Trump Sabotages Trump Agenda

Pod Save America

In this episode of *Pod Save America*, the hosts dissect Donald Trump's decision to delay signing a bipartisan housing affordability bill until Congress passes the politically divisive Save Act, a voting restriction measure that has repeatedly failed in the Senate. They highlight how Trump’s actions are seen as a strategic political move to advance unpopular legislation, potentially harming his ba

Key takeaways

• Trump is using the housing bill as leverage to push the Save Act, which lacks Senate support and is widely seen as a voter suppression tool.
• The Save Act would require voters to present passports or birth certificates to register, disproportionately affecting lower-income Americans and those without such documents—core members of Trump’s base.
• Despite the Save Act’s unpopularity, Trump continues to demand its passage, creating legislative gridlock and risking government funding deadlines.

Transcript preview

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Right now, our listeners will get 50% off a new system when you sign up for professional monitoring, and your first month is free. Just visit Simply Safe. That's half off at Simply Safe. There is no safe, like Simply Safe. We'll talk about why and why the President is fighting again with Republicans in Congress. We'll also talk about Zoran Mamdani's House candidates going three for three in New York's primaries on Tuesday and why that's causing some Democrats to panic and Republicans to smile. We'll do a quick check in on JD Vance's charm offensive and whether it's winning over his wife and then Gina Inohosa, the Democrat running to be governor of Texas stops by to talk about her race against Greg Abbott and why she might become Texas's first Democratic governor in nearly 40 years. years. Before we start, please consider subscribing to Friends of the Pod if you haven't already. You get ad-free episodes of this pod and all your favorite crooked pods, plus you get subscriber only shows like Polar coaster with the one and only Dan Fyfer and I hear you guys are back at it. You did another Polar coaster this week, right? We did. It came out this week. We talked a little bit about the New York races. You and I are also going to talk about the politics of abortion four years after Dobbs. Excellent. Excellent. Everyone, everyone check that out. You can get that out. You can get it if you can get our extra episode. You can get our extra episode. You can of America only friends, you get lots of excellent sub-stack newsletters and you get to be feeling good about supporting a proudly independent pro-democracy media company so check it out, crooked.com slash friends. All right let's get to the news. Donald Trump made some real progress this week trying to sabotage his Republican majority in Congress. Minutes before he was scheduled to appear at a signing ceremony for a landmark housing affordability bill that passed with huge and that he won't be signing the housing legislation until Congress passes the Save Act, which is the bill that would require all Americans to show passports or birth certificates in order to register to vote, and has failed to pass in the Senate five times now. The housing bill would reduce barriers to building new homes and limit the ability of big investors to buy up single-family homes, ideally lowering the price of housing down the road. road, but alas, Trump doesn't want to give anyone the impression that he and his party are focused for even a second on affordability. So no housing bill this week. Trump elaborated on his thinking in an Oval Office appearance a little later in the day. Let's listen. Basically, it's the Save America Act. Everybody wants it. Everybody is it, including Democrats. I said it around sorry, the housing bill. I want to see what happens. Look, the housing bill is... 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 you have to understand I don't want to have I don't want to hurt people that own houses too affordability affordability we're doing great the democrats gave us a tremendous affordability problem and we're reducing prices alone people who already own homes. Take it for me, successful slumlord on how to deal with housing prices. So considering that the housing bill will become law in 10 days, even without Trump's signature, and that if he does decide to veto it, Congress has the numbers to override a veto, what was Trump thinking when he decided to do this? What's the, what's going on here, Dan? You know, there's when this debate over the years, whether Trump is crazy, you're crazy like a fox. This is just crazy. Like just put yourself in the position of Republicans, right? You're a vulnerable Republican, you're like a Susan Collins or a Dan Sullivan or you're one of these Republicans like Mike Lawler in a purple district. You wake up on Wednesday morning. Here's what your day looks like. Democrats in the middle of a giant fight because we've elected some socialists in New York City that you're about to have a signing housing prices, it'd be a real actual tangible accomplishment. You could take the voters to say, like I'm trying to do something to deal with your cost of living crisis. And instead of that, Donald Trump just, minutes beforehand, since I'm an insane truth, demand, cancer in the signing ceremony, stopping on both the Democrats bad message, the Republicans good message, because he has a near fatal attraction to a bill that no one likes, and if it were to pass, would make it harder for Republicans and win elections. It is wild and that he just keeps first of all let's just talk about this the Save America Act which he is called it it was the Save Act then he changed it to the Save America Act it's also supposed to like ban mail and voting nationwide I think that's part of it too or that's like one of the add-ons that he that he included himself so I don't know why he's so I mean I know why because he thinks that like it's going to help them rig the elections and win But it is wild to me that no one has told him that his political advisors have told him that actually this bill would probably hurt Republicans because it would make it harder for the lower income Americans much of whom many of whom vote for Donald Trump and wrote for Republicans now to register to vote because not everyone has their passport lying around not everyone has their birth certificate lying around. Republicans run around saying that this is only about like showing your license and showing some form of ID and isn't that easy to do and that's actually what the bill does. The bill is much more comp makes the bill makes voting and registering to vote much more complicated than that. I mean it would end under current form basically end online voter registration and automatic voter registration. We've talked to this before not that many Americans have a majority of Americans do not have passports, the ones who don't have passports are just unfortunately working class and didn't go to college, which has been the core of the Trump base. like I just so there's a bunch of different things going on here it can't pass right they tried several times it cannot pass there it doesn't have the there aren't 60 votes obviously and there aren't 50 votes to eliminate the filibuster and then even if it were to pass it would be bad for Republicans and at no point in these various junctures does Trump seem to understate like it's just like it's true it's delusional the whole thing is delusional and it seems it seems of this seems genuine. Maybe it's because it's something he wants that he can't get. Yeah. That's what bothers him because he likes up until this point with this Republican caucus he's been with the exception of the Epstein files what he has wanted he has got. You want to confirm a bunch of fucking dunderheads to be in charge of the military and health and human services? We'll do that. You want to us to stand idly by while we prosecute people? We'll do that. But here's the thing he wants and he cannot have and it seems to be driving him even more that all these things he wants to do with voting in the election he is being told or has been also told by the courts that he can't do via executive order but you can tell that if he doesn't get the Save Act passed he's still going to try to do a lot of this shit around the election which should alarm everyone of course. On the housing bill though like the thing is going to become law. In fact right before we started recording Mike Johnson said that they will be transmitted the legislation to Trump. So I assume, although I shouldn't assume, but seems like he might just sign it after all. But even if he doesn't, it becomes law, like great, it's good legislation. His opportunity to take credit for it is sort of gone now. And it's not like people are going to feel the effects of this housing bill, certainly not by the midterms, maybe not for a couple years because really it's just sort of reducing barriers to building more affordable housing and sort of changing some of is rather federal government gives money to states and now it's going to be based on whether they've actually produced more housing and built more housing. So they can still take credit for it but I don't think Trump's going to be taking credit for it. But even then so when you like we should we'll get into this but as we know a bill that does not actually impact people's lives has limited political impact but the moment when people pay attention is the signing ceremony. Thursday is the 4th of July weekend. We seem like a bad time to get attention for your bill. Well, also, he, apparently the Wall Street Journal has him saying, Trump saying to someone, one of his advisors, at my rallies, no one cares about the housing bill at my rallies, but when I say, save America, then they can't sit down. And then apparently, Punchball has four sources saying that Trump said to Mike Johnson directly, no one gives a shit. about housing. Yes, I remember he said that he said that a few months ago. Like literally like affordability is the top issue and then when you dive into affordability like sometimes it's groceries and gas sometimes it's housing but housing is I think is like one of the maybe the top two or three concerns of most American voters and particularly younger voters like this shows up in focus groups it shows it at like yes is it true that people are not cheering for the 21st century road to housing act of course would it would it be helpful Republicans and Democratic incumbents to go to voters and say here is a thing I a bipartisan accomplishment I had that is addressing your concern even if you're not feeling it absolutely and Trump is just making that messier for Republicans because he can't he's having it some sort of insane temper tantrum over a bill that can't pass after cancelling the bill signing Trump did attend his previously scheduled lunch with Senate Republicans which went about as well as you can imagine given the circumstances according to Senator John Kennedy, Trump was, quote, mad as a murder hornet and berated Republicans for not supporting him on an Iran vote, which then led to a shouting match with Bill Cassidy, who Trump recently drove from office. CNN reports that Trump told Cassidy to sit down. Cassidy refused and raised his voice. Trump called him a lunatic. Cassidy then referred to Trump as brother, and Trump told him he wasn't his brother. eventually sat down. John Kennedy later said that the meeting was a success because, quote, no one got stabbed. Which is an excellent bar to set. Trump also apparently isn't done trying to force Republicans to eat shit on Iran. The administration just asked Congress for 88 billion dollars in funding, which would mostly help pay for the war. Dan. Well before we get to the war funding in this meeting in the Punch Bowl reporting on it and Punch Bowl is generally it's like a full live texting of these sorts of things. It seems like no one pushed back on Trump on the Save Act even though every Republican senator with the possible exception of Mike Lee and maybe Rick Scott know it can't pass. None of them would say it to Trump's face which is why they're in this mess to begin with which is just like a pure sign of weakness and failure from John Thune. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like you haven't. You can't pass anything. The House, it's why we should mention. Trump's got everyone so jend up on this that Anna Polina Luna has stopped, will not allow anything to pass on the House floor until the Senate passes the Save Act, which is something that doesn't make a lot of constitutional sense. I could talk about a bank shot. Yeah. So it's like they can't pass the rule, they can't pass anything. They have to go home on Friday because they can't do anything. And she's demanding that they attach the Save Act to either the Fais authorization bill, which the Senate will then take out in both those cases. But so the whole thing is you have, Trump has got everyone up about this. He, no one will, but no one will say to his face why this can't work. It is one thing for his like terrible, slavish, obsequious advisors and I'd say it, but here are members of Congress, senators who are not up for re-election this year. Maybe some of them are not up for re-election ever again, who are incapable of mustering the courage to say to one man a one man a And it's like they could have even talked beforehand and said all right I'm gonna bring it up but back me up if I do yeah the strength in numbers still nothing so like Bill Cassidy I guess got up and yelled at him about the Iran war powers vote yeah and then changes vote and then changes vote because because the White House afterwards like gave him a briefing that he wanted and then he felt sad that he raised his voice I'm like the guy cost you your job you're not gonna be a senator anymore because of the man for for I guess voting for impeachment the second time apparently Trump in the meeting too was like all the people that voted for my impeachment voted to convict me are gone now and then like he looked over at Lisa Murkowski who's just like sitting there in the corner he's like except her unbelievable does Susan Collins now for that? Oh interesting did she vote for the second imp but she had to have voted for the second impeachment Maybe in look in fairness we have barely covered the main Senate race this year so we probably maybe Susan Collins got smart and just didn't go to the lunch. She probably didn't go to the lunch. Like if I were Susan Collins I would stay clear of any anywhere where Donald Trump was like that would just be that's got to be a base like a campaign 101 kind of thing. So here's the thing now with this Trump and the GOP Congress I'm wondering like how much all this matters because not many actual work days between now and the midterms they're gonna go home for the 4th of July break they're gonna come back there's gonna be August recess then they come back then everyone's campaigning and then it's November before before before before before before election day I see it it seems hard to believe that this 88 billion dollar war funding supplemental is going to pass even though they thought they were really clever and included some Ebola funding in it to try to like get democrats to vote it doesn't seem like anything else that doesn't seem like the Save America Act is going to pass but then the question is like does any of that matter what do you like in terms of the politics of the midterms? It's an interesting question because I don't think there's any sort of bill even this housing bill Republicans could pass that would dramatically change the political dynamics here. Look I think if you're an incumbent member of Congress and you can pass something that addresses something that addresses people's number one concern and you can talk about that on the trail or in an ad that's better than nothing and so this is an opportunity cost for the way Trump stepped on the housing bill. What I think probably matters here is they're going to need to pass this supplemental which is politically toxic you know in that CVS poll 69% that people think the war hasn't been worth the cost we haven't even paid the 88 billion dollars yet so when you start paying the 88 billion numbers is gonna get worse and so they need and it'll need and it'll be on it'll be on it'll be on it'll be on it'll be on And in our old world we used to be like, well, Susan Collins doesn't have to vote for it, and so she'll be fine. But now you got a bunch of other Republican senators. You have Dan Sullivan, you have John Houston. You got a bunch of people who are going to have to probably cast a vote here. And that's going to be an unpopular. You're going to need everyone to do it. You're going to probably get Federman I guess. So maybe you'll probably get Federman. You'll probably get It's looming. We got a loomer. We're already looming. It's only June. Yeah, it's September 30th. There's a government funding deadline. So you got that. You got this war funding supplemental Nothing that anyone wants to pass that's for sure If I was Donald Trump and I cared passionately about election integrity One thing I would do is demand that I would suggest that I wouldn't sign the government funding bill unless they pass the Save Act I'm just an idea. I'm sure does it make it to his ears or a white board in the White House for sure. No, I think and the other challenge here is I think they thought that this 88 billion dollar war funding supplemental would like they waited until after they thought the war was over and then so they could sell it as like oh this is just backfilling you know like now we just it's for future conflicts and now our military is depleted and we need and what are you gonna do now you know except the war doesn't seem to be over there was another tanker that was a tanker that was a tanker that was a tanker that was a attack. you know. you know. by an Iranian drone today. It does not seem like the traffic has increased through the straight, but it is not anywhere near back to normal levels. I believe like the Chevron is saying the gas prices will be elevated for a while. Trump's flipping out about that. Now he's promising to go after a price gouging gas companies are open like a DOJ investigation, which as we know from the Biden administration works so well. We tried that in the Obama years too. And so he's gonna have to deal with that gas prices are gonna be still high and so when so that's gonna make the 88 billion dollars look even worse to voters I think yeah I mean it's it's terrible honestly it's probably would have been better to do it when the war was going on so you can make it be about protecting the troops and instead it's just it's like here's the bill has come do for this unfund thing that no one wanted and everyone hated it we do have money for ballrooms and algae the world algae we have to we're still better for the world algae it really does make you think like when these Republicans hit the trail in the fall like they don't have much to say except that Democrats are as our next topic Democrats are all crazy socialists like I don't know what else they can say about themselves and what they've done in Congress I don't really imagine anyone talking about this housing bill because like you said if the housing bill hasn't really had any effect on housing prices and it's not going to work and it's going to be pretty pitiful and it is like leading with your chin but they will talk about the tax provisions in the big beautiful bill. 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