Can Trump use a 'pocket veto' to block the popular housing bill?
Key takeaways
- Many sources have said that, with a looming summer recess for Congress, one option for him is to exercise a pocket veto to block the housing bill.
- Unless, that is, Congress by their Adjournment prevents its Return, in which case the bill is pocket vetoed and dies without chance of congressional override.
- Many other accounts have raised the same question.
Why this matters: political developments that affect policy direction and public trust.
Spitzer, opinion contributor - 07/01/26 10:00 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Robert J. Spitzer, opinion contributor - 07/01/26 10:00 AM ET Comments: Link copied Getty Images US President Donald Trump speaks to the press on the way to a lunch meeting with Senate Republicans at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on June 24, 2026. President Trump said Wednesday he will refuse to sign a landmark housing bill, passed by Congress with broad bipartisan support, until lawmakers approve legislation that would overhaul American elections and restrict voter registration. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images) President Trump has thrown congressional Republicans into disarray again, this time with his cancellation on June 24 of the signing ceremony for the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Although the bill passed with uncharacteristic overwhelming majorities in both chambers of Congress and was formerly supported by Trump, he stated clearly his motive for the last-minute reversal: to leverage Congress to pass the so-called SAVE America Act, his ill-conceived legislation designed to disenfranchise millions of voters in the guise of combatting voter fraud.
Many sources have said that, with a looming summer recess for Congress, one option for him is to exercise a pocket veto to block the housing bill. In fact, this much misunderstood power is not an option for the president. The Constitution and precedent make clear why.
Once Congress formally sends an enrolled bill to the White House (what the Constitution calls Presentment ), the president then has 10 days, not including Sundays, to sign the bill into law, veto it, or simply do nothing, whereupon the bill would become law without his signature. Unless, that is, Congress by their Adjournment prevents its Return, in which case the bill is pocket vetoed and dies without chance of congressional override. But no little confusion surrounds this last sentence and the prospect of a housing bill pocket veto.