Shaheen, McCormick Urge HUD to Speed Up Waiver Process Delaying Affordable Housing Construction

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) are sending a bipartisan letter urging U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner to make commonsense reforms to the Build America, Buy America (BABA) process that will support the new construction and preservation of affordable housing across America. The Senators note that the current BABA waiver system for products that are not produced in sufficient quantities in the U.S. has created huge delays and, in some cases, insurmountable barriers to the construction of new affordable housing in communities. With housing costs continuing to be a top concern for Americans, the bipartisan duo calls for HUD to Improve communication around the BABA waiver process, act faster on completed waiver requests and assess the availability of BABA-compliant housing products. The Senators wrote, in part: “We write regarding a persistent challenge regarding the Build America, Buy America (BABA) process at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). We strongly support the goals of BABA, which was included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in 2021 to ensure that federally funded projects, including construction, support domestic production of iron and steel, construction materials, and manufactured products. As you know, BABA requirements include the option for HUD and other agencies to grant waivers if certain products are not produced in sufficient quantities in the U.S. and in other specified circumstances. Unfortunately, for years dating back through the previous Administration, HUD has not fully developed its process for reviewing waiver requests, nor has it properly worked to assess housing components where there are persistent shortages or insufficient domestic production capacity. As a result, we have heard of requests for waivers that take months or even more than a year to process.” They continued: “Buy America requirements have played a valuable role in supporting domestic production and jobs in certain infrastructure projects for decades and support American supply chain resilience and good paying jobs [...] Unfortunately, we have heard concerns from affordable housing developers that they are facing long and uncertain delays in getting waiver determinations […] We urge you to accelerate timelines for processing, publishing, and making a determination on waiver requests for specific projects to ensure development of much needed housing units is not held up, and to clearly communicate expectations with housing finance agencies, public housing authorities and other developers ahead of time. Doing so will not only reduce delays and costs in housing construction, it will also provide more clear information to American manufacturers of products that are currently unavailable.” They concluded: “As we work in a bipartisan fashion in Congress to advance housing reforms which will support new construction and preservation of affordable housing, we believe this is a step HUD can implement quickly to make continued progress on expanding housing supply. We recognize that these steps should have been taken years ago, but request that HUD improve communication around the BABA waiver process, act faster on completed waiver requests, and begin assessing the availability of BABA-compliant housing products. We also know you have heard from housing and labor stakeholders with suggestions and hope you will work with them to address this challenge. We believe swift action can lead to meaningful progress in supporting homeownership and underscore the bipartisan commitment to supporting housing that is affordable and attainable for all Americans.” A copy of the full letter can be read HERE . Senator Shaheen is leading efforts in the Senate to lower housing costs and increase the supply of affordable units for families struggling to find a place to call home. Earlier this year, Shaheen secured three commonsense provisions—the Strategy and Investment in Rural Housing Preservation Act, Streamlining Rural Housing Act and the Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative in Community Enhancement (PRICE) Act in the landmark 21 st Century Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act to expand supply of affordable housing, streamline construction and lower costs in the Granite State and across the country. Recently, Shaheen also reintroduced her Manufactured Housing Community Sustainability Act to incentivize manufactured home park owners to sell the park to community residents or nonprofits, rather than another developer or landlord. In the bipartisan Fiscal Year 2026 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, Shaheen secured upwards of $9 million in federal funding for affordable housing in New Hampshire. Recently, as part of her Affordability Action Tour, Senator Shaheen visited both West Lebanon and Laconia to discuss policy solutions to lower housing costs for communities across the state. ###