Speaker Mike Johnson said in an interview Friday morning that he still intends for the House to vote on changes to the Senate’s version of a stalled housing affordability package — despite intense opposition from White House officials and Senate Republicans.
“Yeah, I don’t think we have the votes to pass the Senate bill as is, so we’re going to stand by the House product,” Johnson said.
In doing so, Johnson is defying White House officials and GOP senators who are deeply opposed to his plan to amend the housing bill on the House floor next week and send it back to the Senate. White House officials have told POLITICO the new bill text unveiled in the House this week may contain “serious policy concerns or implementation challenges.”
“The bill is under review. New provisions were added before the administration had a chance to review or provide technical assistance,” one White House official said in a statement.
Johnson was dismissive of that pushback: “I’ve talked to the White House. We’ll get it all straightened out,” he said Friday.
“We’re focused on producing a housing bill that meets all the objectives,” Johnson continued. “It’ll be bipartisan, bicameral. It’s great for the American people. So, sometimes the process is messy, but we’ll get there.”
Asked if he was still planning to put the bill on the floor next week, Johnson said he was going to discuss “timing” with his leadership team “this morning.” House GOP leaders want to bring the bill up through a fast-track process next Wednesday where a two-thirds majority of those present and voting are needed to secure passage.
President Donald Trump met with Senate Republicans at the White House on Monday to discuss cross-chamber disagreements over the housing affordability legislation. During that meeting, Trump called Johnson and put him on speakerphone as the senators present pushed for the House to simply pass their version of the bill and clear it for the president’s signature.
Trump also pressed the speaker and others to move the bill quickly, and the speaker agreed, with both Johnson and the senators concluding the meeting with a sense that each of their divergent plans had been validated, according to three people with knowledge of the conversation.
“While I was there, [Trump] spoke with the speaker and the speaker said he would try to get the bill moving. And that’s where we are,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), who was part of the group who met with Trump earlier this week.
Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
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