Controversial housing bill provision dropped; HUD defends cuts 

This week in Washington, D.C., members of Congress made a key revision to the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, removing a provision that some industry advocates have said could worsen the nation's housing supply crisis.

Elsewhere in the nation's capital, HUD Secretary Scott Turner defended proposed funding cuts for his department, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pitched changing how often publicly traded companies report earnings, and the Federal Reserve gained a new leader.

Congress responds to 'clear concerns' over housing bill

On May 13, the U.S. House of Representatives moved to eliminate a controversial build-to-rent provision from the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.

The provision, which the U.S. Senate passed in March as part of the legislation, was drafted amid a broader push from President Donald Trump to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes. It would have required those investors to sell build-to-rent single-family homes within seven years — a rule that many industry leaders balked at.

In a statement, House Committee on Financial Services Chairman French Hill acknowledged those "clear concerns" that the provision might actually make the housing supply crisis worse, saying that a new amendment "reflects that feedback" in part by cutting "unnecessary barriers to new home construction."

The National Association of Home Builders applauded the move in a statement of its own, with Chairman Bill Owens urging both chambers to pass the revised legislation "swiftly."

The revised legislation still needs to pass in the House and would also need sign-off in the Senate.

HUD secretary backs 'mission-minded' approach

In a May 14 hearing on Capitol Hill, Turner defended a White House-backed proposal to cut his department's funding by 13% in the next fiscal year.

The proposal, which leaders at NAR have urged Congress to reject, "reins in wasteful spending, stops the ballooning of federal welfare programs, and continues HUD's focus on serving the American people," Turner said. "We are mission minded."

NAR, meanwhile, has asked Congress to approve "full funding for critical housing programs" that would otherwise be eliminated or consolidated if the cuts were made. "These programs not only expand access and affordability but also support efficient real estate transactions by reducing barriers to homeownership," NAR 2026 President Kevin Brown wrote in a letter last month.

An end to quarterly earnings reports?

The SEC has proposed a rule change in which public companies would no longer be required to file quarterly earnings reports. If the rule is enacted, companies could opt for semiannual reports instead without violating federal securities laws.

The "rigidity" of the rules as they currently stand "has prevented companies and their investors from determining for themselves the interim reporting frequency that best serves their business needs and investors," SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins said.

The suggested change "would provide companies with increased regulatory flexibility in this regard," Atkins added.

A new day at the Fed

Jerome Powell's term as Fed chair officially ended on May 15, just two days after the Senate voted to confirm nominee Kevin Warsh.

Warsh was also confirmed for a 14-year term on the Fed's Board of Governors. He replaces Stephen Miran, who joined the board last year following the sudden departure of Adriana Kugler. Miran submitted his resignation on May 14.

How the Fed will operate under Warsh isn't yet clear. Democrats who opposed his appointment have voiced concerns about his loyalty to the president and ability to lead the central bank independently. But supporters have noted that Warsh tended to be hawkish in his 2006-2011 stint as a Board of Governors member and may resist pressures to lower rates quickly as chair.

While Trump has repeatedly urged the Fed to cut short-term interest rates, that may be tough to accomplish with inflation rising amid the ongoing war in Iran. As of May 15, investors were expecting the Fed to increase rates rather than cut them, according to CNBC, though they weren't anticipating that decision to be made before the end of this year.