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President Trump refused to sign on Wednesday the most significant federal housing reform package in more than 30 years, canceling a scheduled signing ceremony to demand Congress first pass his SAVE America Act.
The housing package included four bills spearheaded by Rep. Sam Liccardo, whose district includes Palo Alto, Mountain View and Menlo Park.
Liccardo urged fellow representatives to vote for the passage of the bill by telling the Speaker, “The rent is too damn high.”
“Our housing crisis requires many actions from this Congress, but we should start precisely where we all agree – Republicans and Democrats – on improving affordability through accelerating expansion of housing supply,” Liccardo said on the Congress floor.
The 21st Century Road to Housing Act, which includes dozens of provisions, cleared both the House and Senate before the White House pulled the plug. The Housing Act is designed to streamline development approvals, cut federal red tape and expand the nation’s housing supply for buyers and renters alike. The bill also represented an uncommon bipartisan achievement in a deeply divided Congress.
The SAVE America Act, which Trump has made a precondition for his signature, would create new barriers to voting, particularly for women, service members, and Americans whose legal documents do not match their current names, according to Liccardo’s office.
“Tens of millions of American families face a real crisis, struggling to pay rent or to ever save enough to buy a home,” he said in a statement. “Donald Trump just stalled any relief until he averts his concocted ‘crisis’ in the midterm elections, by negating his sinking poll numbers through the evisceration of voting rights of millions of U.S. citizens.”
The four provisions authored by Liccardo target different facets of the housing shortage. The BUILD Housing Act would eliminate procedural hurdles for affordable development. The RESIDE Act would create a pilot program to convert vacant commercial and office buildings into housing. The Streamlined Reviews Act would speed up environmental reviews for HUD-funded projects. The Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization Act would update FHA loan limits and expand financing for manufactured homes and accessory dwelling units.
The United States faces a reported shortage of more than 10 million homes. According to a 2023 payment analysis, roughly half of renters nationally are considered housing cost-burdened, spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, according to Liccardo.
Liccardo said in a recent interview with the Weekly that housing is a rare issue where both Democrats and Republicans can collaborate in a contentious political climate.
“I believe that housing is one of those areas where we should be able to find some common ground,” he said.
Liccardo urged Trump to reverse course in order to prioritize addressing the nation’s dire housing shortage.
“The President should stop the tantrum and focus on lowering costs for the American people by signing this bill,” he said in a statement.
