Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Thursday began what he hopes will be a sustained Democratic offensive on housing costs, trying to put President Donald Trump on the defensive over one of voters’ top economic concerns.
Speaking at the Center for American Progress, Schumer framed housing as the starting point of a broader Democratic push on affordability, arguing it is the largest and most unavoidable expense for most families.
“We meet right now at a moment of crisis for the American spirit,” Schumer said. “Tens of millions of families are living paycheck to paycheck and asking whether the country still delivers opportunity for them and their children. For too many Americans, the answer has become no, and the reason is the cost of living is far too high.”
The event was moderated by Neera Tanden, who served as director of the United States Domestic Policy Council from 2023 to 2025 and previously worked as a senior adviser and staff secretary under President Joe Biden.
Tanden opened the discussion by pointing to the scale of the housing problem, noting that rents in many parts of the country have risen 30% to 50% since the start of the pandemic and that the median age of a first-time homebuyer has climbed to 40. Owning a home, she said, increasingly feels like an impossible dream.
Schumer echoed that concern, calling the homebuyer statistic devastating and arguing it should shake leaders at every level of government. He said housing costs squeeze every other part of a family’s budget, leaving less room for savings, healthcare, or retirement.
“Right now, America is short millions of housing units, and that shortage is driving up costs everywhere,” Schumer said.
He laid out what he described as a comprehensive Democratic housing agenda, centered on four broad goals: reducing rents, expanding access to homeownership, curbing what he called predatory corporate behavior, and dramatically increasing housing construction.
On rental costs, Schumer pointed to Democrats’ track record during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Congress passed large-scale rental assistance and emergency housing vouchers. He said Democrats would push to expand rental relief and Section 8 vouchers further.
On homeownership, Schumer said Democrats would focus on lowering upfront costs for buyers, easing access to mortgages, and addressing rising homeowners insurance premiums, particularly in wildfire- and disaster-prone areas.
He also took aim at corporate landlords and institutional investors, saying Democrats would work to stop companies from “gobbling up entire neighborhoods” and turning them into profit machines. That includes cracking down on the use of pricing algorithms that allow landlords to effectively collude and push rents higher, as well as eliminating what he called rental junk fees.
“We’ve delivered on ending junk fees before, and we’re going to do it again,” Schumer said.
On supply, Schumer argued that building more housing is unavoidable if costs are going to come down. He said a Democratic majority would pair federal incentives with pressure on states and localities to reform restrictive zoning and land-use rules.
“We have to build more housing, plain and simple,” he said.
Schumer repeatedly pointed to the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act, legislation championed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), as a starting point. While the bill advanced in the Senate, Schumer accused House Republicans of blocking it and said Trump had not intervened to move it forward.
Trump, meanwhile, has targeted housing as part of his own affordability message. Last week, the president said he is moving to block large institutional investors from purchasing additional single-family homes and urged Congress to codify the policy into law.
Firms that own more than 1,000 properties account for more than 10% of the single-family rental market in a handful of metro areas, though their overall footprint nationwide remains relatively limited. Still, restricting institutional ownership has drawn rare bipartisan interest. Senate Democrats pursued similar limits last year, and several Republicans praised Trump’s announcement and signaled plans to introduce legislation.
Trump has also argued that affordability is already improving. Speaking Tuesday in Detroit, he teased a series of additional initiatives he said would roll out in the coming weeks, including a healthcare framework and new housing policies.
The president has pointed to expanded federal involvement in the mortgage market as part of that message, proposing that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchase $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities to drive down borrowing costs.
“This will drive mortgage rates DOWN, monthly payments DOWN, and make the cost of owning a home more affordable,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week.
Schumer acknowledged that curbing institutional investors has broad appeal but accused Trump of posturing rather than governing.
“The only decent idea Donald Trump has floated on housing is one he stole from Democrats,” Schumer said, arguing the president has failed to pressure congressional Republicans to pass legislation.
Beyond investor restrictions, Schumer said Trump’s broader housing posture would raise costs instead of lowering them. He accused the administration of driving up construction prices through tariffs on imported materials, which he said add roughly $17,500 to the cost of building a new home.
He also criticized proposals he said could destabilize housing finance, including renewed talk of privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and suggestions of longer-term mortgages.
That debate has now collided with a broader controversy surrounding the Federal Reserve. Earlier this week, the Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into Chairman Jerome Powell, an unprecedented step. Powell disclosed the investigation publicly on Sunday night, following accusations that he lied during testimony before Congress last year.
The Justice Department has not publicly accused Powell of wrongdoing.
The inquiry has alarmed economists and lawmakers in both parties, who warn that even the existence of a DOJ investigation could undermine the Fed’s independence, spook lenders, and keep mortgage rates elevated.
Schumer seized on that concern, arguing that politicizing housing finance would only worsen affordability. “When there’s chaos and politicization at the Fed, interest rates are more likely to go higher and stay higher,” he said.
Democrats are trying to tie housing to a broader cost-of-living message rather than treat it in isolation. Schumer framed the party’s housing push as the first step in an agenda he calls “Opportunity Starts at Home,” arguing that lowering domestic costs should be Washington’s top priority.
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“What the American people want isn’t rocket science,” Schumer said. “They want lower costs, an ability to live a decent life, and to feel positive about the future.”
Housing, Schumer said, is just the beginning.