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Sen. Tim Scott: Housing bill cleared Senate 87-9; expects presidential signature within weeks
Summary
Senator Tim Scott said a bipartisan housing bill passed the Senate 87-9, that the House has agreed to its principles, and that he expects the president to sign it within two to three weeks; he highlighted protections for community banks, a five-year sunset on a CBDC provision, and changes to institutional-investor rules.
Senator Tim Scott said the Senate approved a housing bill "yesterday, 87 to 9," and that the House has accepted the same principles, making a presidential signature likely "within the next two or three weeks." Scott framed the measure as aimed at improving affordability for the "average person," including first-time homebuyers.
Scott said negotiators pushed back on an unrelated central bank digital currency provision that had been attached to the bill and fought for a five-year sunset on that language. "One of the biggest disagreements... was on the central bank digital currency," Scott said, describing the sunset as a hard-won concession. He also said the negotiating team included members across the aisle, naming Rep. French Hill and Rep. Maxine Waters as participants in the talks.
Scott emphasized the bill's measures aimed at community lenders. "If you think about housing... it's not the G-SIBs that are focused on mortgages, it's your community banks," he said, arguing the bill makes it easier for community banks to underwrite mortgages for first-time buyers. He said rent-to-own arrangements were explicitly preserved in the package so that rental-focused communities would not be discouraged from producing housing.
On institutional investors, Scott said market data showed a limited share of closings by large investors and that an earlier draft's 7-year "must-sell" requirement was removed after market feedback. "We studied the market. 3% of the closings are institutional investors," he said, and credited House lawmakers and the White House for negotiating the change. Scott added that the bill gives the Treasury additional tools to respond if market movement produces unintended effects.
The bill is not named or numbered in the interview. The transcript records the Senate tally Scott cites (87-9) and Scott's expectations for prompt final approval; he did not provide a bill number or further legislative identifiers on air. If the president signs the measure as Scott expects, Scott said he believes it will lower effective costs for typical first-time buyers and help reduce the average age of first-time homeowners.
Next steps: Scott said he expects the paperwork to move quickly and predicted a signature within two to three weeks. The interview did not record a formal White House statement or a specific bill identifier.
