Housing bill nears law as Trump refuses signature

A sweeping bipartisan housing bill is set to become law at midnight without President Trump’s signature, after he again refused Friday to sign the legislation in protest over the Senate’s failure to pass his preferred voting bill.

The 21st Century Road to Housing Act cleared both chambers of Congress in June with broad bipartisan support. Democrats described it as the biggest housing bill in decades, Republicans framed it as a win for families, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called it on X “one of the most significant pieces of housing legislation in American history,” NPR reported.

Trump has dismissed the measure as “a big yawn” and “of minor importance,” tying his support to passage of the SAVE America Act, a strict voting bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID to cast a ballot. That measure has stalled in the Senate, where NPR reported it does not have the 60 votes needed to pass.

“I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” Trump posted Friday on Truth Social. In the same post, CBS News reported, he said the voting bill was “polling at 97% with the Republican Party, and very high with the non-politician Dumocrats.”

The White House, asked for clarification, referred reporters to Trump’s post.

House Speaker Mike Johnson delivered the housing bill to the president on June 29, starting the 10-day window for Trump to sign or veto it. If he takes no action, it becomes law automatically. NPR reported that the deadline expires at 11:59 p.m. ET Friday; CBS News reported the bill would become law by 12:01 a.m. Saturday if Trump does not veto it.

The bill contains more than 40 provisions from both parties aimed largely at encouraging homebuilding and making homeownership more affordable. One major provision would limit purchases of single-family homes by corporate landlords that already own at least 350 houses, an effort to make the market more competitive for individual buyers who can be outbid by investors making all-cash offers.

The measure also seeks to speed construction by allowing some developers to skip environmental review when building between two structures that were already reviewed. It would create a grant program for communities to develop “pattern books,” or collections of preapproved housing designs that require fewer approvals before construction.

Manufactured homes would also be affected. The bill removes a requirement that they have a permanent chassis, a steel frame that allows the homes to be moved. Housing policy experts told NPR that change could save $5,000 to $10,000 in construction costs per home and make more elaborate designs, including second stories, easier to build.

The legislation does not add new housing funding to the federal budget, NPR reported. Instead, it is designed to steer more existing funding toward communities that build more housing.

Lawmakers in both parties have pointed to housing affordability as a major issue ahead of the midterm elections. The median price of an existing home in June was about $440,600, up from a year earlier, according to figures cited by CBS News and NPR. Realtor.com data cited by NPR showed that a household earning $75,000 a year can afford fewer than a quarter of available home listings.

The bill’s effects may take time. NPR reported that local zoning rules, builder decisions, material and labor costs, and mortgage rates remain major forces in the housing market. Sarah Brundage, president of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders, said any affordability gains from new construction would take years to be felt, but called the federal bill a needed first step.

“We have to take the time to celebrate that we have bipartisan champions,” Brundage said. “Moving forward in 2028 and beyond, I don’t think anyone can run for public office without having a perspective of how housing needs to be prioritized.”