The U.S. Senate delivered a sweeping legislative victory Wednesday, passing a major housing package aligned with President Donald Trump’s agenda by an 89-10 margin.
The bill, formally titled the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,” cleared the chamber with strong bipartisan support despite vocal opposition from a bloc of Republican senators over a digital currency provision they consider insufficiently restrictive.
Nine Republican senators voted against the measure: Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Todd Young of Indiana, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, and Ted Cruz of Texas.
Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii joined the Republican dissenters, making him the lone Democrat to vote against the bill. Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey did not cast a vote.
Politico reported that the legislation contains a provision banning a central bank digital currency, but the ban is set to expire in 2030. Hardline Republicans in both the House and Senate have pushed to make that ban permanent.
Opponents of the temporary provision argue the current language would give the Federal Reserve a future pathway to exert control over Americans’ financial decisions and infringe on civil liberties.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the leading Democrat behind the bill, has rejected the push for a permanent ban.
Warren told reporters that the temporary provision represents a “compromise that receives support from both the overwhelming majority of Democrats and Republicans.”
“Trump has made clear that he supports this bill as written,” Warren said Wednesday.
Some Democrats have separately raised concerns about the broader influence of cryptocurrency interests in Washington.
The housing package also mirrors a Trump executive order signed in January directing action against large institutional investors purchasing single-family homes. That provision marks a rare point of agreement between Trump and Warren.
Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the chief Republican sponsor of the legislation, appeared on CNBC Wednesday to address the bill’s scope. “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,” 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.”
The White House has publicly backed the Senate version of the bill and characterized it as a workable compromise.
The Senate bill differs from legislation the House passed in February, meaning the two chambers must now reconcile the versions.
The House can either amend the Senate bill and return it to the upper chamber, or the two sides can enter a formal conference process — an approach that could extend the legislative timeline.
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia said Wednesday that if legislators “center the people rather than their own petty and partisan differences,” the bill will reach final passage.
Sen. Tim Scott issued a statement outlining his goals for the legislation.
“Not only is this bill about cutting regulatory red tape, lowering costs, and expanding housing supply while generating no new spending, but it’s about making sure people like the single mom who raised me in North Charleston, South Carolina, have even greater access to economic opportunity and the American dream of homeownership,” Scott said.
The bill has drawn endorsements from a broad coalition of housing organizations, including the National Association of Realtors, the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders, the Bipartisan Policy Center, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Warren framed the bill’s passage in terms of housing costs and private equity. “The bill has passed with overwhelming bipartisan support because all across this country, people want to see us lower the cost of housing and keep private equity out of the home buying market,” she told reporters. “That’s what this bill does.”
The legislation now awaits action in the House, where members have expressed reservations about certain provisions’ language.
