Bipartisan Bill To Tackle the Housing Crisis Passes the Senate During Government Shutdown

A bipartisan bill aimed at making housing more affordable has passed the Senate in the middle of the federal government shutdown, in a sign that the urgency of the housing crisis is a rare issue that Democrats and Republicans can agree upon.

The Senate passed the ROAD to Housing Act in a 77-20 vote on Friday as part of its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, the $924.7 billion defense spending bill for fiscal year 2026.

The 315-page bill, backed by Republican Sen. Tim Scott and Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, passed out of the Senate Banking Committee in a unanimous 24-0 vote in July.

"This landmark legislation—the first of its kind in more than a decade—takes important steps to boost the nation’s housing supply, improve housing affordability, and increase oversight and efficiency of federal regulators and housing programs," Warren and Scott said in a statement following the full Senate vote.

The bill now needs House approval to reach the president's desk, but a vote has not been scheduled, and Speaker Mike Johnson has vowed the House will not return for votes until the Senate agrees on a spending bill to reopen the government.

Several industry groups have praised the bill, which includes a wide range of provisions designed to reduce red tape for new housing construction, incentivize communities to build more housing, and boost accountability for federal housing regulators.

“NAR applauds the Senate for passing this bipartisan legislation that addresses housing supply, affordability and homeownership pathways," says National Association of Realtors® Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer Shannon McGahn.

"At a time when homeownership increasingly feels out of reach, this legislation offers meaningful, pragmatic solutions to restore opportunity for millions of American families," says McGahn. "We commend Chair Sen. Tim Scott and Ranking Member Sen. Elizabeth Warren for their bipartisan leadership on this critical issue. We look forward to working with Congress and the administration to enact this vital legislation and help preserve the American dream of homeownership for future generations.”

Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Bob Broeksmit calls Senate passage of the bill "a win for housing affordability and consumers."

“Many of the provisions within the bipartisan measure are aimed to take meaningful steps to boost housing supply, cut red tape in federal program offerings, and expand access to affordable mortgage credit for families nationwide," he says. “As the bill moves to the House, MBA will stay fully engaged with Congressional leaders in both chambers to strengthen key provisions—including those dealing with lender liability and second appraisals—to ensure the final package delivers meaningful results for consumers, lenders, and the communities they serve.”

Notable provisions of the ROAD to Housing Act

One notable part of the bill, Section 203, calls for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop a "best practices" framework for local zoning and land use policies, which could be copied and implemented by local jurisdictions at their discretion.

This is significant because zoning rules vary widely among different jurisdictions, and overly restrictive zoning rules are often cited by builders as a key impediment to new housing construction.

At a minimum, having a national template for zoning laws would give pro-housing local politicians more ammunition to oppose cumbersome rules in their own jurisdictions, by giving them federal guidelines to point to, says Realtor.com® senior economist Joel Berner.

"Creating a set of standards for zoning could be helpful to bring attention to the issues facing many local markets, but the effectiveness of policy changes will ultimately come down to municipalities," says Berner.

Berner also highlights Sections 207 and 208 as potentially impactful, as they call for cutting red tape around federal environmental review procedures and empowering states, local governments, and
Indian tribes to streamline their own review procedures.

"The big challenge for legislation like this is that the decision-making bodies that determine housing policy are primarily local, so it's difficult to have top-down types of changes," says Berner.