Trump Administration Mulls Housing Emergency Declaration

A housing emergency declaration could be in the nation’s near future, according to one of President Trump’s top cabinet officials.

Donald Trump is considering making such a declaration in the fall, Bloomberg reported. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said as much in a comment to the Washington Examiner, a move that would likely raise the profile of the country’s housing market as a key point in the 2026 midterm election.

“We’re trying to figure out what we can do, and we don’t want to step into the business of states, counties, and municipal governments,” Bessent told the Examiner.

It’s unclear what the practical effects of a housing emergency would be. Bessent didn’t elaborate on specific actions the administration might take under a declaration. It would, however, give the president limited authority to bypass Congress, a tactic his administration has deployed regularly during his second term.

The administration is exploring paths to standardize local building and zoning codes. It also wants to decrease closing costs.

Trump’s interest in the housing market appears tied to his effort to overhaul the Federal Reserve, the nation’s independent central bank. The president has applied pressure on the Fed to lower interest rates, which he believes will help bring down mortgage rates.

As part of this effort, last week, Trump attempted to remove Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook from her post, citing alleged mortgage fraud. Cook is fighting the firing.

In the spring, the Trump administration launched a task force to identify government land suitable for housing development. The Interior Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development lead the task force.

As of mid-March, the federal government owned 650 million acres — more than a quarter of all land in the country — making it the biggest landlord in the United States, though the Department of Government Efficiency may have cut into that footprint.

Nothing has publicly emerged from the task force since its formation nearly six months ago.

— Holden Walter-Warner