As Trump calls affordability a ‘con job,’ Democrats unveil an affordable housing plan

WASHINGTON— As the economy emerges as a defining issue in next year’s midterm elections, President Trump grappled with Americans’ rising cost of living. declares himself “affordable president” he later dismissed the issue as something that “meant nothing to anyone”.

At two events at the White House this week, the president accused Democrats of pushing a “fake narrative” about affordability to deceive voters ahead of the election and called them “massive crooks” who have not provided details about how they plan to lower prices.

“It’s a scam. I think the biggest scam is affordability,” Trump said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill are moving to shape an affordability-focused agenda ahead of the midterm elections, including a proposal to address rising housing costs.

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) will introduce legislation on Thursday aimed at increasing the supply of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families, expanding rental assistance and increasing funding for long-term housing and emergency homeless shelters, according to a draft copy of the bill reviewed by The Times.

“Of all the economic challenges facing Americans, housing is the most acute. That’s certainly the case in California, but it’s also true for much of the country,” Schiff said in an interview. “I want to see the Democratic Party be the party championing the next housing boom in America.”

The 48-page bill, titled the Housing BOOM (Building Opportunity for Millions) Act, proposes expanding federal tax credits to help finance the development and rehabilitation of affordable housing.

A $10 billion annual loan fund and a $5 million grant program would be established to expand affordable housing for middle-income families, as well as a federal grant program to convert hotels and unused residential properties into temporary housing or emergency homeless shelters. The proposal also calls for a new office within the Department of Housing and Urban Development to protect people from eviction.

Schiff’s proposal is a long shot in Congress, where Republicans control the House and Senate and where any proposal championed by Schiff, Trump’s longtime foe, is unlikely to win the president’s approval. Still, Schiff argues that inaction on his proposal could be used against Republicans and that the lack of affordable housing is a “real problem” for Americans.

A. last report From the National Assn. It’s taking Americans longer to buy homes for the first time, with the median age set to reach an all-time high of 40 in 2025, realtors say. Part of the reason for this is that young Americans are rents continue to increase.

This dilemma is further compounded by the country’s persistent shortage of affordable housing, especially for millions of low-income renters, according to the report. National Low Income Housing Coalition report.

“If Republicans don’t get on board, it will be a liability for them, just like with health care,” Schiff said.

The proposal is an example of how Democrats are shaping their medium-term strategy with a heavy focus on reducing rising prices; It’s a message that helped the Democratic Party score electoral victories in key states last month and post significant gains in a deep red district of Tennessee on Tuesday night.

The off-year election results informed much of the Democratic Party’s new playbook and led Democratic leaders in the Senate and House to further embrace it as a policy agenda.

At a news conference Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, characterized Trump and Republicans as out of touch with the working class.

“They’re in a bubble. They don’t understand,” Schumer told reporters. “Democrats know our job is to fight for the American people and keep their costs down.”

Schumer and Jeffries said Democrats’ immediate focus is trying to negotiate a deal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits; If these credits are allowed to expire at the end of the year, they will lead to a New Year’s Day increase in health insurance premiums for millions of Americans.

Two weeks ago, the health scare prompted the White House to join negotiations with lawmakers; this was seen as a political Hail Mary move for an increasingly divided party entering an election year. White House deputy chief of staff James Blair said at the time that “the president will probably want to do bigger things than Hill desires.” Negotiations have since stalled.

The White House did not provide an update on the president’s plan for rising health care spending when asked Wednesday. Instead, a White House spokesman said in a statement that Trump has made “fixing Joe Biden’s inflation and affordability crisis” a priority since he began his second term in January.

“The scam here is that Democrats have now repeatedly brought up the affordability crisis they spent four years creating, a problem for which they have no real solutions,” the statement said.

Vice President J.D. Vance said it was “ridiculous” to see Democrats talking about affordability at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting and that the Trump administration is focused on addressing the economic situation left by Biden.

“I think congressional Democrats, in particular, need to look in the mirror if they want to talk about affordability,” Vance said. “We’re fixing what they broke. We’re proud to do that. This is the job we were elected to do. But I think 2026 will be the year this economy really takes off.”

Meanwhile, Democrats are beginning to unveil policy plans they say will help them counter that message.

Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-Oakland) plans to introduce a companion bill to Schiff’s housing bill in the House.

“When families cannot afford to stay in their communities, when veterans are sleeping on our streets, when employees are one rent increase away from losing everything, this is a failure of police and political will,” Simon said in a statement. “The Housing BOOM Act is a comprehensive response to this failure.”

Schiff said the move to expand the supply of affordable housing is a crucial step in resolving what he said is an affordability crisis made worse by Trump’s policies, whether it’s a crackdown on immigrants or tariffs.

“If he continues not to provide more housing, if he increases the cost of housing through tariffs on building materials and deportation of construction workers, then he will only create more problems for himself and the Republican Party,” Schiff said.