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

WASHINGTON- With the economy emerging as a defining issue in next year’s midterm elections, President Trump fought against Americans’ rising cost of living, declaring himself the “affordability president” and then quickly dismissed the issue as something that “means nothing to anyone.”

At two White House events this week, the president accused Democrats of promoting a “false narrative” about affordability to mislead voters ahead of the election, calling them “big crooks” who are not giving details on how they intend to lower prices.

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

Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill are working to craft an agenda focused on affordability ahead of the midterm elections, including a proposal to combat rising housing costs.

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

“Of all the affordability issues Americans face, housing is the most serious. That’s certainly the case in California, but it’s true across much of the country,” Schiff said in an interview. “I want to see the Democratic Party be the party that champions the next housing boom in America.”

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

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

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

A recent report from the National Assn. of Realtors showed that Americans are taking longer to become first-time home buyers, with the median age reaching an all-time high of 40 in 2025. Part of the reason is that younger Americans are struggling to build wealth as prices rise and rents continue to climb.

Compounding this dilemma is a persistent national shortage of affordable housing, particularly for millions of low-income renters, according to a report from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition.

“If Republicans don’t step up, it will be a liability for them, just like health care has been,” Schiff said.

The proposal is an example of how Democrats are shaping their midterm strategy with a strong emphasis on curbing price gouging, a message that helped the Democratic Party score electoral victories in key states last month and make significant gains in a deep red district in Tennessee on Tuesday night.

The off-year election results largely influenced the new Democratic playbook and prompted 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, called Trump and Republicans out of touch with the working class.

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

Schumer and Jeffries said Democrats’ immediate goal is to try to negotiate a deal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which, if they expire at the end of the year, will lead to higher health insurance premiums for millions of Americans on New Year’s Day.

Two weeks ago, the health care issue prompted the White House to get involved in negotiations with lawmakers, a move that was seen as a political Hail Mary for an increasingly divided party entering an election year. James Blair, White House deputy chief of staff, said at the time that “the president would probably like to go further than the Hill has the appetite for.” Since then, negotiations have been at a standstill.

The White House did not provide an update on the president’s plan to address rising health care costs when asked Wednesday. Instead, a White House spokesperson said in a statement that Trump had made “addressing Joe Biden’s inflation and affordability crisis” a priority since beginning his second term in January.

“The scam here is that Democrats are now insisting on the affordability crisis that it took them four years to create in the first place, a problem for which they also have no real solutions,” the statement said.

Vice President JD Vance told a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that it was “absurd” to see Democrats talking about affordability, saying the Trump administration had focused on the economic situation left behind by Biden.

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

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

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

“When families can’t afford to stay in their communities, when veterans sleep on our streets, when workers are one rent increase away from losing everything, it’s a failure of policy and political will,” Simon said in a statement. “The Housing BOOM Act is a comprehensive response to this failure. »

Schiff said his speech to increase the supply of affordable housing was a crucial step in addressing what he sees as an affordability crisis exacerbated by Trump’s policies, from immigration crackdowns to tariffs.

“If he continues to fail to provide more housing, but actually increases the cost of housing by raising tariffs on building materials and forcing construction workers out of the building, then he’s just creating new problems on his part and the Republican Party,” Schiff said.