President Donald Trump refused to consider a compromise to enact parts of the SAVE America Act hours after he canceled signing a housing bill on Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon.
In response to the Washington Examiner’s question about including provisions of the SAVE America Act in the special legislative process known as reconciliation, Trump was unequivocal. The legislation requires voter ID and proof of citizenship when registering to vote, but it likely doesn’t have enough votes in the Senate to make it onto Trump’s desk.
“No, the SAVE Act should be … there’s no compromise, it’s voter ID, it’s proof of citizenship, and it’s also the mail-in ballots,” Trump said while seated next to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office.
“We want mail-in ballots for the military if they’re away,” he continued. “We want them for people that are ill, or people that are in some form handicapped, or have a hard time, or people even that are on vacation. I’m open to that, but mail-in ballots, you have to vote, because we have a lot of rigged elections.”
The president also pushed for a federal ban on biological men in women’s sports, a key provision of the SAVE America Act that has led Democrats to denounce the bill.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump abruptly canceled the signing of the landmark bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, aimed at lowering housing costs, and claimed he would delay signing it until the passage of the SAVE America Act. The announcement surprised lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who either urged Trump not to veto the legislation or to push for a compromise with a third reconciliation bill. Trump’s announcement came before he held a contentious meeting with Senate Republicans on the hill.
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The Washington Examiner also asked the president whether he would veto the housing legislation if it came to his desk, but Trump left the fate of the bill unclear.
“I said I’m not signing the housing bill. I want to see what happens with [the SAVE America Act],” said Trump. “I made billions of dollars with housing. I know housing better than anybody, maybe anywhere. It’s all about the interest rate. Lower the interest rates, you can have all the housing you want, but you have to understand … I don’t want to hurt people that own houses too.”