Congress’s window to address the housing crisis is quickly closing
By Michael Jones
The House remains undecided on whether to accept the Senate’s changes to its landmark housing bill or push the process into further negotiations, leaving the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act at risk of stalling. Despite lawmakers finding themselves closer than usual to acting on one of the defining issues of this campaign cycle, the calendar and competing priorities are working against them.
There are fewer than 200 days until the midterms, and even fewer days in session. President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are preoccupied with funding ICE and CBP throughout the duration of his term, finding an off-ramp from the unpopular war in Iran, and navigating other political fights. As a result, you could be watching another one of those moments where Congress has a viable path forward—and still lets it slip.
But Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), ranking member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, expressed optimism that Republicans and Democrats in both chambers could find common ground by the end of the year.
“Right now, at this very moment, I am optimistic and energized. I know there’s not a lot being said, which is healthy for the legislation’s future. But believe me, there are people who are extremely committed in both the House and the Senate,” Cleaver said. “I’m not suggesting that we don’t have some challenges, because we do. I can’t go into details, but I can tell you that there’s work being done right now.”
His stance contrasts that of Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over housing policy. When I asked her on Thursday morning for a status update on the talks, she expressed disinterest in negotiating a compromise with the House.
“We just need the House to put the bill on the floor,” she told me. “It will pass with a huge majority.”
When I reiterated that House members in both parties were seeking changes to the Senate product, Warren doubled down and signaled she was happy to discuss additional legislation to address their concerns.
“We’re interested in having them do another bill,” she said. “We’re glad to do more, but let’s take the win right now. But we’re happy to take two wins.”
Her position reflects some of the frustration among senators that the House is making the perfect the enemy of the good.
The current standoff comes after the Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act by an overwhelming bipartisan margin last month, marking one of the most significant congressional efforts in years to tackle the nation’s housing shortage.
The package seeks to boost supply, modernize federal housing programs and crack down on large institutional investors buying up single-family homes—an issue lawmakers in both parties say is driving up costs for first-time buyers.
The legislation merges two parallel bipartisan tracks that had been moving through Congress. Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Warren stitched together a compromise that blends the Senate’s supply-side reforms with programmatic updates advanced by House lawmakers earlier this year, effectively creating a hybrid bill designed to attract broad support in both chambers.
That House effort—the Housing for the 21st Century Act—cleared the chamber by a 390–9 vote under suspension of the rules, an unusually lopsided margin that underscored the urgency lawmakers in both parties attach to the affordability crisis. The vote also reflected a rare alignment: Democrats prioritized expanding access and updating federal programs, while Republicans emphasized supply and market-driven fixes.
Even so, the path hasn’t been frictionless. The Senate bill drew limited but notable opposition, including from Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who warned that restrictions on institutional investors could have unintended consequences—forcing some rental operators to sell properties and potentially tightening rental supply. Even so, the broader bipartisan coalition has largely held, leaving Congress closer than usual to a deal, but not yet across the finish line.
Despite Warren’s preference for the House to act on the Senate bill rather than reconcile their differences through informal negotiations or an official conference committee, Cleaver believes all the stakeholders involved in figuring out the path forward are doing so in good faith.
“So far, I think that there is nothing that is happening, nothing that has been said that would cause me to embrace pessimism,” he said.
Cleaver then pointed to NASA’s 10-day mission around the moon earlier this month as an example of what’s possible when the government fulfills its boldest ambitions.
“I’m trying to get the word out that this bill allows Congress to continue the momentum built up by the Orion capsule landing in the Pacific Ocean that made Americans feel good,” he said. “If we passed this legislation, people would say, ‘Oh wow, they can still get things done.’”
Michael Jones is an independent Capitol Hill correspondent and contributor for COURIER. He is the author of Once Upon a Hill, a newsletter about Congressional politics.
