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Washington Policy Update
Allison Karakis, Senior Director, Government Relations
Congress returned to Washington following the holiday break ready to begin messaging legislative priorities for the midterm elections. However, their first task was to reach an agreement on federal funding before the Continuing Resolution (CR) expired at the end of January. The House passed the remaining appropriation bills through ‘minibuses’ and combined them to send a single bill to the Senate. Unexpected events caused Senate changes derailing quick approval and will have lasting impacts on the agenda even once the funding concerns are resolved. The omnibus includes an increase of approximately $7.3 billion for HUD programs over FY25.
As issues like affordability, immigration, and foreign affairs dominate the headlines, both political parties will attempt to address voters' concerns, which appear to be constantly evolving. This makes implementing a proactive agenda difficult.
Republican leadership has indicated a second legislative package using the budget reconciliation process will be a priority this year, but limited details have emerged on the focus. The Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee continue to focus on both housing affordability and a market structure bill for digital assets.
Executive Order Aimed at Large Institutional Investors Buying Single-Family Homes
The Trump Administration issued an Executive Order Entitled “Stopping Wall Street From Competing with Main Street Homebuyers with the stated goal, “To preserve the supply of single-family homes for American families and increase the paths to homeownership, it is the policy of my Administration that large institutional investors should not buy single-family homes that could otherwise be purchased by families.”
The order included preparation of legislation to codify the policy and directions to federal agencies. This included within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Administrator of General Services, and the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as appropriate, shall issue guidance to:
(i) prevent agencies and government-sponsored enterprises from engaging in the following, to the maximum extent permitted by law:
(A) providing for, approving, insuring, guaranteeing, securitizing, or facilitating the acquisition by a large institutional investor of a single-family home that could otherwise be purchased by an individual owner-occupant; or
(B) disposing of Federal assets in a manner that transfers a single-family home to a large institutional investor; and
(ii) promote sales to individual owner-occupants, including through anti-circumvention provisions, first-look policies, and disclosure requirements.
(b) The guidance issued pursuant to subsection (a)(i) of this section shall include appropriate, narrowly tailored exceptions for build-to-rent properties that are planned, permitted, financed, and constructed as rental communities, and such other appropriate, narrowly tailored exceptions as the applicable agency may determine appropriate to further the policies of my Administration.
Republican Study Committee Releases Affordability Framework for Next Reconciliation Package
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) released an affordability framework for the next reconciliation bill that addresses housing, health care and energy, and the housing provisions stated:
- Create “The Don” Down Payment program, a zero-to-low down payment option through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) for creditworthy borrowers, eliminating one of the single greatest barriers to homeownership for working families.
- Expand access to mortgage portability and assumability for Americans with mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, allowing homeowners to keep their existing mortgage rate when purchasing a new home and/or enabling new homeowners to assume the previous owner’s mortgage.
- Eliminate capital gains tax on the sale of homes to first-time home buyers, and on sales of rental homes to tenants, incentivizing property sales and enabling Americans to realize the American Dream of homeownership.
- Establish Home Savings Accounts, through the existing Trump Account structure, and allow individuals to leverage other tax-advantaged savings accounts to make it easier than ever before for working Americans to save towards owning their first home.
The RSC was founded in 1973 as a caucus of House Republicans and is influential in shaping Republican policy in the House.
House Passes Affordable HOMES Act
House passed the Affordable HOMES Act introduced by Congresswoman Erin Houchin (R-IN9).
This bill rescinds Department of Energy (DOE) energy efficiency regulations applicable to manufactured housing and eliminates DOE’s authority to issue similar regulations. Specifically, the bill rescinds the DOE final rule titled Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Manufactured Housing and published on May 31, 2022.
Under the bill, DOE may provide recommendations to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for revisions to energy conservation standards applicable to manufactured housing. These recommendations must comply with criteria established by the bill, including by being based on the determination of the cost-effectiveness of such revision.
House Financial Services Committee Advances Community Bank Regulatory Tailoring Act of 2026
The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) recently passed six bills out of committee including H.R. 7056, the Community Bank Regulatory Tailoring Act of 2026, sponsored by Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Andy Barr (R- KY6), passed 33-21. This bill indexes various asset-based thresholds for bank regulations to nominal GDP for community banks and small credit unions to reduce regulatory burdens.
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