Trump-backed housing bill clears House after GOP defies Senate pressure campaign

By Fox News · Fox News

The House passed a sweeping housing bill backed by President Donald Trump on Wednesday, handing Republicans a potential affordability win ahead of November’s midterms. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly 396-13 to send the bipartisan measure aimed at boosting housing supply and homeownership to the Senate, where it will need final sign-off before being signed into law by the president. "The White House supports the House’s housing bill thanks to the changes that were made," a White House official told Fox News Digital. The president’s support is a major victory for House GOP leadership, who defied a pressure campaign from the Senate to pass the upper chamber’s rival housing bill without any changes. TRUMP-BACKED AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERHAUL CLEARS SENATE, WHILE HOUSE GOP RAISES RED FLAGS The amended House bill's future remains uncertain in the Senate, where it will need to overcome a 60-vote threshold and potential frustration over the lower chamber's modifications. The final House bill struck out a controversial provision in the Senate-passed measure that required single-family homes owned by large investors for the purpose of renting to be sold off within seven years. Critics argued the measure could reduce housing supply and would hurt the build-to-rent industry, which provides rental options for Americans priced out of homeownership. The package preserved a ban on large institutional investors from buying new single-family homes. That provision is a top priority of the Trump administration, as well as leading progressives, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who argues it would help individual homebuyers compete with well-funded investors. Large institutional investors own just a sliver of the nation’s housing stock. Seven in 10 voters said they would support a ban on large investors owning more than 350 homes from purchasing more, according to a May survey commissioned by the Bipartisan Policy Center. Support dipped among some supporters when respondents were to…