President Donald Trump and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Sen. Tim Scott (R., S.C.) kicked 2026 off by honing in on affordability issues, specifically housing policy.
“People live in homes, not corporations,” Trump said while announcing his plans to restrict the ability of institutional investors to buy single-family homes. Scott, who has led the Senate GOP’s efforts to lower the cost of housing by backing bipartisan legislation like the ROAD to Housing Act, commended Trump’s latest move.
“2026 must be the year we get housing affordability right for working families,” Scott said. “I welcome President Trump’s desire to look for ways to create more homeowners, especially first-time homeowners.”
A Republican operative told the Washington Reporter that “President Trump and Senator Scott’s focus on housing affordability is great politics and great policy. Some core staple items have already drastically dropped in price because of Trump’s leadership, like gas and eggs. Lowering housing costs will be a huge winner in the midterms, and Senate leadership needs to prioritize Senator Tim Scott’s smart bill to get this done.”
The bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act, would “expand housing supply and lower costs,” by expanding and preserving housing supply, improving housing affordability and access, advancing accountability and fiscal responsibility, and improving oversight and program integrity, Scott said. The bill already passed out of Scott’s committee on a 24-0 vote, and most of its components already have House counterparts.
Scott noted that “as chairman of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, my focus is on advancing meaningful solutions that expand housing supply and lower costs — including building on our unanimously passed ROAD to Housing Act — because that’s how we make the American Dream more attainable.”