Bipartisan housing bill looks on track to become law

It's been a long and winding road for the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, but it looks set to become law Friday evening. Probably.

Driving the news: President Trump said Friday morning on Truth Social that he won't sign the bill, the most sweeping action to encourage housing supply in decades, in protest of Congress failing to move unrelated legislation on election security.

• But it's what he didn't say that matters most. Trump did not say he will veto the housing legislation. In the absence of a presidential veto, the bill will automatically become law at midnight.

Zoom in: The legislation reflects a rare cross-the-aisle consensus that the underbuilding of housing is a severe problem for the U.S. economy.

• It includes provisions that encourage local governments to allow more permissive zoning, streamline environmental regulations for home construction and much more.

What we're watching: We're most intrigued by provisions that loosen restrictions on manufactured housing, in particular no longer requiring that the homes be built on a permanent chassis.

• That opens up the possibility of major new innovation in building houses in factories, achieving greater productivity, producing houses that don't feel like downscale trailer-style mobile homes.

Go deeper: Congress passes landmark bipartisan housing bill.