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

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 told the provision could reduce the supply of rental homes.

"This bill prioritizes American families by expanding homeownership, enhancing affordability, reducing burdensome regulations that drive up costs, and increasing housing supply nationwide," House Financial Services Chairman French Hill, R-Ark., said in a statement. "Importantly, it delivers on President Trump’s call to limit institutional investors from competing with the American people as they seek to purchase a home."

GOP CAN'T AGREE ON KEY PART OF TRUMP'S HOUSING AFFORDABILITY PUSH AS INFIGHTING CONTINUES

Still, the bill faced resistance from some conservatives over an unrelated provision regulating central bank digital currencies (CBDC).

Thirteen conservative lawmakers associated with the House Freedom Caucus voted against the bipartisan housing measure over concerns about language temporarily banning CBDCs, which they argue would open the door to unchecked financial surveillance.

GOP privacy hawks have long pushed for a permanent ban and have argued that a short-term prohibition would permit the Federal Reserve to issue a digital token after it expires in 2030.

"A temporary ban is the worst of both worlds: political cover today, a clear runway tomorrow," Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Reporter this week. "Make it permanent, or take it out."

GOP leadership has pointed to the housing bill as part of Republicans’ broader push to address cost-of-living issues ahead of the midterm elections.

"Increased housing costs and lack of quality supply are two issues that impact nearly every American family," House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said at a news conference on Wednesday, adding that the House measure is a "strong bipartisan package that will put more American families into homes."

"This is something that every American in this country is going to be happy to see, to have lower housing costs," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said.