How Changes to Congressional Committees Will Impact Housing

With the confirmation of Vice President Joe Biden turning into president-elect, Americans are still waiting for the fight for the Senate to conclude. Congress oversees committees most important to the housing industry, according to the National Association of Home Builders, and such committees include the Senate Finance Committee, House Ways and Means Committee, Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, along with many more. These changes to Congress mean changes to those overseeing key housing issues. Read more to see the changes so far to each committee and the potential impacts, according to NAHB’s executive vice president of government affairs.

Senate Finance Committee
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) will step down under Senate rules after six years as chairman,
and if Republicans retain control of the Senate, hand the gavel to Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho),
who is the outgoing chairman of the Banking Committee. Crapo’s preferred leadership
approach is to build bipartisan consensus, which matches well with the approach taken by
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore), who will remain as the ranking member. With Democrats retaining
control in the House, broad policy breakthroughs are unlikely, but Crapo’s leadership
approach may open the door to advancing focused tax priorities.

If Democrats flip the Senate, the roles will be reversed – Wyden will become chairman of the
committee and Crapo will be the ranking member. Wyden’s pragmatic approach to
dealmaking opens up potential for bipartisan work with Crapo, but the Senate’s progressive
members on the far left will make any bipartisan consensus difficult.

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