GOP Civil War Erupts On Two Fronts: Luna Freezes The House Floor, Trump Gets "Brother'd" By Cassidy In Senate Over SAVE Act
The Republican Party's long-simmering tensions over election integrity exploded into open warfare on Wednesday, with chaos breaking out simultaneously in the House and Senate - and President Trump caught in the middle of both.
It started, as these things often do, with a procedural knife fight.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and a band of House conservatives declared they would refuse to support any rule votes this week unless Senate Republicans finally moved the SAVE America Act - the proof-of-citizenship and voter ID bill that has passed the House multiple times but remains stuck in the upper chamber. Without a rule, the House can't conduct normal business. Leadership blinked. The scheduled rule vote was pulled. The floor froze.
The House GOP is attempting to move a Senate Bill with NO VOTER ID and NO SAVE AMERICA ACT. I will have to be a NO on rules for this week (and maybe even longer) if they don't stop the games. I am not the only one. Other House Members are frustrated at the games being played. This is a problem. The President agrees that the Senate needs to move Voter ID. Other Frontline Members depend on Voter ID legislation getting passed. Stop catering to a Senate that doesn't do their jobs.
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) June 23, 2026
Limited to suspension votes and with tomorrow already off the table, GOP leaders were left scrambling: send everyone home? Let a rule fail on the floor? Cut a deal? Try again next week? The options were all bad.
And of course, Trump then lit a match... Hours before a planned signing ceremony for the popular bipartisan housing bill (passed 358-32 in the House and 85-5 in the Senate), the president abruptly canceled it on Truth Social, declaring he would not sign the measure "until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency."
The housing bill - a rare bipartisan win on affordability - was suddenly held hostage to a voting bill Democrats have no intention of supporting and that Senate Republicans still can't get to 60 votes.
The Senate Meeting Turns Ugly
While the House was melting down, Trump headed to Capitol Hill for a closed-door meeting with Senate Republicans. It did not go smoothly.
According to multiple senators in the room who spoke to Punchbowl's Andrew Desiderio, Trump arrived in a sour mood and used much of the session to vent. He hammered the SAVE Act, the filibuster, and his decision to kill the housing signing. Nobody pushed back.
Then came the moment that will live in infamy.
Lame-duck Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) - whom Trump had effectively primaried earlier this cycle - came in "guns blazing." At one point he stopped using "Mr. President" altogether and simply called Trump "brother."
The temperature in the room reportedly dropped. Trump, already irritated over Iran war powers votes, was further agitated. One senator later described the entire session to Desiderio as "more of a venting session for the president."
Cassidy, freed from re-election concerns, was apparently done pretending otherwise.
The SAVE America Act: The Prize Everyone's Fighting Over
At the center of the storm sits the SAVE America Act - the bill requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and photo ID at the polls. Supporters call it basic election security. Opponents call it a solution in search of a problem that will disenfranchise legitimate voters.
The House has passed it. The Senate has not. And with the filibuster still in place, it's not clear how it gets to 60 without major concessions or rule changes - neither of which Senate leadership appears eager to deliver.
House conservatives have decided they're done waiting politely. Luna and her allies are using the only leverage they have: the ability to make the House floor a dysfunctional mess.
I stand with @repluna and @potus. The Save America Act must pass.
— Congressman Max Miller (@RepMaxMiller) June 24, 2026
Ilegal foreign voters are electing America-hating communists. Add me to the list, it’s that important. https://t.co/rIwgothPmZ
Trump, frustrated with the Senate's math problem, decided to take a popular bipartisan win off the table until they fix it.
And in the Senate lunch, one of the president's former allies decided the deference phase of the relationship was over.
Where Things Stand
As of mid-afternoon Wednesday:
- The House is in procedural limbo, limited to suspension votes.
- The housing bill signing is canceled.
- Senate Republicans just sat through a venting session from an unhappy president.
- A lame-duck senator called the Commander-in-Chief "brother" to his face.
In short - this is a collision of three different Republican power centers - House hardliners, Senate institutionalists, and a president who wants results now - all using the same bill as a weapon against each other.
Earlier...
President Donald Trump abruptly canceled a planned Capitol Hill signing ceremony for a sweeping bipartisan housing affordability bill Wednesday, saying he would not move forward until Congress passes the SAVE America Act, an elections measure he has elevated as a top legislative priority.
In a Truth Social post shortly before the scheduled event, Trump said the housing news conference and signing were "cancelled" until passage of the SAVE America Act, which he described as a "National Emergency."
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act cleared the Senate 85-5, with Republican leaders insisting the CBDC restriction ride along with one of the most bipartisan bills in years. The House passed the bill Tuesday 358-32, putting the measure on a direct path to President Donald Trump's desk for signature.
And so - Trump's cancellation upended what was expected to be a rare bipartisan victory lap for lawmakers, who had sent Trump the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act after months of negotiations. The bill, one of the most significant federal housing packages in decades, passed the House Tuesday evening by a wide margin after clearing the Senate 85-5 a day earlier.
The housing legislation had drawn support from both parties by targeting the nation's housing affordability crisis from several angles. Its provisions seek to speed up construction, reduce regulatory barriers, streamline environmental reviews, expand support for factory-built and manufactured housing, and help local governments convert vacant commercial buildings into affordable homes.
Just hours before Trump comes to the Capitol for a celebratory bill signing for the housing bill, he says it is of "minor importance" and notes Elizabeth Warren's involvement.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) June 24, 2026
In case you missed it, Trump is pushing for SAVE America Act and to blow up the filibuster -- neither… pic.twitter.com/6HxHFbFk0O
One of the most politically prominent pieces of the bill would limit large institutional investors from purchasing certain existing single-family homes. Supporters argue that such restrictions could help reduce competition for individual buyers in markets where corporate ownership is concentrated, while the final version preserves a carveout for new construction.
The measure also contains a major digital-currency provision: a temporary ban, running through the end of 2030, on the Federal Reserve issuing or circulating a central bank digital currency. The language includes protections for private dollar-denominated digital assets, a provision welcomed by crypto advocates who oppose a government-backed digital dollar.
The bill's language is sweeping: the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any Federal Reserve bank may not issue, create, or circulate a central bank digital currency - directly or through any intermediary - through December 31, 2030.
It explicitly shields private stablecoins, carving out any "open, permissionless, and private" dollar-denominated asset.
The bill's broad coalition had made it a rare point of agreement in a divided Congress. Republicans emphasized deregulation, supply growth and limits on Wall Street homebuying. Democrats pointed to affordability, renter protections and housing access. Lawmakers from both parties had hoped the signing would mark a tangible response to high rents, elevated mortgage costs and a shortage of affordable homes.
Now, the bill in legislative limbo with Trump using the housing package as leverage to force Senate action on election rules. The SAVE America Act has been a priority for Trump and his allies, but it faces strong Democratic opposition and an uncertain path in the Senate.
That said, if Trump continues to withhold his signature - and does nothing, the bill is likely to become law regardless. Under the Constitution, a bill presented to the president becomes law automatically after 10 days if he neither signs nor vetoes it - provided Congress remains in session. With August recess still weeks away and both chambers having passed the measure by margins far exceeding the two-thirds threshold needed to override a veto, the CBDC ban appears headed into law with or without a ceremony.
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
