Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., one of the GOP’s leading voices on housing affordability, says President Donald Trump’s rumored emergency order on the issue would be a “game-changer.”
Flood, who chairs both the House Main Street Caucus and the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee, told Fox News Digital that an emergency declaration could shift the entire national conversation on housing.
“When you have a housing shortage and a supply issue, it pushes up valuations, which pushes up your property taxes, because your valuation goes up. It pushes up home insurance premiums because the value of your home is more expensive if there was some kind of a claim,” Flood explained.
He argued that a presidential declaration would highlight the crisis in a way that state and local governments could not. “So the president of the United States putting his thumb on the scale and saying that housing is in a crisis situation, and it’s an emergency – that changes the entire conversation,” he said.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner confirmed that talks are underway, but he stopped short of confirming Trump’s final decision. “Those discussions are being had, not just from an emergency declaration standpoint, but what can we do in order to bring the costs down… and bring the supply up,” Turner told FOX Business.
Home prices have soared in recent years, outpacing wage growth and making homes once considered affordable “starters” unattainable for millions of families. Zoning restrictions, construction costs, regulatory hurdles, and limited building have all contributed to the shortage.
New tariffs are expected to add even more strain. The National Association of Home Builders estimates that duties on steel, aluminum, and lumber will tack on nearly $11,000 to the cost of building a new single-family home.