President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
Over 20 years ago, a party was started in New York City called "The Rent Is Too Damn High Party." The single-issue party may as well have gone national, because Americans are facing an affordability crisis in housing that is so significant that Republicans and Democrats are coming together to deal with it.
The main problem however, according to Politico, is President Donald Trump. White House officials have been pressuring members of Congress to add an amendment to the bill that would block investors from benefiting from the effort.
The theory is to help homeowners, but there is a fear that wealthy people will drive up costs by outbidding people who actually want to live in the homes.
On Monday, the House overwhelmingly passed the bill, 390 to 9.
The bill “lacks other presidential priorities, particularly a ban on the purchase of single-family homes by large institutional investors,” a statement from the Office of Management and Budget.
Pressure on senators has only increased since then.
Another challenge is that, while neither bill includes an investor provision, both are radically different. It means once they both pass, the two branches will fight it out and vote on the final agreement. It's possible they could then include a provision about investor properties, but it's unclear whether Trump will sign it without such an amendment.
“I think it will be hard to advise the president to sign something that does not include institutional investors, given this is his principal and singular housing priority,” said one White House official.
Both parties in both houses of Congress see it as the one piece of legislation that could give them a positive when it comes to the affordability crisis. Thus far, little has been done to deal with the high cost of health care, food, goods and housing.
“I don’t think banning institutional investors is a good idea,” argued Rep. Troy Downing (R-Mont.) when speaking to Politico. a member of the House Financial Services Committee. “I need to see exactly what language they were talking about if they’re being specific about some certain practice.”
Politico described it as a clash between the House GOP's "free market" doctrine and Trump's populist leanings.
“People live in homes, not corporations,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post last month.