President Donald Trump abruptly canceled Wednesday’s planned signing of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, throwing the future of a sweeping bipartisan housing affordability package into uncertainty just hours before it was expected to become law.
“Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency,” Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social.
The move delays what would have been the first major federal housing package in decades, aimed at increasing housing supply, lowering costs and limiting the role of large institutional investors in the single-family housing market.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act had passed Congress with broad bipartisan support. The Senate approved the bill Monday in an 85-5 vote before the House cleared the final version, sending it to Trump’s desk.
But Trump has repeatedly tied the housing package to the SAVE America Act, a separate voter identification measure that has struggled to gain enough support to pass both chambers of Congress. In another Truth Social post before canceling the signing, Trump called the housing bill “of minor importance compared to lower interest rates” and passage of the SAVE America Act.
The delay leaves congressional Republicans without a major housing affordability win at a time when housing costs remain a central economic concern for voters ahead of the midterm elections.
The housing bill seeks to address affordability through several channels. It would streamline certain environmental review processes, create grants to help state and local governments increase housing supply, ease requirements for manufactured housing and expand some financing options.
The legislation also includes limits on large institutional investors that own more than 350 single-family homes. Under the compromise version, those investors would be restricted from buying additional existing single-family homes but would not be forced to sell homes they already own. The bill also includes exemptions for build-to-rent developers, allowing companies to continue building new rental homes.
That compromise followed months of negotiations between the House and Senate. An earlier Senate version would have required some large investors to sell off single-family rental homes after seven years, a provision that raised concerns among build-to-rent developers and housing supply advocates.
Supporters of build-to-rent housing argue the sector adds needed supply to a market still facing a shortage of available homes. Critics of large institutional investors, however, say Wall Street-backed buyers have made it harder for families to compete for entry-level homes in some markets.
Housing affordability has worsened sharply since the pandemic. Home prices have climbed more than 50% nationally, rents are up more than 30%, and mortgage rates above 6% have kept many would-be buyers on the sidelines.
For now, the bill remains unsigned. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that Trump still plans to sign the measure within 10 days, according to Axios.
Until then, one of Congress’ most significant housing affordability efforts remains stuck in political crossfire.
