The House Finally Found a Policy Area Most Members Agree On

The legislation is aimed at making owning a house more affordable. It faces challenges in the Senate, which has its own version of the legislation.

Mike Flood

Kenneth Ferriera/AP

The House of Representatives passed the Housing for the 21st Century Act, bipartisan legislation aimed at increasing available housing across the country, in a 390-9 vote on Monday.

The bipartisan housing package, led by the House Financial Services Committee’s chair, Rep. French Hill, and its ranking member, Rep. Maxine Waters, would enable the federal government to address the severe housing shortage facing the nation by fast-tracking housing construction and giving greater flexibility to existing programs within the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“I feel like the Democrats feel respected in this process, and as Republicans, we should celebrate the conservative policy wins that are in this package that, quite frankly, people have waited literally decades for,” Rep. Mike Flood, the chair of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, told NOTUS just before voting on Monday.