In the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, newly minted Chairman Tim Scott (R-S.C.) announced the committee’s legislative and oversight priorities for the 119th Congress. The primary focus is on deregulation, but Scott also mentioned legislation he introduced last year that is designed to address national issues of housing supply and oversight.
“The American dream of homeownership is slipping away as progressive spending and regulations have pushed housing costs to record-highs,” the agenda reads. “To combat this crisis, Chairman Scott will champion commonsense solutions, like his ROAD to Housing Act, which will revitalize the housing market.”
The Senate banking committee also pledges to “review how overregulation contributes to excessive costs and delays in the supply of affordable housing and will prioritize struggling families over adding to the bureaucracy that has failed to support them.”
“By making targeted reforms and expanding opportunities for families and communities across the country, the committee will pursue meaningful, impactful change,” its agenda explained.
Scott introduced the ROAD to Housing Act in September 2024 during the run-up to the election. It would expand the oversight of federal housing programs, make changes to loan officer compensation to spur originations of small-dollar mortgages, and create additional counseling requirements for homebuyers, among other things.
At the time, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said it was engaged with Scott’s office about the bill, but the trade group added that any path forward would largely be determined by the partisan makeup of Congress in 2025.
“The bill, long in the works, is intended to be a marker for Sen. Scott’s initial engagement on housing policy should Republicans win a Senate majority in November — and should he, as expected, become the Chair of the Senate Banking Committee,” the MBA stated in a member update last fall.
“Given that the bill has been introduced with no Democratic co-sponsors, any legislation considered in the 119th Congress on housing policy would involve negotiations, changes, and additional policy provisions.”
Scott also briefly mentioned housing and homeownership issues in an appearance this week on CNBC‘s “Squawk Box” to outline the priorities of the committee in the new term.
“Interest rates spiking because inflation was so high, making homeownership for so many Americans outside of their reach,” Scott said. “How do we do something about that? Well, No. 1, most of the homeowner question is a local question. I think we can provide some incentives — whether we use our Community Development Block Grants — that would allow states and localities to create more opportunities for homeowners.”
One outstanding item is a committee confirmation vote for Scott Turner, Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). After his confirmation hearing last week, Turner’s nomination will need to be advanced by the committee to the full Senate, which can then vote to confirm Turner for the position.
Scott has not indicated a date to advance Turner’s nomination. In the meantime, Trump appointed a career HUD official, Matthew Ammon, to serve as acting secretary until Turner is confirmed.
Meanwhile, the House Financial Services Committee held its first organizational meeting of the new term. This gave new chairman French Hill (R-Ark.) the opportunity to lay out the majority party’s agenda.
“We will […] protect consumers by enhancing their financial privacy, reinvigorate the housing market with commonsense reforms, and continue to provide strong oversight of how our financial regulators wield the mighty power they hold,” Hill said in his opening remarks at the hearing.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the committee’s ranking member, also addressed housing in her own remarks. A longtime critic of Republican policies broadly and the Trump administration specifically, Waters contended that the oversight plan pushed by the majority does not go far enough to address housing and cost-of-living challenges.
“The plan is silent about the pain millions of families experience trying to pay their rent or mortgage, keep food on the table or save for retirement because of the increasingly unaffordable cost of living,” Waters told Hill. “Mr. Chairman, this plan also misses the mark and fails to lay out how this committee plans to work on behalf of the American people.”
