WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) applauded the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for rescinding costly Biden-era Green New Deal housing mandates.
“Last fall, I introduced a bill to repeal the costly and destructive Biden-era climate regulations for housing. I applaud the Trump administration for responding to the call and taking that decisive action to make housing more affordable for all Americans,” said Senator Barrasso. “The Biden administration’s Green New Deal housing mandates made it even harder for young families to buy their first home. Repealing these expensive rules will give Americans the tools they need to help make their dream of owning a home a reality.”
The HUD–USDA Joint Determination rescinds a Biden administration policy that rendered new homes ineligible for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or USDA-backed mortgage loans unless they complied with the burdensome 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). In November 2025, Senator Barrasso introduced the HOUSE Act that would repeal the Biden-era mandate to support homebuilders and decrease housing costs.
Background:
In 2021, IECC standards were released for new residential and commercial housing. These revised standards can add as much as $31,000 to the price of a new home, with the energy savings not being realized for 90 years. The net benefit of this rule does not outweigh the significant costs that it places on American households. In 2023, HUD and USDA released a Regulatory Impact Analysis for these standards, stating that new construction for FHA borrowers would decline.
The Biden administration mandated these standards in 2024, requiring that all new single-family housing construction financed through federal housing agencies must meet the 2021 IECC. In March 2025, HUD extended the compliance date for FHA-insured Multifamily and Single-Family homes to November 28, 2025, and May 28, 2026.
In November 2025, Senator Barrasso introduced the HOUSE Act, which would repeal the 2024 Final Determination on energy efficiency standards for new construction of HUD-and-USDA-financed housing.
On April 28, 2026, USDA and HUD released a Joint Determination that rescinds the 2024 Final Determination in its entirety. As a result, the FHA and USDA loan programs will comply with the energy efficiency standards that were in effect prior to the publication of the 2024 Final Determination.
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