Bipartisan housing legislation becomes law after President declines to sign

A bipartisan housing bill known as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law at midnight on Saturday after President Donald Trump declined to sign it. The legislation, which passed the House and Senate with wide majorities, aims to increase housing supply and lower costs by, among other measures, restricting institutional investors from buying certain single-family homes.

President Trump announced on his social-media platform that he would not sign the bill in protest over the Senate’s inaction on the SAVE America Act, a voting-law proposal. Under the Constitution, a bill that has been passed by both chambers becomes law automatically if the president neither signs nor vetoes it within ten days, excluding Sundays.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a leading Senate sponsor of the housing bill, criticized the president’s refusal, saying the legislation would help lower housing costs for American families. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the president had not read the bill in detail and emphasized that, while election-integrity measures are a priority for the administration, housing affordability remains an important issue.

The new law contains more than 45 provisions, including measures to streamline regulatory approvals, launch a pilot program for converting vacant commercial properties into affordable housing, increase federal funding for factory-built homes, create an innovation fund for communities expanding housing supply, support veteran housing, and limit purchases of single-family homes by large investors.