Politics and views in the United States

Some House Republicans say they’re frustrated a major housing bill is being blocked to pass the SAVE America Act. DACA recipients are in legal limbo and Michigan election officials celebrate recent court rulings.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

We put a lot of good work into that, and there are things in that bill that were put in on the Senate side because that's what they needed to pass it that I was not enamored with.

But I still supported the bill because of the greater good that you had there.

Montana Republican Congressman Troy Downing says he's frustrated President Donald Trump is holding up the 21st Century Road to Housing Act.

Trump says he'll only sign it if the Senate passes the Save America Act, although the bipartisan housing bill may become a law without his signature.

It would loosen regulations on manufactured homes and on new home construction, help communities convert vacant properties, and limit how many houses big investors can buy.

The Save Act has been a pet Trump project to require strict proof of citizenship to vote or register and tightly limit mail-in voting.

It doesn't have the votes to pass in the Senate, but Trump and some hard right House Republicans are obstructing other action to try to force it through.

Paul shows some support for the idea of voter ideas, but concerns about the bill broadly.

David Becker with the Center for Election Innovation and Research calls it a solution in search of a problem.

He says the White House knows non-citizen voting all but never happens.

President Trump's own Department of Homeland Security reviewed 60 million voter records from states that are generally aligned with him.

And they found that 99.97% of those voter records were documentable citizens that DHS had records of.

Becker says the rest were honest mistakes and paperwork errors, but the White House is asking the Supreme Court to rule on a pending case in favor of stricter national voting rules and limits to mail-in ballots.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program went into effect 14 years ago, but the Associated Press reports renewal wait times are now four times higher than they were a year ago.

Half a million dreamers have grown up here, and many have citizen families.

Priya Pandey with the Center for Law and Social Policy says the long newly created delays are leaving DACA recipients, many with critical jobs in health care and education, without work permits and income.

Many DACA recipients have never had a lapse in their status before since they first applied to DACA, many of whom were children and teenagers at the time, and they're now living in fear they can't work and they're waiting for their renewals and silence.

Advocates are suing to force the administration to release case records.

Immigration officials say the delays are needed the proper vetting.

Michigan election officials say federal court rulings are clearing up election rule confusion and reaffirming voter privacy.

Saying it needed to make sure non-citizens aren't on the voter rolls, the White House requested unredacted registration data.

Michigan, like several other states, gave the Justice Department the public versions of the registration list but refused to turn over the unredacted versions, which includes partial social security numbers and other personal data.

Deputy Secretary of State Algogo Ederbier says in the suits that followed, the courts have upheld voter privacy.

The first ruling from the Sixth Circuit made it clear the federal government does not have a right to have access to voters' private voter data.

I'm Edwin J. Viera for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

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