Zach Halaschak: Landmark housing bill targets America’s biggest affordability problem

Washington Examiner economics reporter Zach Halaschak emphasized that a bipartisan housing bill aimed at boosting the nation’s housing supply is a significant step toward addressing America’s housing affordability crisis.

“This is a big achievement for Republicans and Democrats who’ve been working for a very long time on boosting housing supply,” Halaschak said on LiveNOW from Fox on Sunday. “That’s the key thing. This bill addresses the supply issue, which a lot of economists say is the number one issue when it comes to housing affordability because we’re millions and millions of homes short of where would be considered healthy.”

Halaschak said the legislation stems from months of negotiations between Republicans and Democrats and tackles what many economists view as the root cause of soaring home prices: a shortage of available housing.

The legislation, negotiated by Sen.Tim Scott (R-SC) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), was backed by the White House. However, President Donald Trump ultimately chose not to sign it during a planned Capitol Hill ceremony. Instead, he allowed the bill to become law after the 10-day signing period expired while protesting the Senate’s failure to advance the SAVE America Act.

“I feel like he supports the actual legislation but just wanted to protest the fact that the SAVE America Act is not going through,” Halaschak said.

The new law includes incentives for local governments to encourage home construction, streamlines the development of modular housing, and contains provisions to limit institutional investors’ influence in the housing market.

Halaschak cautioned that the public should not expect immediate relief.

“You’re not going to see changes right away,” he said. “This isn’t something where you snap your fingers, and overnight housing prices are down. This is going to be a long process.”

He added that while the federal government can help increase housing supply, many of the biggest changes will ultimately depend on state and local governments loosening zoning restrictions and adopting pro-development policies.

HOUSING BILL WOULDN’T OFFER MUCH AFFORDABILITY RELIEF UNTIL AFTER MIDTERM ELECTIONS

From a political standpoint, Halaschak said the legislation gives Republicans and Democrats an opportunity to show voters they are taking action on one of the country’s top economic concerns ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

“President Trump ran on lowering costs for consumers,” Halaschak said. “This is one piece of legislation that Republicans can point to and say, ‘Look, we did this. We’re actually doing something to help consumers.'”