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GOP can’t agree on key part of Trump’s housing affordability push as infighting continues
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President Donald Trump is leaning on Congress to tee up an affordability win ahead of November’s midterm elections, but entrenched GOP disagreement on a sweeping housing proposal threatens to derail it.
Trump on Monday called on the House to swiftly approve Senate-passed legislation aimed at easing housing affordability that has languished in the lower chamber for several months. House Republicans, however, have balked at that request and are pitching a rival plan.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., teased earlier in the week that Republicans and Democrats would come together to bring a «bipartisan, bicameral bill to the president’s desk.»
«I think everybody feels like it’s important, so we’re just working out some nuances,» Johnson said.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks at a press conference with House Republican leaders at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2026. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
TRUMP-BACKED AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERHAUL CLEARS SENATE, WHILE HOUSE GOP RAISES RED FLAGS
Senior House lawmakers on Thursday unveiled a modified version of the Senate’s 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which is expected to receive a vote in the lower chamber as early as next week.
Any changes to the Senate’s proposal would force the upper chamber to consider the measure again, prolonging the timeline lawmakers can send legislation to Trump’s desk.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., one of the chief architects of the Senate’s bill, declined to say whether she was speaking with her counterparts in the House about tweaks to the bill, and argued that lawmakers were running out of time to do something.
«There’s a housing crisis out there,» Warren said. «This bill can pass today if the House would just put it on the floor and vote on it. We need to get started, and if the House has more ideas than they’d like to add, start another bill.»
Some GOP lawmakers are not sweating the wait.
«We cannot take the Senate bill to the floor,» House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., told Fox News Digital in an interview earlier this week.
The political dynamics are much different in the Senate, however. And the housing bill passed with fewer than a dozen defectors in March — a rare feat in such a hyper-partisan Congress.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., argued that the easiest route to putting the legislation on Trump’s desk is passing the Senate’s version.
«It’s been sitting over there for a while and the president’s weighed in on it. I think, you know, the White House made it clear, they would like to see the House pick up and pass the Senate bill,» Thune said. «We’ve done what we can do. It’s in the court of the House now.»
The House product struck out a controversial provision taking aim at the build-to-rent market that drew the opposition of conservatives, who argued the language amounted to excessive government interference in the housing market.
The clause in the Senate’s proposal would have specifically required some developers to sell single-family homes built for the purpose of renting within seven years after construction. The build-to-rent industry and opponents of the provision argued their properties provide a more affordable option for some Americans priced out of the housing market and could imperil the supply of rentals across the country.
«We’ve got to make sure we do it in a right way that continues to keep free markets,» Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, said, adding that the clause in the Senate bill could make it «impossible» for some people to access housing.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are pitching rival housing bills as President Donald Trump looks for a legislative win on affordability. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Kent Nishimura/Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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The proposal, however, would also weaken a ban on large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes — a priority of the Trump administration.
The House’s rival housing bill notably preserves a ban on central bank digital currencies (CBDC) through 2030 that was included in the Senate’s legislation.
House conservatives raged at the Senate bill for stopping short of enacting a permanent CBDC ban — a top priority of GOP privacy hawks, who have sought to add the language to various legislative vehicles.
«It has to be permanent,» Cloud said. «We’ve got to put the nail in the coffin on it.»
House Financial Services Chairman French Hill, R-Ark., a co-author of the House’s rival housing package, said he shared Trump’s goal of expanding access to affordable homeownership in a statement Thursday.
«It cuts unnecessary barriers to new home construction, modernizes HUD programs, and allows banks to more freely deploy funding into their communities,» Hill said regarding the lower chamber’s proposal. «We must get this right — and I am committed to working hard to do that.»
Not everyone in the Senate is upset by the House’s decision to modify the bill.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., was one of the few lawmakers to vote against the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, and told Fox News Digital that housing affordability isn’t something that’s dictated by the federal government.
Prospective buyers arrive during an open house in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., on May 9, 2026, amid rising mortgage rates that could slow the spring home sales season. (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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«If you wanted to actually reduce housing costs, it’s local governments who are gonna have to allow more houses to be built,» Scott said.
The legislative standoff comes as a recent Fox News poll found that nearly 80% of voters said housing costs were a problem for them or their family. The same survey also found that Democrats hold a lead over Republicans on inflation and the economy.
politics, midterm elections, mike johnson, housing, republicans, senate elections
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The Republican-led House on Thursday passed a sweeping security package providing new military aid to Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia, delivering a sharp rebuke to the Trump administration, who opposed the measure.
Eighteen Republicans crossed party lines to support the Democrat-authored legislation in a vote of 226-195. California Rep. Kevin Kiley, an independent who caucuses with Republicans, also supported the legislation. Meanwhile, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was the lone Democratic lawmaker to vote against the bill.
House GOP leadership and the vast majority of Republicans opposed the legislation aimed at bolstering Ukraine’s defenses amid a surge in Russian missile and drone strikes as the conflict enters its fifth year.
The measure now heads to the Senate, where it faces an uphill battle to clear the chamber. The White House said the legislation would undermine President Donald Trump’s goal of ending the prolonged conflict and that he would veto the measure, according to a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.
The GOP-led House passed a Ukraine aid package over the objections of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and the White House. (Al Drago/Bloomberg)
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«The bill seeks to tie the President’s hands by mandating a wide-ranging U.S. response to the Russia-Ukraine war while adding hundreds of millions in unfunded authorizations,» the White House document reads, in part.
The security package would reaffirm U.S. support for Ukraine and NATO, authorize more than $1.5 billion in new security assistance and $8 billion in direct loans, and extend a Pentagon program that procures weapons and military equipment for Ukraine.
The legislation would also target the Kremlin’s energy profits, which are central to keeping Russia’s war effort going, as well as organizations and companies that do business with sanctioned Russian entities.
The White House warned that the legislation’s mandatory sanctions would «plunge the global economy into chaos.»
But Republicans who supported the measure said its passage should not be viewed as defying the president.
«President Trump has been the leader to support the people of Ukraine, and so I’ll be voting for the people of Ukraine, continuing the Trump tradition of support,» Wilson, a South Carolina lawmaker, told Fox News Digital in an interview.
When asked about GOP opposition, Wilson said, «Putin needs to know that the American people stand with the brave and courageous people of Ukraine.»
The White House warned that President Donald Trump would veto the Ukraine Support Act if it reaches his desk. (Photographer: Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
PRO-UKRAINE GOP REP. BACON DECLARES ‘REAL REPUBLICANS KNOW THAT PUTIN’S RUSSIA HATES THE WEST AND FREEDOM’
Still, several Republicans who opposed the measure said their opposition should not be viewed as a lack of support for Ukraine.
«This bill is not about helping Ukraine. This is not about standing up to Vladimir Putin,» Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., said. «This is about engaging in Trump Derangement Syndrome as President Trump tries to bring this [conflict] in for a landing.»
Others in the GOP conference voiced firm opposition to additional U.S. aid for the country.
«I oppose further funding of Ukraine,» Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., told Fox News Digital.
The successful vote came after the legislation, sponsored by Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., had languished in the House Foreign Affairs Committee for more than a year after being introduced in early 2025.
But the measure gained momentum after a handful of defecting Republicans signed a Democrat-authored discharge petition that triggered a vote over the objections of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who controls the floor.
Most Republicans are reluctant to support legislation that comes to the floor via a discharge petition, which is often seen as undermining GOP leadership and aiding Democrats in the minority.
«Democrats have repeatedly governed in the minority as if we were in the majority, and we’re going to do so again this week,» House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Tuesday.
A residential apartment building in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, remains damaged after a Russian attack Wednesday that killed at least three people and wounded four others. (Artem Stepanov/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC «UA:PBC»/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Some GOP lawmakers also argued the Ukraine measure was poorly drafted and outdated.
For example, the bill calls on NATO countries to increase defense spending to 2% of their economic output, but Trump secured a 5% commitment from allies in 2025.
«This bill literally moves us backwards, and a decrease of NATO defense member spending would be the result,» Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., said.
The legislation also proposes a lower figure for training and equipping Ukraine’s military than what Congress authorized last year in annual defense policy legislation.
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«It’s increasingly obvious that this [war] will end, and when it ends, it will be through negotiation,» Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, said during debate on the House floor. «If you support this bill, then clearly you are not interested in peace, because the consequences would tie the hands of this president and could lead to future hostilities that would bleed over into Europe.»
But the legislation’s proponents fired back that Ukraine is in desperate need of military aid amid stalled efforts to end the war.
«This is our Churchill moment or our Chamberlain moment,» Bacon, who is not running for reelection, said. «By God, I want to choose Churchill, and this House better choose Churchill.»
politics, ukraine, bills, republicans, sanctions, house of representatives politics, donald trump
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‘He hated women’: Explosive abuse, new Nazi tattoo allegations from exes rock Platner’s campaign
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Some of Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s ex-girlfriends spoke out in a damning report Thursday, which chronicled new allegations of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes.
Platner continues to be under fire for a chest tattoo called the Totenkopf, used by Nazi death camp guards, alleged sexting of younger women and publicly finding humor in a Taliban attack that nearly killed former Pennsylvania lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Teddy Daniels.
One of his ex-girlfriends, Lyndsey Fifield, told the New York Times the two met in 2013 when he was a George Washington University student and she was with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce with a growing presence in conservative circles.
Fifield recounted how Platner would poke fun at his chest tattoo of a Totenkopf — an emblem used by Nazi death camp guards.
Fifield told the paper that Platner explained he and other members of his military unit chose it because of parallels between them and the Schutzstaffel — in that «they were a death unit… killers,» which appears to contradict his narrative that he did not know the tattoo was associated with the Nazi emblem.
DEMOCRATIC MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER CONFRONTED BY MS NOW HOST ABOUT TATTOO CONTROVERSY
She also recalled how the oyster farmer and veteran would sharpen an ax while watching television and ruminate about raping home invaders.
«He said this a lot: If anybody ever broke in here, I would rape them,» but not in a sexual or «gay» way, Fifield said, adding that Platner stated he would want to instead impose dominance over them through penetration and that he believed rape was about power.
She also described a public encounter where Platner purportedly pulled her out of a taxi by her wrist during an altercation.
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Platner, who has acknowledged his battle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from his time in the military, told Fox News Digital that he has «been open about what was a very dark period of my life where I struggled with undiagnosed PTSD.»
«Throughout this campaign, I’ve been open about what was a very dark period of my life where I struggled with undiagnosed PTSD, too often self-medicated with alcohol, and was a far from perfect boyfriend,» Platner said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
«I take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better. Any characterization beyond that is false, and I believe, politically motivated,» he added. «I’m not proud of who I was then, but I am proud of the work I’ve done since, and the movement we are building in Maine.»
Fifield recounted another incident when Platner reportedly pushed her into a bedroom and held the door shut. She later was able to leave after falling asleep and waking after some time had passed.
SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER SENT EXPLICIT TEXTS TO MULTIPLE WOMEN WHILE MARRIED, WIFE SAYS: REPORT
Besides the rape visualizations, Platner would «fantasize about killing people he deemed a threat,» according to the Times’ conversation with Fifield – who declined to comment for purposes of this article.
Fifield added that in addition to the ax which he had from prior work bushwacking on the Appalachian Trail, Platner kept an AR-15 in his Capitol Hill home. The firearm type is currently prohibited in the District of Columbia, but that law is under legal challenge from the Trump Justice Department.
Of Fifield’s allegations, Platner’s campaign pointed to her conservative-leaning politics and called her a «lifelong GOP operative who’s dedicated her career to electing Republicans.»
NEW WEBSITE PUTS PLATNER ON NOTICE BY AMPLIFYING SCANDALS: ‘ONE RED FLAG AFTER ANOTHER’
In turn, Fifield, who previously worked at the Heritage Foundation and briefly worked on Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign, among other conservative jobs, said she is not affiliated with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine; the five-term incumbent Platner is challenging.
Senate candidate Graham Platner is under fire, but it was his wife Amy Gertner coming out with a controversial five-minute social media post by the campaign to denounce the ‘attacks’ while she did not deny the allegations of infidelity in a new marriage. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Another woman, Jenny Racicot, is a fellow Maine Democrat who was in an «off-and-on» relationship with Platner between 2019 and 2021, according to the Times.
She told the paper some of Platner’s controversial Reddit posts hardened her view that he has issues with women.
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«I recognized a version of him that I had experiences with,» she said.
Another Maine Democrat who he dated declined to have her name published by the Times and said Platner would at times drink heavily, and that her role in the relationship seemed like «collateral damage to the world that is his.»
The Republican National Committee said the report appears to be nothing new in the cadence of scandals facing the Democratic challenger.
WATCH: SCANDAL-PLAGUED PLATNER DODGES QUESTIONS BEFORE DC MEETING WITH DEMOCRATS
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner has centered his campaign on progressive economic policies, including higher taxes on billionaires and expanded tax relief for working-class Americans. (Sophie Park/Getty Images)
«Every day brings another deeply disturbing revelation about Graham Platner,» spokeswoman Delanie Bomar said.
«If he’s willing to do this to his own girlfriend, imagine what he’s willing to do in a position of political power. Maine voters deserve to know why Democrats are willing to excuse this deranged behavior,» said Bomar.
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«If Chuck Schumer and national Democrats don’t distance themselves from Platner, they’ll be forced to answer for his behavior every day from now until Election Day,» she continued.
Fox News Digital also reached out to Collins, Gov. Janet Mills, Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, and Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Old Orchard Beach; the legislature’s top Democrat, for comment.
politics, rape, sex crimes, fund raising, republicans
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