Congress delivered a rare bipartisan win on Tuesday, passing sweeping legislation designed to tackle one of the nation's most pressing economic concerns: housing costs. The House approved the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act by a vote of 358-32, sending it to President Donald Trump, who has signaled his intention to sign it.
The Senate cleared the same bill just a day earlier, 85-5. The overwhelming margins in both chambers underscore how thoroughly frustration with housing affordability has transcended party lines, even as gridlock dominates much of Washington under Trump's second term.
The package takes aim at the problem from multiple angles. It includes grant funding and pilot programs to stimulate new home construction, relaxes certain regulations, and gives local governments tools to speed up housing reviews. A prominent section called "Homes Are For People, Not Corporations" targets what lawmakers see as a root cause of unaffordability: institutional investors bulk-buying single-family homes.
The investor restrictions impose a hard cap on large institutional investors acquiring starter homes. The most significant provision, developed by Senators Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., bars any institutional investor that already owns more than 350 single-family homes from purchasing additional properties. Warnock, whose home state of Georgia has experienced heavy investment buying in the booming Atlanta area, worked closely with Moreno to shape that compromise.
The bill's journey to passage was anything but smooth. Disputes between House and Senate committees stalled the legislation for months until key leaders forged a breakthrough deal last week. Senator Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Representative French Hill, R-Ark., negotiated with Democrats Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Representative Maxine Waters, D-Calif., to hammer out final language acceptable to both parties.
For Republicans controlling both chambers, the victory arrives at a crucial moment. Polling shows the political terrain has shifted against them. Trump's approval rating sits at 37 percent in recent surveys, with his handling of the economy drawing particularly weak marks at 33 percent. Housing costs remain the issue that haunts families most, often ranking as voters' top concern. An NBC News poll found that nearly 80 percent of Americans now believe the "American Dream" is harder to achieve than it was a generation ago.
Democrats faced a delicate calculation: whether to hand Trump a legislative win on the very issue dragging his approval down. Party strategists concluded that the political upside justified cooperation. "It's a significant crackdown on Wall Street landlords that will help working people, and the bipartisan support means the political credit is shared," one Democratic strategist said, requesting anonymity to discuss internal strategy.
Maxine Waters framed the bill as "meaningful progress" while carefully noting it is "not the final destination." She emphasized that Democrats had secured over 50 housing and banking provisions, signaling that they extracted real concessions beyond deregulation.
Scott highlighted the Republican priorities in the package: cutting red tape, boosting supply, and expanding the path to homeownership. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., credited the bill's ability to "maximize" the priorities of both chambers and both parties. "In the end, it's about increasing the supply of housing in this country and making it more affordable," Thune told reporters.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "This is what functional Congress looks like on a kitchen-table issue, and voters desperate for relief will likely remember it come 2026."
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