🏠 Why Isn’t Housing Getting Cheaper? Congress Tried to Fix It — But It’s Stuck.

Everyone agrees: homes are too expensive in many parts of the country. Houses and apartments cost too much, rents are high, and there’s not enough new construction happening where people need it most.
To try to fix that, lawmakers in Washington put together a bill focused on building more housing — and making it easier and cheaper to build.

📜 What the Senate Did

In October 2025, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan housing bill called the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act of 2025, also known as the ROAD to Housing Act. This bill wasn’t some small idea — it was included as part of the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (the big must-pass funding bill), and it was designed to tackle the housing shortage in several ways:

• Streamline permitting so new homes and apartments can be approved faster.

• Create incentives and grants for local governments that approve more housing.

• Remove outdated rules that make pre-manufactured and modular homes cost more than they should.
  The goal was simple: build more housing, faster, and cheaper, which should eventually help lower housing costs for buyers and renters.

• According to public records and advocacy groups, this bill passed the Senate with overwhelming support — in fact it cleared the Senate by voice or unanimous consent, meaning all Senators present agreed to it. That’s very rare in today’s polarized Congress.

  🏛️ What Happens Next: Why It’s Stuck

  Even though the Senate approved the bill, it hasn’t become law because it needs to be passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and then be signed by the President. That’s where the trouble began.

  In the House, Republican leadership removed the housing bill from the must-pass defense package before final approval. House Republicans argue that it needs major changes, or that other House-written housing proposals should take its place. In practice, that move effectively blocked the Senate-passed bill from moving forward.

  In December 2025, after the Senate passed the bill, House Republicans stripped it out of the larger defense bill, meaning it no longer had a vehicle to become law. That act stopped the direct path to final passage and sent the legislation into political limbo.

  🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Bipartisan Roots — But a Partisan Block

  The housing bill was bipartisan in the Senate — co-sponsored by Republican Senator Tim Scott and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, among others. It was widely seen as a rare example of policy both sides could agree on to help increase housing supply.

  However, once it got to the House, many Republican leaders opposed including it in the final defense bill. Some Republicans say they want different housing reforms or that the bill didn’t do enough to address local zoning rules and other concerns. That opposition has stalled the bill’s progress — even though it passed the Senate with strong support.

  🏡 What It Means for You

  Here’s the bottom line:

  ✔️ Senate passed a housing bill aimed at boosting construction and lowering costs.

• ❌ House Republicans blocked it from moving forward by removing it from a must-pass package.
  📍 Without House approval and the President’s signature, it won’t become law — meaning the federal plan to help ease the housing shortage is on hold.

  🔍 What’s Next?

  Lawmakers could still bring the housing bill back for a standalone vote, or craft a compromise version. Democrats are pushing for action, arguing that without easier housing production, costs will stay high. Republicans are exploring their own housing proposals, like reducing regulations or cutting red tape, though those have not yet become law.

  In short: Senate tried to act, but disagreement in the House is delaying a solution. For now, Americans continue to face high housing costs while Congress negotiates the next steps.

I suggest call your Reps if you want this bill to move forward, until then, Republicans House Reps may think shower-heads are more important than something like housing cost.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you subscribe and please let me know if there is a topic you would like me to write about.  

If you got this far,  I do like to add quotes that resonate with me at the time. So, I think this one is powerful in today’s times. I hate lies, but it feels impossible to stop them these days, sooo, here is a quote I love.

“No man was ever wise by chance”
― Seneca”

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