This Political Odd Couple Reached Across the Aisle to Pass a Historic Housing Bill in the Senate

The last political duo we’d ever expect to be rooting for is Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). But in a country where politics continues to divide us, the two opposing leaders are offering hope that America’s bipartisan system can be more effective than you think.

This week, the Senate officially passed the largest housing bill in decades, and it’s all thanks to Scott and Warren. As affordability issues continue to reek havoc on the majority of Americans, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act aims to finally address housing concerns in the country.

The bill was co-written by Scott and Warren, despite the two leading politicians being on opposite ends of the political spectrum. Scott– one of only five Black U.S. senators– is a self-proclaimed MAGA conservative with deep ties to President Donald Trump. On the flip side, Warren ran against Trump when she sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. Since then, the progressive Democrat has made it her mission to call out the current administration any chance she gets.

But this year, the one thing bringing these two together seems to be the critical issue of housing affordability.

“It’s Democrats. It’s Republicans. It’s pieces they built out together,” Sen. Warren said during an interview with NPR. “That is the strength of this bill.”

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed with an 89 to 10 vote this week. Sen. Scott is the chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and Sen. Warren is the ranking member.

The average price of a U.S. home currently sits at around $400,000, according to the Federal Reserve Economic Data, but surprise, surprise… Most American families cannot afford that price tag. To address this issue, the two senators decided to focus on building more housing, which would ultimately help bring costs down.

“It’s not a Republican issue or a Democrat issue,” the South Carolina congressman said before the Senate voted. “It’s an issue about helping moms like the one who raised me, the amazing woman that she was, become homeowners,” he added.

The 303-page legislation lays out several grants and pilot programs explicitly for housing construction. The bill is also meant to stop Wall Street from buying up single-family homes for a cheap, quick profit, according to its language.

The bipartisan bill comes during an interesting time in America. Not only is President Trump focused on the ongoing war against Iran– which is notably driving up gasoline costs– but with midterms rapidly approaching, some insiders fear the housing bill won’t pass once it reaches the House of Representatives, according to NBC News.

Still, if the housing act passes, both Democrats and Republicans will likely claim victory. Scott previously said the bill fulfills part of Trump’s affordability agenda by “cutting regulatory red tape, lowering costs and expanding housing supply while generating no new spending.”

Interestingly, Trump said he believed the word “affordability” was just a “hoax” perpetrated by Democrats to undermine him, but economists like Betsey Stevenson told NPR, say the president has it all wrong.

“Trump’s claims about inflation are false,” Stevenson told the outlet, “and you can go to the grocery store and see it yourself.”

Back on the issue of adorable housing, Warren said the bill marks a huge step towards serving Americans. Warren told NBC News, “It will mean, for the first time, that we’re moving housing prices in a better direction and beating private equity out of the system — making a very public statement that homes are for the families who live there, not for Wall Street investors who figured out another way to make a buck.”