‘I want this on Donald’s desk by August recess’: Melania Trump gives Congress private deadline to pass her bill

First Lady Melania Trump applauds as she hosts the Inaugural Presidential AI Challenge National Champion Awards Ceremony at the White House on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

First Lady Melania Trump is pursuing her foster care bill largely outside the White House channels and gave Congress a private deadline to pass her bill. The bill ‘Fostering the Future Act’ expands housing, education and workforce help for young people aging out of foster care. Politico reported that the First Lady is operating on her own to make this stint memorable and even gave a private deadline to Congress that she wants this bill on President Donald Trump’s desk by the August recess.Rep Jason Smith told Politico that Melania wanted to host a bipartisan roundtable to push her bill. It was not considered a great idea as Democrats don’t like her husband but the bipartisan roundtable was held and Melania explained to the lawmakers that only 3 per cent of children in foster care earn a college degree going forward.Then a closed-door meeting was held where Melania said: “I want this on Donald’s desk by the August recess.”Melania’s bill passed the House unanimously, but it’s still stuck in the Senate and Melania’s August deadline is coming up fast.Melania Trump is making fewer public appearances and working for causes she believes inTaking a cue from Melania’s push to this foster care bill, Politico observed how the First Lady has evolved from her first stint and is engaging selectively on issues that she cares about personally. And she is not dithering to take a different route than her husband’s. This time, she is mostly working behind the scenes, making fewer public appearances and is not even traveling with her husband.“In addition to the foster care legislation, she worked with lawmakers to pass the Take It Down Act. She and her staff have negotiated directly with Russian and Ukrainian officials on the issue of displaced and abducted children, according to the White House, the Russians and the Ukrainians. In September, she hosted Cabinet officials and tech CEOs, including Google’s Sundar Pichai and IBM’s Arvind Krishna, to promote integrating artificial intelligence into children’s education,” the report noted.“In at least one instance, the first lady pushed a message she cared about even when it seemingly clashed with the White House: Melania Trump called on Congress to invite victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse to testify at a time when the broader Trump team was trying to move on from the scandal,” it said.Melania did not campaign for her husband much in 2024 and is seen rarely traveling with her husband since he has returned to White House.Marc Beckman, senior exclusive adviser to the first lady, said Melania is looking to achieve more than any first lady before in history.