Free-market Republicans are wary of Trump’s proposal to stop institutional investors from buying single-family homes — but they’re signaling they’ll play ball if it means the president signs their own housing legislation.
“Chances are, if that’s what it takes to get the other [housing] provisions, we’ll probably find a path for something” this year, one GOP member of Congress said after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent privately pitched senators on the policy Wednesday.
“If I can get [other housing] provisions — that’s the trade-off I need to get this done — then maybe it’s worth it.”
Unresolved details include how to define single-family homes and institutional investors: “It could stay at [owning] 100 [homes]; it could go to 500; it could go to 1,000,” the member said.
Lawmakers are currently weighing how to merge overlapping House and Senate proposals after the lower chamber passed its measure overwhelmingly this week.