February 17, 2026

Why Did Trump’s Housing Ban Hit a Wall in Congress?

Trump is pressuring Congress to ban investor buying. But Congress says no.

Lawmakers Push Back on Trump’s Proposed Ban

The Wall Street Journal reports Proposed Ban on Investors in the Housing Market Hits a Wall in Congress

The White House is at loggerheads with Congress over one of President Trump’s signature housing proposals, a ban on Wall Street investors buying single-family homes.

Trump officials pressured Congressional Republicans in recent weeks to include the investor ban as an amendment in either of the major housing bills currently winding through the House and the Senate, according to people familiar with the matter.

But lawmakers in both chambers have resisted adding the investor ban, which traditional free-market advocates, Wall Street executives and the home builder industry generally oppose. Any such amendment could derail the bipartisan momentum behind both housing packages that have been in the works for months.

The House is set to vote on its bill as soon as Monday, where it is expected to pass with bipartisan support. The Senate passed a similar bill last fall.

Lawmaker pushback to Trump’s investor ban shows how the White House and Congress favor different approaches to addressing America’s housing crisis, which sent sales last year to a 30-year low. Home values have soared by more than 50% since 2019 and are pricing out many first-time buyers.

Trump announced his own housing proposals this year that were more focused on stimulating demand, including instructing the government-backed mortgage-finance companies to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds in an effort to lower mortgage rates.

The president also issued an executive order last month to restrict the ability of large investors from buying single-family homes. Single-family home investors own a small slice of the overall housing market, but that still equates to hundreds of thousands of homes. Institutional housing investors are concentrated in certain cities like Atlanta and Dallas.

The president directed Congress to make the policy law, since the White House is limited in its ability to implement such a ban unilaterally.

Key GOP lawmakers so far aren’t inclined to do so. House Rep. French Hill of Arkansas, who serves as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, denied the White House’s request to add an amendment to the Housing for the 21st Century Act, a package of various proposals to boost housing supply.

A similar story is playing out on the Senate side, where Trump would have to win over Republicans to get an investor ban amendment included in the ROAD to Housing Act.

An Illegal Executive Order

Essentially Trump admits that he signed an illegal, toothless executive order.

Now Trump is pressuring Congress to get it done. But there is resistance in the House and Senate, so this appears over.

At Davos, Trump proclaimed he “defeated inflation”.

February 5, 2026: Farm Lobby Sends Damning Letter to Congress About Trump’s Tariffs

The letter complains of the “indiscriminate and haphazard nature” of Trump’s tariff policies.

“It is clear that the current Administration’s actions, along with Congressional inaction, have increased costs for farm inputs, disrupted overseas and domestic markets, denied agriculture its reliable labor pool, and defunded critical ag research and staffing. And these impacts are not happening in a vacuum.”

That’s a major damning letter. Please read it.

Dear Zoomers, Trump Says He “Wants to Drive Up Housing Prices”

Finally, please note Dear Zoomers, Trump Says He “Wants to Drive Up Housing Prices”