Congressional Outlook: No Movement on Housing Bill Expected
April 14, 2026
This week the House and Senate return from a two-week district work period with a long to-do list.
- House leaders have not resolved key concerns with the housing bill, with further action not expected on the House’s docket this week. Click here for more background on the single-family rental provisions of the bill.
- The House is also looking at potentially expelling four members embroiled in various scandals. Two of those members, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) have announced they will resign.
Why it matters: The Department of Homeland Security is still closed, budget season is well underway, the Foreign Intelligence Act lapses on April 20, and the budget reconciliation process needs to begin if Congress is to meet the President’s June 1 deadline.
- OMB Director Russ Vought will testify in both chambers on the President’s Budget and a number of agencies will appear before committees across the hill to discuss their respective budget requests.
- In the House, there also could be a vote on a War Powers Resolution to suspend the engagement in Iran, an additional vote to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate Haiti for temporary protected status, and potentially a measure to expel Congressman Eric Swalwell, Congressman Tony Gonzales, Congressman Cory Mills, and Congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick, though Swalwell and Gonzales now intend to resign.
- The Senate will continue to process nominations and restart debate on the SAVE Act.
Housing Bill: House Republicans and Democrats continue to call for changes to the Senate version of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (H.R. 6644). The limit on large intuitional investors’ purchases of single-family homes for rent remains a point of contention.
Department of Homeland Security: Before the Easter break, the Senate passed a measure funding DHS, excluding the departments of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
- The Senate plan would fund ICE and CBP through partisan reconciliation for three years. The House rejected that approach and instead passed a continuing resolution before leaving for Easter.
- After a week (and a public message from President Trump), House leadership switched gears and announced support of the Senate’s plan as the only viable path forward. However, the House Republican Conference pushed back on the turnaround, insisting that reconciliation must begin to ensure CBP and ICE are funded.
- The Senate-passed package will not be on the House floor this week.
Budget Reconciliation: Senate Budget Chair Lindsay Graham has started drafting the Budget Reconciliation instructions and has made sure to underscore the need to keep this package narrow to only the DHS priorities.
- Specifically, from a cost standpoint, their argument is that this would have been funded through the appropriations process, so they do not need to offset the costs as they did with the first package.
- Any additional policy priorities will be teed up for a third package Republicans hope to pass before the election.
- Senate Leadership’s goal is to have a budget resolution ready for floor action as soon as next week to spur activity in the House on the DHS funding bill.
FISA: One of the top priorities this week is reauthorizing FISA before it expires on the 20th.
- However, House Republicans are split on the issue. Conservatives want amendments that would add warrant requirements, while others are trying to attach the SAVE America Act.
- Given these dynamics, House Leadership will need heavy buy in from the White House to pull it over the line.
Contact David McCarthy (dmccarthy@crefc.org) with questions.