on Monday, starting a 10-day clock for President Donald Trump to either sign or veto it.
Johnson sent the housing package to the president on Monday afternoon, a source familiar confirmed to the Deseret News, less than one week after the president was initially scheduled to enact the landmark legislation into law. Trump abruptly canceled that signing ceremony just hours before, vowing not to sign any piece of legislation until the SAVE America Act is sent to his desk.
It’s not yet clear how quickly Trump will enact the legislation, or if he will at all. The president has the choice to either sign the bill or veto it once he receives it.
If he does not take either action within 10 days, excluding Sundays, the bill automatically becomes law. That gives Trump a rough deadline of July 10.
Trump has not publicly committed one way or the other on whether he will sign or veto the bill. When asked what he would do with the bill on Monday, the president said: “I don’t know.”
“It’s so unimportant compared to the SAVE America Act,” Trump said. “When I look at the bill, it’s a bill. When I look at the SAVE America Act, it’s about saving America.”
If the package is vetoed, the president sends the bill back to Congress where lawmakers could overrule his opposition. That would require a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate to be successful.
The housing reform package passed Congress earlier this month with overwhelming bipartisan support, making it possible they could override a potential veto.
Members of both parties negotiated the bipartisan package for months, and lawmakers in both parties had hoped to use the bill for campaign fodder heading into the midterm elections. The bill aims to increase supply and lower costs for homebuyers, playing into both parties’ campaign messaging of affordability.
But Trump has remained adamant he doesn’t want to sign any legislation without the SAVE America Act, Republicans’ sweeping election reform bill, being passed. The bill is currently stalled in the Senate, where it does not have enough support to overcome the filibuster.
Despite the lingering uncertainty, some Republicans expressed optimism that either Trump would sign the deal, or that it would take effect without his signature.
“I mean, the president said he’s not signing it, but it still can go into law,” Utah Sen. John Curtis told the Deseret News last week. “He hasn’t said what he’s going to do, so let’s find out what he’s going to do.”