Voters have been clear about what they want most: a country that feels affordable again. The previous administration treated prices like numbers on a chart. President Donald Trump has instead tackled the issue head-on, with sweeping reforms aimed at the everyday costs squeezing family budgets. He’s now tackling housing, one of the primary drivers of the affordability crisis.
There was never going to be a quick fix after years of bad policy and misplaced priorities, but his idea is a no-brainer. For several years, large institutional investors purchased single-family homes to operate as rental properties. If home ownership is going to remain a cornerstone of the American dream, those homes should be available to families and other aspiring homeowners who likely can’t compete with a big investor.
The approach is popular. A February survey found that voters support limits on institutional investors buying single-family homes by a margin of 58 percent to 22 percent. Once again, Trump has tapped into the mainstream and delivered a straightforward and effective policy proposal. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, and other Republicans in Congress now must pass legislation that puts the President’s vision into action. This is a targeted, focused idea that is easy to understand and easy to execute. Attempts to overengineer a policy solution would raise the risk that what was once a popular idea collapses under its own weight.
The more complicated the effort becomes, the less likely it is to deliver the affordability Americans demand. Yet some Republicans appear determined to complicate an idea that was already working just fine. There is a growing desire within the GOP to bring Democrats like Senator Elizabeth Warren into the fold — the same Elizabeth Warren who was one of the loudest voices driving the Biden administration into the current housing crisis. It is a mystery why any Republican would invite Warren’s input on the matter, especially since they – and President Trump — will be stuck with the results.
The risk here is obvious. Trump and his fellow Republicans have the framework for a clear win on housing affordability, but they are inviting Warren to use it as a vehicle to exact punishments on Wall Street and other public enemies of far-left Democrats. That approach would certainly generate headlines, but it would miss the point. The final legislation should remain laser-focused on affordability, but Warren’s political agenda risks freezing capital, slowing new construction, and pushing the country further behind in adding the supply needed to bring costs down.
In short, bringing Warren into the process risks worsening the underlying housing problem. It is a trap for Republicans who want to appear bipartisan, even though few Americans are expecting or demanding a Democrat’s name on the bill. Republicans should take the straightest route to accomplishing the goal of making housing more affordable rather than inviting chaos in the name of compromise.
Voters are paying attention. They reward results, not process. Republicans have a straightforward path to deliver real relief for aspiring homeowners and a substantive victory for President Trump. Layering Warren’s dangerous ideas on top of a straightforward solution for the sake of optics risks turning a clear win into an avoidable failure.
Robert Romano is the Executive Director of Americans for Limited Government.
