** 3/12/26 - Can the Housing Bill Survive Trump’s Sudden Indifference?........................
Buzz Sawyer
"Speaker Mike Johnson informed House GOP leaders this week that the president told him “no one gives a [bleep] about housing” — a message intended to convey that Trump has made the SAVE America Act his top legislative priority instead. And all of this is far in the background of the Iran war, which is dominating everything in Washington.
Without clear marching orders from Trump, Republicans are descending into a pitched bicameral standoff. Rank-and-file House Republicans and their leaders are threatening to force a formal negotiation, potentially unraveling the carefully crafted Senate package.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told us he’d spoken to House colleagues on Wednesday about potential tweaks to the Senate’s housing bill. But the Louisiana Republican also warned that if the House rips the bill apart, Congress’ chance to pass a housing bill this year will be over."
Can the Housing Bill Survive Trump’s Sudden Indifference?
It’s very much a red-letter day in Washington when bipartisan legislation on any significant topic can get through the choke point of the U.S. Senate. When it’s bipartisan legislation on a big-time “affordability” issue like housing, there should be celebratory parades. And leading the parade should be President Donald Trump, whose one big idea on housing policy, banning purchases of residential real estate by institutional investors, was nestled into the Senate bill, thereby securing his backing. The bill (dubbed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act), which was miraculously co-sponsored by Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren, was approved today by a 89-10 vote.
This bill is a new, improved, expanded version of a housing bill the House passed last month, and senators assumed that with Trump’s support House Republicans would be stiff-armed into just accepting the Senate bill and letting the parade begin. But as Politico reports, there are now unexpected issues:
The Senate is on track to easily pass a housing affordability package Thursday that is dead in the House as is — an ominous sign for any GOP affordability measures …
Freedom Caucus members warned they won’t support the Senate version of the bill, with several likening some of its provisions to “socialism.” Their key concerns include a temporary ban on a central bank digital currency (they want it to be permanent) and a ban on institutional investors from owning single-family homes.
The first complaint shows the power of the crypto industry among conservative Republicans. But the second “socialist” provision, mind you, is the president’s own idea. Won’t he whack his House allies into line? Maybe not, says Punchbowl News:
Speaker Mike Johnson informed House GOP leaders this week that the president told him “no one gives a [bleep] about housing” — a message intended to convey that Trump has made the SAVE America Act his top legislative priority instead. And all of this is far in the background of the Iran war, which is dominating everything in Washington.
Without clear marching orders from Trump, Republicans are descending into a pitched bicameral standoff. Rank-and-file House Republicans and their leaders are threatening to force a formal negotiation, potentially unraveling the carefully crafted Senate package.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told us he’d spoken to House colleagues on Wednesday about potential tweaks to the Senate’s housing bill. But the Louisiana Republican also warned that if the House rips the bill apart, Congress’ chance to pass a housing bill this year will be over.
To put it bluntly, if Trump doesn’t give a [bleep] about housing, why should his fractious allies in Congress? And then there are the Democrats who have made the near triumph of a bipartisan housing bill possible. Will they be willing to stand by while right-wing House Freedom Caucus types pick the legislation apart or cool their heels while Trump sulks about his SAVE America Act, a piece of MAGA demagoguery Democrats hate with the heat of a thousand suns? It’s unlikely.
So the president has a fateful choice to make right away. With the flick of a Truth Social post, he can quell House Freedom Caucus opposition and give himself and his party a rare and valuable affordability credential for the midterms. Or he can make it really clear he doesn’t give a [bleep] about housing, affordability, or maybe even the midterms.