House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Sunday that he will send the 21st Century ROAD To Housing Act to President Donald Trump on Monday, a move that starts a constitutional clock and could see the bill become law without a presidential signature. The decision follows Trump's cancellation last week of a planned signing ceremony for the legislation, which passed both chambers of Congress with overwhelming bipartisan margins.
Johnson made the announcement on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," telling host Maria Bartiromo that the bill's path forward is clear regardless of the ceremony dispute.
"It's passed by both chambers. I'm sending it to him on Monday, and it will become law."
The move puts Johnson squarely at the center of a high-stakes legislative standoff between a White House focused on election integrity and a Congress that spent nearly a year assembling a major housing reform package. And it raises a question that matters to every American struggling with housing costs: will the president sign a bill his own party helped build, or let it become law without his name on it?
Trump canceled the signing ceremony on June 24, conditioning his participation on passage of the SAVE America Act, a separate bill that would require voters to present photo ID at the ballot box and effectively end mail-in voting. Trump called the SAVE America Act "a National Emergency" and made clear he viewed it as a higher priority than housing reform.
The cancellation caught congressional leaders off guard. The housing bill had already cleared the House 358, 32 and the Senate 85, 5, representing veto-proof majorities in both chambers. A bill that lopsided doesn't come along often. It was the product of almost a year of negotiations among all four congressional corners, the kind of bipartisan achievement that rarely survives Washington's political crosswinds.
But Trump had other plans. He wanted Congress to deliver on election integrity first, and he used the housing bill as leverage.
The problem: Republican leaders have repeatedly indicated the SAVE America Act does not have enough votes to pass. Trump has also said he would like the bill to include prohibitions on transgender athletes competing, an addition that further complicates the vote math. The House has already ground to a halt over internal GOP disputes tied to the SAVE America Act, with holdouts blocking floor action.
Johnson's decision to transmit the housing bill despite Trump's objections reflects the difficult position the Speaker has occupied for months. He has tried to remain loyal to the president's priorities while managing a fractious Republican conference and delivering on promises to voters.
On Sunday, Johnson framed the move not as defiance but as fulfillment of a shared agenda. He told Bartiromo he had met with Trump in the Oval Office to discuss the housing bill "in great detail," and expressed confidence the president understood its importance.
"I certainly want him to take the biggest, boldest marker that he has and do that big Trump signature proudly on that legislation because we're delivering for the people, and that's what he wants to do."
Johnson described the legislation as central to the promises Republicans made to voters. He pointed to its provisions aimed at increasing housing availability, cutting regulations, and bringing down costs, goals that align with the conservative economic agenda.
"This is a big part of that because this will increase the availability, the access to more housing, bring down cost, cut regulations, do the things we know are very important for that market. The president and I talked about that at length. Of course he wants to do those things."
The Speaker has navigated similar pressure points before. He has pushed through major legislation despite open Republican revolts, and his ability to hold the conference together, however tenuously, has kept him in the chair.
Once Johnson transmits the bill to the White House, the Constitution gives the president 10 days to act. If Trump signs, the bill becomes law with his endorsement. If he does nothing, neither signing nor vetoing, it becomes law without his signature. Only an outright veto would stop it, and Congress holds the power to override.
Given the margins, 358, 32 in the House, 85, 5 in the Senate, a veto override would be well within reach. That political reality gives Johnson significant leverage, even if the optics of the standoff are uncomfortable.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Johnson's Sunday remarks.
Trump's own public statements have sent mixed signals. He called the housing bill "so unimportant" and "a yawn" compared to the SAVE America Act, and noted its bipartisan nature with skepticism: "It's very bipartisan, that means the Democrats like it. They're getting things that I wouldn't necessarily agree to."
That kind of framing puts Johnson in a bind. The Speaker has publicly staked his credibility on the prediction that Trump will sign the bill. If Trump lets it become law without a signature, or worse, vetoes it, Johnson's ability to deliver on future legislative promises comes into question.
The 21st Century ROAD To Housing Act aims to increase housing affordability by boosting supply and expanding home ownership. While the full text of the bill's provisions was not detailed in available reporting, the legislation is designed to cut regulations that restrict construction and lower barriers to entry in the housing market.
Industry economists have endorsed the approach. Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, said: "We need more homes built, and legislation that removes construction barriers is exactly what the market needs right now." Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, added: "The sooner this bill becomes law, the sooner builders and homebuyers will benefit from its downstream effects."
For millions of Americans priced out of the housing market, those aren't abstract talking points. They're the reason a bill like this earned support from all but a handful of members in both parties.
Johnson has moved to send the bill forward despite the political risk, betting that the substance of the legislation matters more than the procedural drama surrounding it.
This is not the first time Johnson has found himself navigating between the White House and his own conference. The Speaker has reversed course under pressure before, and his critics within the Republican caucus have not been shy about questioning his leadership.
But on the housing bill, the math is on Johnson's side. A veto-proof majority in both chambers means the legislation will become law one way or another. The only question is whether Trump puts his signature on it, or lets it pass into the books without one.
Fox News reported that Johnson held a press conference after the initial cancellation in which he said he had spoken with Trump for 20 minutes before addressing House Republicans. "He and I've talked about this a lot. He has expressed his priority and preference for the Save America Act," Johnson said at the time, publicly backing Trump's focus on election integrity even as he worked behind the scenes to keep the housing bill on track.
That balancing act, publicly loyal, operationally independent, defines Johnson's speakership. Whether it can hold depends on what happens after Monday.
Johnson said on Sunday that he wants Trump to sign the bill proudly. Trump has said he wants the SAVE America Act first. Newsmax reported that under the Constitution, Trump has 10 days after receiving the bill to act before it becomes law without his signature.
The SAVE America Act, meanwhile, remains stuck. Republican leaders acknowledge it lacks the votes. Trump's demand that it include transgender athlete prohibitions has only narrowed the path further. Linking a popular housing bill to a stalled election-integrity measure was always a gamble, and the clock is now ticking.
Johnson framed his decision in the simplest terms available.
"We made a lot of promises to the voters, and we're fulfilling those every single day of this Congress."
That's the right instinct. Voters sent Republicans to Washington to lower costs and cut red tape, not to hold popular legislation hostage to bills that can't pass. If the housing bill becomes law, the people who built it deserve the credit. And if it becomes law without a signature, that says more about Washington's priorities than about the legislation itself.