Utah Sen. Mike Lee voted against advancing a major bipartisan housing bill making its way through Congress, vowing in a post on social media he would not vote in favor until the Department of Homeland Security is reopened and his signature election integrity bill is passed.
Monday, Lee voted against a procedural motion to advance the Housing for the 21st Century Act to a final vote in the Senate, making him one of just six senators to oppose the bipartisan package to modernize federal housing policy and increase affordability. The measure still overcame the procedural threshold in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote.
Still, Lee said he could not support the measure “in good conscience” without making progress on other legislation.
“Democrats have kept the Department of Homeland Security shut down for more than two weeks. We need to fix that,” Lee said in a post on X. “And then move to using the talking filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act.”
When asked if he would extend that opposition to block other bills unless his SAVE America Act gets a vote, Lee told the Deseret News he hasn’t ruled it out.
“It might … depends on what else comes up I suppose,” he said, “but I’m definitely opposing this one.”
Lee, so far, has kept his pressure campaign to pass the SAVE America Act mostly online. But the vote on Monday indicates Lee may become more willing to buck his party on certain pieces of legislation until his signature bill can get a vote.
That strategy mirrors what some conservative Republicans in the House have pushed for in the background. Several House Republicans have threatened to block other legislation until the Senate passes the SAVE America Act, although those threats have not materialized amid talks with the White House.
The biggest obstacle in Lee’s way is simple math. To pass most bills in the Senate, the legislation needs support from at least 60 senators to end debate and overcome the chamber’s strict filibuster rules. However, that would require at least seven Democrats to cross party lines to advance — and the minority party has been adamant not to do so.
Instead, Lee has been pushing for the revival of what’s known as the talking filibuster that would circumvent the 60-vote threshold by requiring opposing senators to remain on the Senate floor and be actively speaking to block a vote.
But there remains a number of Senate Republicans — including Utah’s junior senator, John Curtis — who are skeptical about that strategy, vowing not to support anything that disrupts filibuster rules.
Meanwhile, Lee also said he wouldn’t vote for the housing bill until DHS is reopened, a vote that he has previously told the Deseret News must happen before his SAVE America Act can be considered. The department has been closed since Feb. 14, and negotiations between the White House and Senate Democrats are ongoing.
