Trump's big plan to make homes affordable may crash into a brick wall
President Donald Trump's ambitious housing plan to implement a sweeping ban on Wall Street investors purchasing single-family homes may crash into a brick wall, according to a new report.
White House officials have aggressively pressured Republicans in Congress to embed the investor restriction into major housing legislation currently racing through both chambers. But lawmakers are pushing back hard, with both parties expressing serious reservations about derailing months of painstaking bipartisan work, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday night.
The House voted overwhelmingly 390-9 to advance its housing package. The Senate passed similar legislation last fall. But the real battle looms during reconciliation, according to the report.
Traditional free-market Republicans, Wall Street titans, and the home-building industry have lined up against Trump's proposal, warning it could tank the delicate political compromise holding the legislation together. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. French Hill flatly rejected the White House's amendment request, pointing to poor timing and opaque definitions of which investors would be targeted.
While Congress focuses on increasing the number of new homes through streamlined approvals and new construction incentives, Trump has prioritized demand-side stimulus, such as a controversial $200 billion mortgage bond purchase order, while simultaneously resisting efforts that might lower home prices.
Even so, the White House has refused to budge. The proposal polls strongly with young voters frustrated by skyrocketing housing costs, with recent surveys showing nearly two-thirds of Americans support regulating corporate landlords and institutional investors.
Some Republicans, including Sen. Bernie Moreno and Rep. Marlin Stutzman, are drafting their own investor-ban bills.
"There's been some pushback," Stutzman acknowledged. "But the president thinks it's important."