The bill is set to become law automatically at midnight without a presidential signature, but Trump has not explicitly ruled out a veto
President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will not sign the 21st Century Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act, a landmark bipartisan measure that cleared both chambers of Congress by overwhelming margins.
The bill is set to become law automatically at midnight without a presidential signature, but Trump has not explicitly ruled out a veto, leaving the legislation's fate uncertain as the deadline approaches.
Trump issued the announcement via Truth Social, framing his refusal as a protest against the Senate's failure to advance the SAVE America Act, his push for a strict voter ID requirement.
"I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT," the president wrote.
When reporters asked the White House whether Trump might veto the housing measure before midnight, the administration declined to rule it out, referring questions back to the Truth Social post.
Senate Republican leaders have so far resisted Trump's calls to eliminate the filibuster — which currently requires 60 votes to advance most legislation — in order to pass the voter ID bill on a simple majority.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said last month that Republicans do not have the votes to abolish the rule, and the SAVE America Act itself lacks sufficient Republican support to move forward.
A housing bill with deep industry support
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed the Senate 85-5 and the House 358-32, reflecting rare bipartisan agreement on an issue that has shadowed American housing policy for years.
The legislation bundles more than 50 provisions targeting housing supply, construction barriers, large institutional investor activity in the single-family market, and financing access, including a pilot program for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages under $100,000.
The National Association of Realtors reported Thursday that the national median home sales price rose 1.8% year over year in June 2026 to $440,600, an all-time high in data going back to 1999. White House economists estimated earlier this year a shortage of 10 million homes nationally.
A new LendingTree study on starter home affordability published this week found that only 38% of non-homeowner households in the US can afford the average $200,000 starter home, deepening the urgency many in the industry attach to the bill's fate.
What happens next
Under constitutional rules governing presidential action, a bill becomes law automatically after 10 days — excluding Sundays — if the president neither signs nor vetoes it while Congress remains in session.
Speaker Mike Johnson transmitted the enrolled bill to the White House on June 29, setting Friday as the legal deadline.
Critically, Trump retains the authority to issue a veto at any point before midnight, a door his administration has not closed.
If the bill takes effect without a signature, its provisions, including limits on large institutional investor acquisitions of single-family homes and the FHA small-dollar mortgage pilot, would move toward implementation.
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