Administration

Trump urges House to pass Senate’s housing bill over conservative opposition

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by Sophie Brams - 05/12/26 7:52 AM ET

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by Sophie Brams - 05/12/26 7:52 AM ET

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President Trump on Monday urged the House to pass a sweeping housing affordability bill that has stalled in the lower chamber amid divisions over certain provisions, including a ban on large institutional investors buying single-family homes.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, aimed at lowering housing costs, overwhelmingly passed the Senate in an 89-10 vote in March but has faced bipartisan opposition in the House.

“Senators Bernie Moreno and Tim Scott have worked to ensure my call becomes a reality, and have a Bill which has passed the Senate with nearly 90 votes,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “I am asking Congress to pass that Bill, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which would ensure that homes are for people, not Corporations.”

If passed, the legislation would approve incentives to build new homes, establish a program to convert abandoned buildings into housing developments and authorize new grants to modernize existing homes, among other provisions.

“By passing the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, Congress will deliver on your agenda and ensure that 2026 is truly the year of affordability,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) wrote Monday on the social platform X, thanking the president for his support.

But hardline conservatives in the House have expressed dissatisfaction with a provision that would temporarily ban the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) until 2030, arguing instead for a permanent ban.

“CBDC’s are bad for everyone,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said in March. “Like it doesn’t matter where you are on the political spectrum. You never want to have the government be able to just shut off your access to financials, et cetera.”

Some Republicans and Democrats are also opposed to a provision that requires large institutional investors of build-to-rent single-family homes to sell that property within seven years.

“When is it constitutional for us as a government to tell a business when they take the risk, they go out, they build something that we’re going to take away your right to do with it, whatever you are legally able to do with it?” Rep. Richard McCormick (R-Ga.) told The Hill in March. “That is unconstitutional. Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness.”

Punchbowl News reported last week that Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, has been negotiating with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the committee’s ranking member, on changes to the measure. However, the pair has yet to reach an agreement on a compromise version.

The White House fully backed the Senate’s package, one of several affordability proposals the administration has unveiled in recent months as part of its economic messaging push ahead of the November midterms.

Trump said during his State of the Union address in February that home ownership was “under attack,” then calling on Congress to codify an executive order that banned Wall Street investors from “buying up in the thousands” single-family homes.

In January, the president also directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy $200 billion of mortgage bonds to lower rates, and he signed a separate order in March that seeks to remove regulatory barriers in construction.

Trump and Republicans are facing mounting pressure over the economy, as the conflict with Iran raises voters’ anxieties about cost-of-living issues and skyrocketing fuel prices.

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