DORAL, Fla. — House Republicans are getting ready to shut down the Senate’s housing bill, which could get a vote in the upper chamber as soon as this week.
Two House Republicans told NOTUS that leadership’s message to their conference at their policy retreat in Florida this week was to oppose the Senate bill, which varies from the version passed by the House in February, because they feel shut out of the negotiations.
“If the Senate thinks we’re going to take this medicine, we’re not,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told members, according to one of the House Republicans granted anonymity to speak about closed-door meetings.
House leadership is “getting more resolute, and if the Senate doesn’t take provisions and input from the House on housing, that it’s going to go to conference or we’re just not going to take it up,” the House Republican said.
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Scalise’s office did not immediately respond to NOTUS’ request for comment.
The Senate’s version of the bill, known as the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, is aimed at building more homes across the country and has overwhelming support in the Senate. It’s a package that has received President Donald Trump’s endorsement, but it has become a difficult package for many Republicans in the House to get behind because of changes made by the Senate.
The Senate’s version doesn’t include a permanent ban on central bank digital currency or community bank deregulation, which were in the version that the House passed.
“We’ve got a really important housing bill we passed over the Senate. The Senate’s got a different version,” Scalise said in a press conference on Tuesday.
House Financial Services Chair French Hill “and his members are going to be working to hopefully find a common ground to make housing more affordable for families,” Scalise added.
The two Republicans, however, told NOTUS that Sen. Tim Scott, who sponsored the Senate bill and is the chair of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, is not returning Hill’s calls to discuss the legislation.
In a statement to NOTUS, a spokesperson for Scott disputed that they have been out of touch.
“Chairman Scott and Chairman Hill have a close professional relationship and are in constant communication,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “Additionally, the senior leadership of the Banking Committee works closely with their counterparts on the House Financial Services Committee on all matters related to affordability and improving the lives of everyday Americans.”
Hours after this story was published, a source familiar with the matter told NOTUS that Hill and Scott will be speaking as soon as Wednesday night.
“When President Trump and Elizabeth Warren and the Senate majority Republicans can all come to the same place on a housing bill, what it says is, you put partisan politics aside,” Scott said in a CNBC interview on Wednesday. Asked about House Republicans’ skepticism of the bill, he said: “We’ve taken 20 of the 25 [House] provisions and embedded them in our 21st Century ROAD to Housing. … Our bill is fantastic.”
In a statement to NOTUS, Hill confirmed that there’s dissatisfaction with the Senate bill.
“We have communicated the concerns from our members to our Senate colleagues,” Hill said. “We look forward to working to achieve a bicameral success in housing policy that will benefit the American people with growing supply and lower construction costs.”
A House Republican aide said that “several House members and stakeholders have voiced concerns about the Senate text.” Those views, the aide said, have been shared with Trump administration officials.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But some Republican lawmakers are not satisfied.
“This is not healthy, and it’s not good, and it’s frankly pissed people off,” the first Republican lawmaker said. “It’s like, OK, you want to do that? No, thanks. Not playing.”
Warren is the Democrat leading the legislation in the Senate. A spokesperson for Warren declined to comment, but the fact that she’s been able to get behind the legislation has become an issue for some Republicans.
“It’s just become an Elizabeth Warren priorities list,” the first House Republican told NOTUS.
The second House Republican said that Hill and House Republican leadership are “pissed” because the Senate has “gutted” their bill.
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Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.
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