President Donald Trump canceled a planned signing ceremony on June 24 for a bipartisan housing bill that cleared Congress with overwhelming support, saying he will not move forward until lawmakers pass the SAVE America Act, a voting measure that faces steep obstacles in the Senate.
“Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The decision cast uncertainty over the future of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a sweeping package designed to increase housing supply, reduce barriers to construction, modernize housing programs, and limit purchases of single-family homes by large institutional investors. The measure passed the Senate by an 85-5 vote and the House by a 358-32 vote, making it one of the most broadly supported pieces of legislation to move through Congress this year.
The bill contains reforms to housing counseling and financial literacy programs, a rental assistance demonstration program, and creates a HUD pilot program to support state, local, and tribal whole-home repair programs, which provide grants and forgivable loans to homeowners and landlords for home repairs and modifications.
Additionally, the measure that Trump refuses to sign into law raises the cap on bank public welfare investments, such as affordable housing and community development projects, from 15% to 20%. The bill creates a pilot grant program to help local governments convert vacant commercial or industrial buildings into affordable housing, prioritizing economically distressed areas and Opportunity Zones, with funding from excess HOME Investment Partnerships Program grant allocations.
During the debate in Congress, House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill, an Arkansas Republican, said, “America is facing a housing supply shortage that’s been years in the making.” He said the legislation would “cut unnecessary barriers to new home construction” and modernize regulations that supporters say have slowed housing production.
Affordable Housing Challenges
Housing affordability has become a growing concern nationwide as rising home prices, elevated mortgage rates, and years of underbuilding have left millions of Americans struggling to find housing within reach.
Industry groups and housing organizations estimate the nation remains short of millions of homes needed to meet demand.
Those pressures are acute in the District.
Statistics reveal that nearly half of all D.C. renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing, the federal threshold for affordability. Among extremely low-income households, only 32 affordable and available rental units exist for every 100 households seeking them. More than 85% of extremely low-income households spend over half their income on housing and utilities.
The burden falls disproportionately on Black residents. During the 2019-2023 period, 54.5% of Black renters in the District were rent-burdened, compared with 35.8% of white non-Hispanic renters. In Wards 7 and 8, where the population is predominantly Black, more than half of renters spend over 30% of their income on housing.
As Congress debated ways to increase housing production nationally, the District did secure a court victory that could lead to additional housing development in one of the city’s least affordable areas.
Earlier this month, D.C. Superior Court dismissed a lawsuit challenging zoning changes along upper Connecticut Avenue NW that would permit multifamily housing development, including on a District-owned site occupied by the Chevy Chase Library, Community Center, and Commons. The ruling allows the District to move forward with zoning changes intended to increase housing opportunities west of Rock Creek Park.
“To keep the District strong, vibrant, and growing, and to bring down the high costs of housing, we need to expand the number of housing units across the city, both affordable and market-rate, especially in neighborhoods with easy access to transit, businesses, jobs, and amenities,” Attorney General Brian Schwalb said.
The zoning changes stemmed from a 2023 proposal by the District’s Office of Planning affecting 41 lots along the northern Connecticut Avenue corridor. Court records show the proposal moved through public hearings, public comment periods, review by the National Capital Planning Commission, and eventual approval by the Zoning Commission. The court found that the District followed the required procedures and that the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights had not been violated.
District officials have long identified the Rock Creek West Planning Area, which includes Chevy Chase, as one of the city’s most underserved areas for affordable housing. According to District planning data, only about 1% of housing units in the area were designated affordable as recently as 2018, and those units represented just 1% of the District’s affordable housing inventory.
Officials have attempted to address housing shortages through ambitious construction goals. City leaders set a target of creating 36,000 housing units, including 12,000 affordable units, by 2025. The city exceeded its overall goal, producing more than 46,000 housing units since 2019. Housing advocates, however, say the shortage of deeply affordable housing remains severe for residents with the lowest incomes.
Meanwhile, Trump’s decision to postpone signing the federal legislation is tied to his demand that Congress first pass the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship for voter registration and impose new voter-identification requirements. Senate Republicans have acknowledged that the measure lacks sufficient support to overcome a filibuster.
Whether the housing bill ultimately reaches Trump’s desk for a signature remains unclear. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he still expects the measure to “become law within the constitutional review period.”
