A bipartisan housing bill became law Saturday at midnight after President Donald Trump declined to sign it, capping a weeks-long saga over whether the president would veto the measure amid frustrations with Congress over his stalled agenda.

Trump refused to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act — legislation aimed at expanding the nation’s housing stock and lowering costs — in an attempt to pressure Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, despite the housing bill clearing both chambers with overwhelming majorities.

«I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, which is polling at 97% with the Republican Party, and very high with the non-politician Dumocrats,» he declared on Truth Social Friday morning. 

The Trump-backed election measure, which would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections and impose voter ID requirements, has struggled to overcome the Senate’s 60-vote threshold. 

Meanwhile, the House has not passed a version of the bill that includes the president’s proposed crackdown on mail-in voting and banning men from women’s sports.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES DERAIL GOP AGENDA IN SAVE AMERICA ACT SHOWDOWN

Under the U.S. Constitution, Trump had 10 days, not including Sundays, to sign or veto the housing measure after the House formally transmitted the legislation to the White House in late June. The president ultimately chose neither option, allowing the measure to become law without his signature.

Though Trump declined to veto the legislation, he sharply criticized elements of the bill and argued it should not have been a legislative priority in recent weeks.

«It’s so unimportant … compared to the SAVE America Act,» Trump told reporters in the Oval Office in late June. «I think the SAVE America Act is exactly what it says. It’s saving America from crooked elections.»

Trump went on to call the housing bill «a yawn,» adding, «compared to the SAVE America Act, just about everything is a big yawn.»

It would have taken a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override a veto — a margin the House and Senate exceeded when they passed the legislation. However, it remains unclear whether so many Republicans would have defied the president had he vetoed the bill.

Trump also appeared to criticize the bill over a provision restricting Wall Street investors from purchasing single-family homes — a policy he first proposed during his January State of the Union address and later urged Congress to pass. Trump previously argued the investor ban would give individual homebuyers a leg up against private equity firms in the housing market.

«I don’t want to hurt people that own houses, too,» Trump later told reporters, appearing to reference the provision. «These people, for the first time in their lives, they have valuable houses. They’ve become rich. I don’t want to hurt them either. What you want to do is what’s good for everyone, get the interest rates down.»

The law also aims to boost housing supply by streamlining federal environmental reviews, loosening rules around the construction of factory-built homes, and incentivizing local governments to modify their zoning laws to allow more housing, among roughly 60 provisions.

Trump’s souring on the legislation created headaches for Republicans, who touted the bill as an affordability win as voters grapple with high housing costs.

«It’s irresponsible to postpone signing the Housing bill due to the SAVE Act,» Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a retiring lawmaker who lost re-election to a Trump-backed challenger, wrote on social media. «We need to start delivering relief to people for the high cost of housing ASAP!!»

Construction workers stand on the roof of homes under construction at a new housing development on June 24, 2026, in Valencia, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

WARREN TELLS TRUMP TO ‘SIGN THE DAMN BILL’ AS BIPARTISAN HOUSING PACKAGE REMAINS STALLED IN WASHINGTON

Trump abruptly canceled a signing ceremony for the legislation at the U.S. Capitol in June with GOP leaders. The stage had already been set, with at least one senior Republican arriving unaware the president had called off the event shortly before it was scheduled to begin.

The president then declared he would not sign the legislation until Congress passed the SAVE America Act, despite Senate GOP leaders insisting the votes do not exist to advance the measure.

Trump has also expressed frustration with the Republican-controlled Senate for declining to weaken the legislative filibuster, which requires 60 votes to advance most legislation in the upper chamber.

«GET SMART REPUBLICANS, IF YOU DON’T, YOU WON’T BE IN OFFICE FOR LONG!» Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday.

Before Trump came out against the bill, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called it «one of the most significant pieces of housing affordability legislation in American history» and said it included an array of policies «long championed» by Trump.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 15, 2025. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Trump political operative James Blair touted the legislation for including the president’s Wall Street investor ban, which he referred to as a «signature commitment.»

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has argued that Republicans will still promote the landmark housing bill ahead of November.

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«We’ll still celebrate it, but he’s trying to make a point, and I think he’s making it very effectively,» the speaker recently told reporters, referring to Trump. «And the fact that you all ask me every three steps down the hallway illustrates that he has achieved the desired objective, and that is to make SAVE America the number one thing, because if we don’t get that right, everybody’s concerned about what happens next.»

An international manhunt is in its fifth day after the murder of an American woman in Ireland, but Irish police have yet to name a suspect or provide any description of the man they are seeking — a decision drawing sharp criticism from many, including a former FBI agent and an Irish politician.

Jamey Carney, 43, a New York native who moved to Ireland in 2021, was found dead after suffering head injuries and suffocating in her home in the picturesque town of Killarney, County Kerry, late Monday, according to The Irish Times. The idyllic southwestern town is hugely popular among American tourists.

Before Carney’s body was discovered Tuesday, the man Irish police describe as a «person of interest» had already traveled about 200 miles from Killarney to Dublin Airport and boarded a flight to Turkey, according to Irish police, suggesting authorities knew his identity but chose not to disclose it publicly.

Some Irish publications have reported that the person of interest is an asylum seeker originally from Jordan who came to Ireland in 2024 amid an influx of illegal immigrants descending on the island country.

AMERICAN MOTHER MURDERED IN IRISH TOURIST TOWN AS INTERNATIONAL MANHUNT TARGETS ALLEGED ASYLUM SEEKER

Ex-FBI Agent weighs in

«How is the public supposed to help with locating the alleged suspect when Irish authorities won’t even release his name?» former FBI Special Agent Nicole Parker wondered in an interview with Fox News Digital. «Time is of the essence. Every hour or day increases the chance the suspect disappears, destroys evidence or hurts others. Public help is critical. Withholding a photo, name or description for days while the suspect is on the run is counterproductive.»

Parker said that if the roles were reversed and a non-U.S. citizen had been murdered in the United States, authorities would typically release identifying information immediately.

«Law enforcement — local, state and federal, including the FBI and U.S. Marshals — would aggressively release identifying information to the public,» she said. «The public’s help is often what leads to locating fugitives.»

Immigration debate

Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported police said they were not in a position to comment on the person’s age, name or nationality for legal reasons, though authorities did not specify any such legal basis.

A 2015 immigration law protecting the identities of asylum seekers may explain why Irish police have not identified the person of interest, Gript.ie reported. According to the outlet, the law generally prohibits publishing the identities of asylum seekers to protect them from those they claim to be fleeing.

Fox News Digital asked Irish police to identify the person of interest and explain the legal basis for withholding his identity, but they declined to provide any new information, saying only that there were «no additional updates at this time.»

Independent Dublin City Councilor Gavin Pepper, a critic of mass immigration into Ireland, slammed the decision not to publicly identify the person of interest. He said the failure to do so is a serious public safety concern.

«That man had a substantial head start,» Pepper told Fox News Digital. «At the end of the day, it shouldn’t matter what color your skin is. If you commit a heinous crime, your face should be all over every newspaper, every TV station. A manhunt is a manhunt.»

Irish police are treating Carney’s death as a murder.

WATCH: Harry Cole: American mom’s murder highlights Ireland’s immigration issues

HERE’S WHY IRELAND IS AT BOILING POINT OVER MASS IMMIGRATION

Pepper said that had authorities publicly released the person’s identity sooner, law enforcement in the country where he landed could potentially have been waiting for him.

Not everyone agreed with emphasizing the man’s reported immigration status.

Ruth Coppinger, a member of the Irish parliament with the Trotskyist political party People Before Profit, criticized media reports identifying the man as an asylum seeker, accusing some outlets of «stoking the flames of racism,» according to Gript.ie. She argued in the Irish parliament that «the common denominator in violence against women is a man, not a nationality.»

The person of interest

Several news outlets – including the New York Post, The Irish Mirror, Irish Independent and Irish Examiner — identified the 28-year-old person of interest by name. Irish police and the Department of Justice declined to confirm his identity to Fox News Digital.

Carney’s body was discovered by her 13-year-old daughter in an upstairs bedroom of their home just before 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, The Irish Times reported.

Irish police issued alerts to airports, ports, train stations and bus stations within just over an hour of Carney’s body being discovered, the Irish Independent reported. However, the person of interest had already left Ireland.

The search is becoming increasingly difficult as the hours and days pass.

Irish police are now working with Interpol, Europol and Turkish authorities to try to locate the man after he flew to Istanbul. Detectives fear he may already have left Turkey with local assistance and traveled onward to Syria or his native Jordan, according to reports.

Side-by-side Facebook photos of American citizen Jamey Carney, who was found dead at her home in Killarney, County Kerry. Irish police have launched a murder investigation into her death. (Facebook)

An Irish police source also told Fox News Digital they believe locating the man will be difficult because he had already fled the country. Investigators believe he first arrived in the United Kingdom before traveling to Ireland, according to reports.

The killing comes as Ireland grapples with a rise in violence against women. Gript.ie reported that eight women have died in violent circumstances in the country this year, matching the total for all of 2025. According to the outlet’s analysis, only one of the identified or sought suspects in those cases was an Irish national.

Ireland does not record the ethnicity of those who commit crimes.

A New Yorker who settled in Ireland

Carney was originally from Westchester County, just north of New York City. She moved to Ireland in 2021, according to the Irish Independent.

Her social media profiles described her as a «New Yorker in Ireland» and featured photos and videos of her with her daughter and a man she identified as her partner. In one recent post, she referred to them as a «mixed couple.»

Carney’s social media accounts also showed she supported the Free Palestine movement. Her Facebook bio described her as a «New Yorker in Ireland,» included the phrase «Free Palestine,» and read «Fk Ice,» an apparent reference to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Several posts also showed the couple attending pro-Palestinian rallies together.

The Inch Beach in County Kerry, Ireland, is a popular tourist destination on Ireland’s southwest coast, just a short drive from Killarney. (Michael Dorgan)

THOUSANDS MARCH IN DUBLIN AGAINST IRELAND’S MASS MIGRATION POLICIES AS MCGREGOR PURSUES PRESIDENTIAL BID

Posts on the social media accounts of the man named in media reports referred to Carney as «my love» and «my heart.»

His accounts also contain posts from the United Kingdom and Turkey in recent years.

Carney’s LinkedIn profile indicated she worked for a healthcare outsourcing company in Ireland after previously working as an insurance agent and real estate salesperson in the New York metropolitan area.

American citizen Jamey Carney, left, was found dead at her home in Killarney, County Kerry. Irish police have launched a murder investigation into her death. (Jamey Carney/Facebook | iStock)

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Carney’s sister, Devon Bennett, described her as «an insanely caring human being» who «dedicated so much of herself, her energy and her time to fighting for the rights of others,» according to the Irish Independent. Bennett said Carney was especially proud of her «brilliant daughter, Michaela.»

«We grew up in New York, but she spent much of her best years with Michaela in Bergen County, New Jersey,» Bennett told the outlet.

«Their true home, where they both felt they truly belonged, was the beautiful town of Killarney.»

El presidente de la Comisión de Educación del Congreso Nacional, Arnold Burgos, solicitó este viernes la destitución de la maestra señalada de agredir físicamente a una estudiante en el municipio de Morazán, Yoro, al tiempo que anunció que impulsará iniciativas para instalar cámaras de seguridad en los centros educativos públicos con el objetivo de prevenir hechos similares.

El parlamentario manifestó que la bancada del Partido Nacional expresó su indignación tras la difusión del video en el que se observa a la docente presuntamente agrediendo a una alumna dentro del aula de clases, por lo que consideró que la educadora debe ser separada de su cargo mientras concluyen las investigaciones.

Burgos sostuvo que existen mecanismos disciplinarios establecidos para atender situaciones relacionadas con la conducta de los estudiantes, por lo que rechazó cualquier acto de violencia física o verbal por parte del personal docente.

«Hay medidas disciplinarias diferentes a golpear a un estudiante o faltarle al respeto“, expresó el congresista al referirse al incidente que ha generado diversas reacciones en la opinión pública.

El diputado relató que inicialmente desconocían que la maestra ya había sido requerida por las autoridades; sin embargo, posteriormente confirmaron que fue detenida por agentes de la Dirección Policial de Investigaciones (DPI).

Asimismo, explicó que la docente fue trasladada a las instalaciones del Ministerio Público, donde enfrenta una investigación tras ser considerada sospechosa del presunto delito de trato degradante.

«Desconocíamos que a esa hora la maestra ya había sido detenida por parte de las autoridades de la Dirección Policial de Investigaciones y no solamente detenida, sino que fue detenida y trasladada a las instalaciones del Ministerio Público por suponerla responsable del delito de trato degradante“, declaró.

Según Burgos, ahora corresponde a la Secretaría de Educación determinar las sanciones administrativas que procedan, una vez concluya el proceso de investigación.

El legislador señaló que, de acuerdo con las imágenes difundidas en redes sociales, la docente primero habría agredido verbalmente a una estudiante, posteriormente le propinó un golpe en la cabeza y luego también agredió a la alumna que grababa lo ocurrido con un teléfono celular.

A criterio del presidente de la Comisión de Educación, este tipo de comportamientos no deben repetirse dentro del sistema educativo, por lo que insistió en la necesidad de fortalecer los mecanismos de supervisión y prevención en los centros de enseñanza.

En ese sentido, informó que la Comisión de Educación del Congreso Nacional ha recibido varias iniciativas orientadas a instalar cámaras de videovigilancia en las escuelas y colegios públicos del país, como una herramienta para mejorar la seguridad y documentar cualquier incidente que pueda registrarse dentro de los planteles.

«Nosotros lo que buscamos es prevenir y no después reaccionar; eso es lo que vamos a buscar desde el Congreso Nacional“, afirmó el diputado al referirse a las propuestas que actualmente son analizadas.

Burgos explicó que los proyectos ya fueron remitidos a la Secretaría de Educación y a la Secretaría de Finanzas, instituciones que deberán emitir los dictámenes técnicos y presupuestarios correspondientes antes de que puedan avanzar en el proceso legislativo.

Indicó que la implementación de sistemas de videovigilancia requerirá una inversión económica importante, razón por la cual será necesario establecer un mecanismo de financiamiento que permita ejecutar el proyecto de manera gradual en los diferentes centros educativos del país.

El parlamentario consideró que la instalación de cámaras no solo contribuiría a prevenir agresiones entre docentes y estudiantes, sino también otros hechos que puedan poner en riesgo la integridad de la comunidad educativa, fortaleciendo los mecanismos de transparencia y rendición de cuentas dentro del sistema escolar.

Mientras tanto, las autoridades educativas mantienen abierto el proceso administrativo para establecer las acciones que procedan contra la docente involucrada, en tanto el Ministerio Público continúa con las diligencias investigativas relacionadas con el caso.