President Donald Trump is backing down on his holdout on signing a popular, bipartisan housing bill that he’s held hostage for the last 24 hours after a “lengthy” meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), according to a new report.
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Johnson went to the White House on Thursday to talk to Trump about his abrupt decision to cancel the signing ceremony for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bill that passed through Congress with enough support to override a presidential veto, if Trump chooses to go that route. The bill seeks to address one of the main concerns on Americans’ minds as the midterm elections approach — the cost of housing.
Chad Pergram, the chief congressional correspondent for Fox News, spoke with Johnson after the meeting, which Johnson described as “productive.” Johnson also told Pergram that the president just wanted to ensure Republicans “stop any blockade in the House.”
“Congress has work to do, and that’s what we’re going to do. And so we’ll be moving forward on all of that. We’re transmitting the housing bill to the White House,” Johnson said, according to the report.
Trump’s decision to back down came as MAGA Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) was disrupting proceedings in the House of Representatives. Luna and her allies have threatened to vote down any measures this week until the Senate passes Trump’s SAVE America Act, a deeply unpopular bill that would fundamentally rewrite the way elections are conducted, Politico reported.
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In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump called on Luna and other Republican holdouts to drop their blockage.
“House Republicans should unify, and stop voting down ‘Rules’ or, threatening to do so,” Trump wrote. “Giving power to the Radical Left Dumocrats in the House to control what goes up for a Vote will make our outcomes worse, not better. No more grandstanding, please! They are the Dumocrats, and we can’t let them WIN!”
Johnson seemed optimistic that Trump would sign the ROAD Act early next week.
“We got to be able to move forward on legislation and continue the America First agenda,” Johnson said, according to Pergram’s report. “And so we’re happy to do that. It’s another day at the office, you know, this is a process in an era with small margins, but we’ll get the job done.”
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