WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers from Maryland vowed to continue focusing on affordable housing initiatives for state residents and beyond at a Capitol press conference Thursday, taking stabs at President Donald Trump’s refusal to sign a landmark bipartisan bill.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, along with Democratic Reps. April McClain Delaney, Johnny Olszewski, Kweisi Mfume, Sarah Elfreth and Steny Hoyer, took questions on a wide range of topics following their afternoon meeting with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, though housing was at the center of the discussion.
Rep. Andy Harris, the lone Republican at the event, did not speak.
Van Hollen on Thursday noted the state program, but reiterated the federal legislation would be key to addressing Maryland’s housing woes. He highlighted the bill’s provisions meant to increase the supply of affordable homes, limit hedge funds buying single-family homes and help veterans buy property.
“I do know that the governor has a major affordable housing initiative, and I’ve discussed that with him many times,” Van Hollen said. “But Congress had an opportunity, and still has an opportunity, to do its part.”
Trump on Wednesday abruptly canceled the signing ceremony for the housing overhaul that passed with broad margins in the Senate Monday and the House Tuesday.
Shortly before he was set to sign the bill, Trump first discredited the measure, then announced his refusal to sign it altogether, saying that he first wanted Congress to adopt his hallmark noncitizen voting act.
“Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday, much to the surprise of many lawmakers who had been awaiting his signature.
‘Release this bill’
Van Hollen on Thursday also called on U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to send the measure straight to the White House, where Trump can decide to either veto, sign or not sign the bill, and allow Congress to “go home.”
If the president does not sign or veto a bill within 10 days of Congress sending it to their desk, it automatically becomes law. But Johnson, who was responsible for sending the enrolled housing bill to Trump because it originated in the House, had not sent it to the White House before a meeting there Thursday.
“The speaker of the House needs to release this bill that has been passed by his body and by the United States Senate, and we need to do it now,” Van Hollen said during the press conference.
“People are suffering because of the lack of affordable housing,” he added. “This isn’t going to solve the whole thing, but it is one important step in the right direction.”
Shortly after Van Hollen’s comment, media outlets reported that Johnson returned from his White House meeting saying he would send the housing bill to Trump.
Maryland housing
Maryland is facing a severe housing crisis as residents grapple with a nearly 100,000-unit shortage, rising costs and issues of unequal access.
Moore and his administration have responded by proposing to carve out millions for multiple housing-focused initiatives as part of their proposed fiscal 2027 budget.
Elfreth said Thursday lawmakers should work to expand housing supply to make it easier for younger generations to buy their first homes.
She said the bipartisan housing bill could help solve that issue, which she called a symptom of “the greatest issue facing Americans today, which is affordability.”
But instead of signing the bill, she said, “the president is currently holding it hostage.”
