The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed a significant housing bill aimed at addressing the nation’s shortage of affordable homes.
The House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill, the Housing for the 21st Century Act, to increase the supply of affordable housing.
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This development sets the stage for some political negotiations ahead.
Previously, in October, the Senate passed its own bipartisan legislation as part of a broader package, but lawmakers removed it from the final bill.
Now, the Senate is considering a stand-alone bill called the ROAD to Housing Act.
Ultimately, both chambers must agree on a final version of a housing bill that will also receive support from President Donald Trump.
“Republicans are taking the lead on addressing increased housing costs and lack of quality supply that impact nearly every American family. House Republicans have been working hard on a strong bipartisan package to lower the cost of housing for working families and put more American families into homes. We are grateful for the President’s support, and the House and Senate remained closely aligned on getting this legislation to the President’s desk in short order,” House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X.
The legislation addresses a major concern for Americans.
According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in late January, over 62% of adults are “very” concerned about the cost of housing, which ranks just behind the cost of healthcare (71%) and the price of food and consumer goods (66%).
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However, the snag is that the House version of the bill made changes that may not pass in the Senate.
Last week, the House released new legislative text that would reduce the Senate bill’s prohibition on institutional investors’ ownership of single-family residences, although President Donald Trump had endorsed that language.
If the House approves the changes on the floor, the Senate must approve the measure before it goes to Trump’s desk.
Senate Republicans expressed concern that it could ultimately impede the passage of the largest housing measure in decades, which Senators were eager to highlight as a significant achievement during the fall election campaign.
Senate Banking Committee member John Kennedy, R-La., said that there is “an enormous amount of frustration” among his Senate colleagues and “astonishment” that the House did not take action on “a bill, which could lower housing costs in the face of an approaching election, where the cost of living is the biggest issue” for several weeks.
Kennedy said a small group of House Republicans has “raised hell” over the bill but for weeks did little to actually move it, delaying a top legislative priority.
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Senate Republicans expressed concern that the House may eliminate their top-priority legislation by making minor modifications just months before the November election.
They expressed concern that Senate Democrats may now abandon the legislation, which was initially approved by the upper chamber with a vote of 89-10, thereby depriving the Republican Party of a significant policy victory before the fall campaign.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, accused House Republicans of attempting to sabotage the legislation by attempting to reduce restrictions on institutional investors last Thursday.
Warren warned that changing the restriction on institutional investors “kills the bill.”
“It is an attempt to kill the bill. Changing a provision from what Donald Trump has specifically asked for and the language he has specifically endorsed and that has passed the Senate 89-10 is nothing more than an attempt to kill the housing bill overall,” she said.
For weeks, Senate and House Republican leaders have been embroiled in a dispute over how to address the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown.
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Senate Democrats’ refusal to provide funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol without enacting reforms precipitated the shutdown.
Just two weeks after Senate and House GOP leaders resolved their disagreement regarding a measure that would finance the majority of DHS, the two are now at odds regarding the housing affordability bill.
In March, Senate GOP leaders celebrated the passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act as a significant economic victory.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) described the legislation as a reform that would “unleash private-sector investment in more affordable homes” by reducing housing costs and increasing the supply of housing.
During a lunch meeting last week, Republican senators pressed House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., regarding the Senate bill’s delay in being moved, according to lawmakers who were present.
“It feels like it’s at a stalemate right now. We just don’t want a stalemate on it,” said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who said the Senate bill was largely based on legislation the House passed in February—the Housing for the 21st Century Act.
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