The Senate overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan housing bill Monday that tackles one of the sharpest consumer pain points heading into the midterm elections: the cost of buying a home. The 21st Century Road to Housing Act passed 85-5 and now moves to the House, where it faces an uncertain path despite its commanding Senate majority.
The legislation attacks housing scarcity from multiple angles. It streamlines federal permitting rules to accelerate new construction, authorizes pilot programs for home improvement grants and affordable housing planning, and expands access to manufactured homes. A controversial provision bars private equity firms from purchasing single-family homes if they already own 350 or more properties, a crackdown Trump has championed.
The shortage of new homes has become the primary culprit driving up prices. For months, the House and Senate had produced competing bills, creating a rare legislative standoff. Monday's vote represents a compromise that draws from both versions and includes language that secured backing from fiscal conservatives and housing advocates alike.
Tim Scott, the Republican chairman of the Senate banking committee, praised the measure as the fruit of years of effort. "This bill is the result of years of work to lower costs, expand housing supply, cut red tape, protect taxpayers, and help more Americans achieve the dream of home ownership," he said.
Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic ranking member of the committee, framed it as historic intervention against investor consolidation. "The historic 21st Century Road to Housing Act will address our nation's housing crisis by boosting housing supply, bringing down costs, and for the first time ever stopping private equity from buying up homes," she said.
Not everyone treats the bill as final. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House financial services committee, called it "an important step forward, not the final destination." She signaled her caucus would keep pushing for stronger affordable housing protections even if the bill becomes law.
The timing is critical. Both parties view housing affordability as a winning midterm issue with voters anxious about prices and rents. Passing legislation now allows each side to claim credit for action on a kitchen-table concern as November campaigns heat up.
The bill's progress also offers a rare moment of legislative order for Senate Republicans, who have been managing fresh demands from Trump that have scrambled their agenda. Last week, the former president derailed the confirmation of his own intelligence director nominee and coupled demands for a surveillance law reauthorization with an unrelated voting restrictions bill Democrats oppose.
Author James Rodriguez: "The Senate showed it can still move serious bills through divided government, but the real test comes in the House where the coalition may fracture."
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