Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) arrived at Statuary Hall expecting to watch the president sign a landmark housing bill and found workers dismantling the stage instead.
President Donald Trump pulled the plug Wednesday morning without warning, posting on Truth Social that the signing was "hereby cancelled" until Congress passes the SAVE America Act. Nobody told the lawmakers who had already shown up.
"I'm just gonna go to meetings in my office," Foxx told MeidasTouch correspondent Scott MacFarlane, who was on the scene.
The housing bill had passed the Senate 85-5 and the House 358-32, veto-proof majorities in both chambers.
Republicans had counted on it as a rare concrete win heading into November's midterms, with housing costs ranking among voters' top concerns.
Trump torched it anyway.
The SAVE America Act would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to cast a ballot. Senate Republicans say it cannot pass. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) called the push "a distraction" that is "not going to happen in this Congress," CBS News reported.
Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) and Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) showed up at the abandoned signing desk to record dunking videos. One anonymous GOP House member told NBC News Trump was "digging a hole."
Then, staffers stripped the presidential seals from the podium.
In a live MeidasTouch report from Statuary Hall, MacFarlane offered a dry send-off: "There will be no ceremony, but there is the grandeur of Statuary Hall for you and me to enjoy."