By: Andrew Van Horn, Policy and Research Advisor

July 10, 2026 — Both HUD and Congress have taken steps to improve Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) implementation in recent weeks. Each development is discussed below.

Request for Information: Comments Due by July 20

On June 18, HUD published a new Build America, Buy America Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register. The primary challenge BABA currently presents to many agencies is non-availability. Either materials are not made in the U.S. or it is not clear where they are made.

HUD is attempting to gather more specific data on what materials are not made domestically. Agencies should encourage their partners to comment. In particular, HUD hopes to hear from manufacturers, contractors, or other partners who have knowledge of what is and is not made in America. This request is an important opportunity to provide specific feedback about the lack of BABA-compliant materials housing providers need to build and preserve housing. The results of this RFI will be useful for HUD, the Office of Management and Budget, and Congress.  

Respond by July 20.

NAHRO on the Hill

On June 25, NAHRO and other industry partners brought together practitioners to speak about BABA before staff from Congressional Build America Caucus member offices. This coalition of experts helped inform congressional staff about the challenges BABA has created for multiple sectors of the affordable housing industry.

BABA in the 21^st Century Road to Housing Act

The 21^st Century Road to Housing Act has been sent to the President’s desk for signature and could become law by July 11, 2026. This law includes a provision that HUD must study BABA’s effects on the HOME Investments Partnership Program and provide guidance based on this study. This is a valuable step. Currently, many questions about BABA’s feasibility and its effects on housing development remain unanswered. While this proposed study does have a limited scope, evaluating BABA’s effect on a widely-used program such as HOME would provide valuable insights about implementation so far.

Build Housing Affordably Act

On June 15, Housing and Insurance Subcommittee Chair Mike Flood (R-NE), and Reps. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY) introduced the Build Housing Affordably Act. In short, this bill would do three things:

• Direct the Secretary to conduct a more comprehensive study of BABA than the 21^st Century Road to Housing Act requires;
• Pause BABA implementation until the study is complete; and
• Implement a 90-day time limit for HUD to review project-specific BABA waivers in which waivers are automatically granted if not reviewed within the time allowed.

A pause to fully study BABA’s implementation would be a useful step. Additionally, NAHRO has raised concerns about the delays complying with BABA will create. It is important for agencies to have the ability to plan, anticipate the amount of time BABA will add to projects, and keep projects moving forward on an acceptable timeline. NAHRO was pleased to see this bill introduced and welcomes any further feedback about the delays created by BABA compliance and waiver applications.

NAHRO will continue advocating for a workable implementation of BABA.

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