Washington, United States. The bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law at midnight on Saturday without President Donald Trump’s signature, after he declined to sign it in protest over the Senate’s failure to pass the SAVE America Act.
The legislation, described as the most comprehensive reform of US housing policy in decades, includes measures intended to increase housing supply, lower consumer costs and limit institutional purchases of existing single-family homes.
Automatic enactment
Under the US Constitution, legislation approved by both chambers of Congress becomes law if the president neither signs nor vetoes it within 10 days, excluding Sundays.
House Speaker Mike Johnson formally transmitted the bill to the White House on 29 June, starting the 10-day period. The measure had passed the House and Senate with broad bipartisan support.
Trump had initially been scheduled to sign the bill during a Capitol Hill ceremony last month. He cancelled the event hours before it was due to begin and said he would withhold his signature until Congress approved the SAVE America Act, which would introduce new voting and voter registration rules.
Election bill dispute
Trump reiterated his position on Truth Social on Friday, saying he was withholding his signature because the Senate had not passed the election legislation.
He said the SAVE America Act had 97% support within the Republican Party and was supported in polling by non-politician Democrats. He said the housing legislation was less important than the election measure.
Senate Republican leaders have said the election bill does not have sufficient votes to pass the chamber, despite pressure from the president. The dispute limited Republicans’ ability to highlight housing-cost measures ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
Housing provisions
The law contains more than 45 provisions intended to accelerate affordable housing development. It seeks to remove regulatory barriers, streamline environmental reviews and establish an innovation fund for local communities that expand housing supply.
It also creates a pilot programme to help local governments convert vacant commercial properties into housing, increases federal funding for factory-built homes and removes requirements for homes to be built on transportable steel chassis.
The legislation restricts institutional investors to purchasing new construction rather than existing single-family homes, aiming to reduce competition for individual homebuyers while maintaining incentives for firms to build new housing stock.
Political reaction
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Senate bill’s primary architect, said the housing measure became law without the president’s signature. She said Trump had ignored the legislation for more than two weeks and criticised his approach to lowering costs for American families.
Before the bill took effect, Johnson sought to minimise the disagreement, saying Trump had many responsibilities and may not have read every part of the legislation. Johnson said the president was emphasising election integrity rather than dismissing cost-of-living concerns.
