Trump Vs Thune, Road To Housing Act, Democratic Socialist Win In New York Primaries

Hill today. Last night, four Republicans senators voted with Democrats on a resolution to end the war with Iran, but other issues like still high gas prices could also put indigestion on the menu.

I mean, Martinez, that's Michelle Martin, and this is a first from NPR news.

Congress passed the biggest housing bill in decades with support from both parties. It bans big investors from buying up single family homes and makes it easier to build. We'll hear about whether it'll actually make homes more affordable. And all the congressional candidates endorsed by Mayor Zaramam Donate, one primaries in New York last night.

We are showing there is a new path for politics in our city and in our country. Now the Democratic Party is wrestling with how far left it should go heading into the mid term. Stay with us.

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This is true. This is true. Mysteries of every size each week, this American life, wherever you get your podcasts. This is Tanya Mosley, co-host of Fresh Air. We talk about fatherhood, healing and how prison changed him.

He's been out 29 years, but he says, the psychological wounds are different than my physical wounds. Listen to Fresh Air on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. President Trump is set to have lunch on Capitol Hill today with Senate Republicans. The meal comes amid rising tensions between Trump and his congressional colleagues.

Last night, four Senate Republicans voted with Democrats to advance a resolution directing Trump to pull troops out of the conflict with Iran. On the other hand, Trump has also repeatedly blown up their strategy for getting legislation passed, even while venting his frustration online with majority leader John Thun about not getting what he wants done.

NPR Congressional reporter Sam Green Glass has been keeping a close eye on this relationship and he's with us now. Good morning, Sam.

“So, so how is this disconnect playing out on the Hill?”

So, just to give you one example of this, majority leader Thun thought he had a plan last week to get this key spy tool reauthorized, Democrats were threatening to block it over Trump's pick for acting director of national intelligence and if Thun could quickly confirm a more acceptable permanent pick, the crisis could be averted. Then just before that confirmation hearing, Trump blew up the plan in a 4 AM social media

post Senate Republicans were stunned, the blowback was swift, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski described it to me like sled dogs startled by a moose. You got half the team going over here and half the team going over here, it is chaos. And then what that mushroom has to do is he's got to stop and spend all of his time untangling this mess.

And as the mousher of the Senate, Thun has had to untangle lots of these messes lately. So, why can't they get on the same page when it comes to strategy is it that they don't agree on the goal or what is it? So this conflict stems in large part from Trump's push for a strict voter ID law, the

Save America Act, he says Republicans will never win another election without it.

The reality is that there are just not the votes to pass it in the Senate. Trump has called on Thun to skirt the 60 vote threshold there by eliminating the filibuster last week in a post that actually mentioned Thun, he called anyone against that idea of fool. The White House said in the statement that Trump enjoys working with Thun, but Michelle,

it's Thun that often has to give Trump a reality check. So what does all this say, what are these episodes say about Thun and his relationship with Trump? Yeah, Republicans Senator John Kennedy told me Thun is like a golden retriever, no one dislikes him translation there, Trump's conflict with Thun is really just not personal.

And most of the Republican caucus is still behind their leader. And for Thun, the filibuster is about preserving the consensus driven nature of the Senate.

“That's what former Republican Senator Saxby Chamblis of Georgia told me he's a friend”

of Thun's. He feels very strongly that the institution matters and we get the best legislation when you have input by a Republican in Democrat. So Sam, are there tangible implications as a result of this friction between the two men? Some Republicans worry Trump is undercutting their shared agenda and focusing more on 2020

than 2026 pushing old claims about stolen elections and targeting incumbens, he sees this disloyal.

who provided a crucial vote to advance that war powers act.

“I did ask Thun whether he worries Trump's actions will hurt Republicans this fall.”

And he said focusing on pocketbook issues will be the path to keeping the majority. I pressed him though, if it is hard to stay focused on those things right now. And Thun told me he is trying his best. That is. And Paris Sam Greenglass.

Sam, thank you. You're welcome. Congress passed the largest housing bill in decades last night with strong bipartisan support. The measure now heads to the President's desk for a signature, so what will it actually do to help with housing affordability?

Here to tell us about it is in pair of personal financial supporters Stephen Bassaha. Stephen Good morning. Good morning Michelle. So home ownership is a big part of the American dream, but it's just financially out of reach for many people right now.

Why is that? Yeah, well, there are a lot of reasons the cost of home ownership has gone up. Like, you know, mortgage rates have risen over the past several years. Weages have recently fallen behind inflation. The cost of land alone is skyrocketed about 75% since the pandemic.

And then there's the classic supply in the man problem.

The US is short millions of homes by some counts about four or five million units short

of the demand. And you know that sends prices up.

“So what does this legislation try to do to make home ownership more attainable?”

Well, probably the part of the bill that's gotten the most attention is that it will ban corporate investors from buying up tons of single family homes. Politicians like Massachusetts, Senator Elizabeth Warren and President Trump have all blamed private equity for gabbling up these homes by putting down cash offers. And that also drives up prices.

So the legislation will make it so those big investors can't buy up more than 350 homes. Now, these investors, they do just make up a tiny fraction of the overall housing market. But I did speak with Senator Warren, a Democrat who co-sponsored a bill with Republican Senator Tim Scott. It's you pointed out how in some places like Atlanta corporations own a big slice of the market.

If you don't live in a neighborhood where private equity has already moved in, believe me, you're on list. Okay, so that's one change, but this bill has more than 40 parts to it. What else stands out to you? Yeah, one of the core ideas of this bill is to make it easier for home builders to build

homes. And it does that by streamlining federal housing regulation. Like, for example, if there's a new building going up between two that already got an environmental review, builders really can skip that step. Another provision creates a grant to have communities develop, like essentially a serious

catalog of pre-approved housing designs. So builders need fewer approvals to get to code. And when that's researchers, there was like one thing they were most excited about. This corner of the housing market that sort has been forgotten about and stigmatized. Okay, what corner is that?

That is manufactured homes. They are cheaper to build in other homes. And this will make it so that's even cheaper by getting rid of a part that most owners don't even need. That is this permanent chassis, this metal frame that lets you transport it.

You know, mobile homes are rarely actually mobile, they usually stay in just one spot. This bill gets rid of that chassis requirement because it's not needed in many cases. That alone could say $5 or $10,000 of the price tags, so it can make a pretty big difference here. Okay, yeah, I see that point.

So housing problems have been a problem for a while and you've been reporting on this. If President Trump signs this bill, like he's expected to do, how soon before Americans could notice some relief? Well, it's going to take a while to feel most effects of this bill. It's just going to take time to encourage more new home building and just actually build

the homes. The bill also encourages local government to do some reforms because they have actually a lot of power over how fast houses get build. And there will still be other challenges, like mortgage rates and land costs. But, you know, Warren said it's been about 30 years since the federal government really

took on any major housing legislation.

Now she says lawmakers have finally actually moved.

That is, and parapersonal finance reporter Stephen Basal has, Stephen, thank you. Thank you. Following New York's primary Tuesday night, the Democratic Party is facing questions about its future and just how far left it will go. Over the victories of two Democratic socialist candidates in congressional primaries.

I'm less than a year after taking office, New York mayor Zoran Mamdoni swept the first major test of his political influence within the city thanks to primary winds by candidates he backed. We're put a Steve Castenbaum was following last night's result, and he's with us now for an early morning after a late night, thanks Steve.

Oh, my pleasure. Thank you.

“So how did the night turn out for Mamdoni and his slate of Democratic candidates?”

Well, the mayor really flexed his muscle in this election and a paid off in a very big way. All three candidates he backed won their primary races, and in one of the biggest upsets last night, five term Democratic congressmen, Adriano S. Bayot, went down in a narrow loss to Democratic socialist Daria Lisa Avila Chavallier, Mayor Mamdoni spoke

And it is because you poured your hearts into this.

“Because you poured your hopes into this, that we are showing there is a new path for politics”

in our city and in our country.

S. Bayot chairs the congressional Hispanic caucus, he sits on the very powerful appropriations

committee. This is a huge loss for the Democratic establishment. And what about this primary winners? How did they, those who are aligned with Mamdoni? How did they talk about their victory?

Well, they were celebrating, of course, of all year, used her victory to fire a shot at that Democratic power structure. Today we make it clear. The politics of the past ends today.

“Mamdoni also stumped heavily for Claire Valdez, she's a state assembly member.”

She was declared the winner in Brooklyn's seventh congressional district. That seat is being vacated by retiring representative Nitya Velazquez, the first Puerto Recon woman elected to Congress. She backed another candidate, Antonio Reinozo, Valdez is also with the DSA, the Democratic Socialists of America.

The candidates backed by Mamdoni were highly critical of Israeli actions in Gaza, that includes

former New York City Comptroller, Brad Lander, he's a close friend of the mayor, and he had a big win over incumbent Congressman Dan Goldman. All of these districts are heavily democratic, so all three will likely go on to DC. Okay, Stu, to your point though, these primaries happen and what are considered safe, blue, districts in New York City.

“So how do these wins fit into the broader aim of the Democratic effort to retake the”

house in November? Well, Mamdoni and his followers are arguing that this energizes young voters and they think it could help with voter turnout in the fall. They think that their anti-corruption anti-billionaire pro-affortability message resonates with the broad range of Americans, centrist Democrats, they have their concerns.

They need to flip seats in swing districts to win over moderate Republicans to do that. And they worry that the move further to the left could hurt that effort. The Republican Party could use socialist wins to argue that Dems moving the country too far to the left. Ruequixity, there's a toss-up race left in New York, several Democrats hope to flip a

seat held by Republican representative Mike Lawler had that turnout. Well, Kate Conley and Army Combat vet and a former member of the Biden administration, and that race beat her close opponent by a wide margin, Democrats expected to pour a lot of money into that race to defeat Lawler. He's trying to distance himself from President Trump, but the President campaign for him

at a rally in his district. That is reporter Steve Castanbaum in New York City. Thank you. My pleasure.

And that's up first for Wednesday, June 24th, I'm Michelle Martin.

And I mean, Martinez, today's episode of Up First, was edited by Jason Braslow, Caraplatoni, Padma Rama, Mohamed Elbardisi, and Olivia Hampton was produced by Ziyat Baj, and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas, we get engineering support from Nisha Heines, our technical director is currently strange, and our supervising producer is Rina Adbani, who is going us again tomorrow.

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