Trump blows up the day in Congress...again

Hello readers and welcome back to On Politics. Zach Schermele here, USA TODAY's congressional correspondent. It's Wednesday. It's another crazy day on Capitol Hill. Let's get into it.

Trump tears into housing bill prospects

President Trump abruptly canceled a big signing ceremony today for landmark housing affordability legislation, saying he wants Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act first.

In a social media post, he said he wouldn't approve the housing reform package "until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency."

The housing bill, which passed the Senate and House of Representatives this week, was a significant – and rare – bipartisan victory on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers and experts called it a sweeping "first step" in tackling the nation's housing crunch.

Stalling the bill's enactment will likely enrage elements of both parties. It dramatically raises the stakes of GOP discord over the SAVE America Act ahead of a planned tête-à-tête with Senate Republicans.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, said he’d be “really sad” if Trump vetoed the housing bill because of the SAVE debacle.“You’d see a grown man cry,” he said, referring to himself. 

Read more about how Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune reacted here.

I also talked about all the drama leading into this mess on today's episode of our podcast, The Excerpt. Listen here.

A politics rundown

• President Trump heads to Capitol Hill to meet with Senate Republicans
• Bipartisan housing bill clears Congress as cost of living surges
• Former NYC Mayor Eric Adams' close ally arrested in alleged bribery probe, reports say

Daily photo gallery: Great American State Fair set to kick off, security fencing goes up

A good night for Mamdani

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani expanded his political influence last night by sweeping all three Democratic primaries for Congress, where he had made endorsements against more mainstream liberal contenders.

As my colleague Phillip Bailey reports, the 34-year-old democratic socialist's choices were pitted against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat, also from New York, in what will likely be viewed as a big and successful early test at establishing a new faction within the national party.

Read more from Phillip here.

Senate signals support for ending Iran war

Both chambers of Congress have now signaled support for ending the war in Iran, reflecting lawmakers' escalating unease with the conflict as President Trump struggles to bring it to a close.

Amid several Republican defections and absences, the Senate yesterday fully passed a war powers resolution to end U.S. military hostilities in the war for the first time. The vote was 50-48.

The measure, which was largely symbolic and not binding, passed the House of Representatives weeks ago. It will not go to the president's desk. Read more on why it still matters here.

Zachary Schermele is the congressional correspondent for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.