Capitol agenda: House revolt ahead for housing bill

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.

The bipartisan package, aimed at lowering high housing costs, is expected to sail through the Senate after an 89-9-1 procedural vote earlier this week. But the bill’s ultimate fate remains dire — as does the GOP trifecta’s ability to make any legislative progress on affordability before the midterms.

— House issues: 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.

“There are problems,” Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) said. “It’s not as conservative a product as the House bill was.” The House passed its own version in February under a fast-tracked process with Democratic support.

Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged conservative objections to the Senate’s housing bill during a closed-door, conference-wide meeting Wednesday at the House GOP retreat. He suggested the House and Senate would have to go into conference negotiations to iron out the problems, according to four people in the room.

Rep. Mike Flood, chair of the Financial Services Housing and Insurance Subcommittee, echoed that sentiment.

“I am holding out hope for some fixes, but time runs short,” the Nebraska Republican told POLITICO in a statement.

— The Senate's game plan: Senators are moving ahead with their version — and largely ignoring the House-passed one.

Many don’t support the community banking provisions in the House version. The Senate version also includes the institutional investor provision that President Donald Trump requested.

“I don’t think we’ll need a conference. I think we’ll get it worked out,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said.

For now, senators appear to believe the White House — including the president — will help get House GOP colleagues on board. To their credit, they’ve seen this movie many times before.

“If one side, Senate or House is being unreasonable, the White House may have to slap a couple of people to Pluto,” Kennedy said. “But we’re not there yet.”