'Sign the bill, end the war': Ruben Gallego responds to JD Vance urging Democrats to work together

Vice President J.D. Vance on Tuesday said he "would love it" if Democrats worked with Republicans to bring down housing and gas prices for the American people. While he claimed the opposition was working "purely out of resentment," Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego pointed out that it was Vance's boss, President Donald Trump, who blocked the housing bill and started the Iran War that sent oil prices into a frenzy. 

Speaking to Laura Ingraham on "The Ingraham Angle", Vance slammed what he said were the concerns prioritized by the Democratic Party. He insisted the opposition was working out of resentment and only interested in communism. "Frankly, Laura, I would love it if Democrats were willing, not that they will agree with Republicans all the time, but if they were willing to work with us on lowering housing prices, on lowering gasoline prices, on actually making the lives of American citizens better. We could have some real bipartisan compromise," the vice president said. 

Sharing a clip from his interview on X, the Democratic Senator accepted the request as he wrote: "Deal. Sign the Road to Housing Bill and end this stupid war."

Gallego was referring to the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, which the president abruptly refused to sign into legislation to push the Senate to pass his party's signature SAVE America Act, a Voter ID legislation. After Trump's stand, there has been a bipartisan push for the housing bill that is aimed at lowering house prices for first-time buyers by clearing red tape around construction and limiting Wall Street investors from buying single-family homes in large swathes.

While the bill passed both the House and Senate, with House Speaker Mike Johnson sending the act to Trump's table, the president labeled it “of minor importance” compared to the SAVE America Act, the controversial voting reform bill that Democrats argue will restrict voter rights for millions of eligible Americans. The SAVE Act has been blocked several times as the GOP doesn't have the support to clear the 60-vote mark in the Senate. 

After the House votes were canceled on Wednesday after a Republican rebellion, most members headed home for the holiday weekend, but a group of Democrats stayed behind to make their case for the housing bill. Johnson has assured that the bill will become law sometime next week, with or without the president's signature, but Trump can still choose to veto the law before it happens, as per 12News.

As for gas prices, things look a bit more positive. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks daily fuel prices, the average gas price per gallon was $3.838 per gallon, down from last week's average of $3.918 and well below the mid-May peak of $4.48. Global crude oil prices have been falling almost to the pre-war levels since Trump announced the interim peace agreement and the subsequent reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in mid-June. However, gas prices still remain well above the average of $2.98 per gallon recorded on February 28, when the war began, as per CNBC.