Congress Leaves Town for Two Weeks After Trump, Conservatives Blow Up Legislative Agenda

Congress is officially leaving town for a two-week break after President Trump and a group of conservative allies on Capitol Hill blocked this week’s legislative agenda. Mr. Trump and the hardline lawmakers say nothing is going to get done until the president’s voter ID bill passes.This week was meant to mark a real step forward on the affordability issue for the GOP. A major bipartisan housing reform bill, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, was set to be signed by Mr. Trump at the Capitol on Wednesday morning, after which he would sit down with Senate Republicans to discuss the legislative agenda.Mr. Trump decided to play hardball, however, saying in a Truth Social post just about an hour before the bill signing that he would not put his signature to paper. He says he is refusing to sign it, rather than veto it, until the SAVE America Act is passed.Usually, if the president does not sign a piece of legislation, it is vetoed through what is known as a “pocket veto” after 10 days. The bill was not officially sent to the president to be signed, however, meaning that Speaker Mike Johnson can hold the bill at his desk until Mr. Trump is ready to sign it.After Mr. Trump paused the housing bill, a band of conservative House lawmakers upped the ante, telling Mr. Johnson that they would block him from opening the floor for debate on key bills this week. “This is not ‘my blockade,’” the leader of the group advocating for shutting down the House until the SAVE America Act is passed, Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, said in a video posted to X on Thursday. “There are many members of Congress … that are frustrated with the Senate — as the American people are — because they are refusing to pass an 80-20 [favorable] issue that would effectively secure our elections.”“This is the number one most important issue in the country,” Ms. Luna said.In the House, in order to begin debate on pieces of legislation, the chamber must adopt a rule, which essentially outlines parameters for the debate and amendment process. Democrats never aid Mr. Johnson in passing rules because they almost always bar votes on certain amendments. With only a three-seat majority in the House, Mr. Johnson has to rely on almost every one of his GOP colleagues in order to open the floor.Without a rule, it takes a two-thirds majority in the House to pass any bill. In the final vote Thursday until after the July 4 recess, the House passed a single bill aimed at cracking down on those who try to defraud senior citizens. Mr. Johnson had hoped to adopt a rule in order to consider other bills, but the conservatives’ hardline position made that impossible.After the one Thursday vote, Mr. Johnson headed to the White House for a meeting with Mr. Trump. He told reporters that he expected to have a “productive” meeting on getting the legislative agenda back on track.Mr. Trump said months ago that he would not sign any legislation except funding for the Department of Homeland Security until the SAVE America Act is passed. Many brushed off that threat as bluster and were caught off guard when he stuck to his guns on Wednesday. As Mr. Trump wants it written, the SAVE America Act does not have even 50 Senate votes, let alone the 60 needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster. The bill currently includes a provision to require proof of citizenship and a photo ID before voting. Mr. Trump wants to add three new provisions — a severe restriction on mail voting, a ban on transgender surgeries and hormone treatments for minors, and a prohibition on transgender athletes competing in sports leagues designated for the opposite sex. But during the last overnight debate session in the Senate, conservatives put up a bill with the very language that Mr. Trump wants and four Republicans voted against it. Senators Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, Mitch McConnell, and Lisa Murkowski all voted no.Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he would not accept any kind of compromise on the bill that he wants to see become law. “These are 99 [to one] percent issues, and we have to do it,” Mr. Trump said.

Congress Leaves Town for Two Weeks After Trump, Conservatives Blow Up Legislative Agenda

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