From “Congress passes the largest housing affordability bill in decades — and Trump cancels the signing” by Stephan Bisaha at npr.org: “If there’s room for agreement on anything in Washington, it’s that lawmakers need to do something to make homeownership more affordable. On Tuesday, legislators on both sides of the aisle clinched the final vote in the House to pass the largest piece of housing legislation in decades…The bill, called the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, passed 358-32 in the House. The Senate approved it Monday with similarly overwhelming bipartisan support…But that unity was threatened Wednesday morning when President Trump posted on social media that he was abruptly canceling a signing ceremony for the bill unless Congress passes a strict voter ID bill called the Save America Act…A number of factors have made homes out of reach for many U.S. buyers. According to the real estate broker Redfin, a family needs an income of about $117,000 a year to afford the typical home on the market, almost $30,000 more than what most U.S. households earn…But the main issue this bill tries to address is that the U.S. does not have enough houses to keep up with demand. Realtor.com estimated that last year the U.S. was short by more than 4 million housing units…Rather than making a single change, the bill is a hodgepodge of provisions designed to either encourage housing construction or make it easier for home seekers to buy. The flashiest part of the package is a ban that prevents corporate investors from buying up more single-family homes to rent out. If one of those groups already owns at least 350 houses, it won’t be able to buy others…this is still the largest housing affordability bill to come out of Congress in decades, and researchers and those in the housing industry say it could help make homeownership more accessible…Sen. Warren put it this way: “It has just been more than 30 years since the federal government has done anything but sit by and say, ‘Damn, the price of housing sure has gone up.’ Finally, we are actually moving.”
“New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani wasn’t on the ballot Tuesday, but he may have been the biggest winner of the night,” Averi Harper writes in “Mamdani won big, but it’s a mistake to think all Democrats swung left: ANALYSIS” at abcnews.com. “All three of the candidates he endorsed in New York City — Claire Valdez, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander — won their respective races. Lander and Avila Chevalier defeated better-funded incumbents with deep establishment support. Valdez overcame Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, the preferred successor of retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez…The victories show that Mamdani’s political influence extends beyond his own campaign, helping propel allies to victory. His endorsement is proving to be a meaningful signal to an energized progressive base. The results underscore his growing ability to shape the direction of Democratic politics in the nation’s largest city…The wins are especially notable because they came in races where Mamdani found himself at odds with some of the Democratic establishment, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Jeffries backed Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat, both of whom lost. Asked by ABC News Wednesday whether voters had sent him a message by rejecting candidates he supported, Jeffries declined to engage and instead pivoted to New York’s 17th Congressional District, where Democrats are hoping to defeat Republican Rep. Mike Lawler this fall…The New York City races were about affordability, but they were also flashpoints in some of the party’s biggest internal debates. Immigration enforcement, Israel and Gaza and ongoing frustration with the political establishment all played a role…Throughout the campaign, Mamdani and his allies argued that Democrats need to do a better job speaking to working-class voters struggling with the cost of living.”
After Tuesday’s victories, Mamdani framed the results as evidence that voters are hungry for politics that put working people at the center of the conversation.”…”At the same time,” Harper continues, “the broader primary results are a reminder that Democratic voters are not moving uniformly to the left…Just north of New York City, in the battleground 17th District, combat veteran Cait Conley won her crowded primary as a more moderate Democrat. On the campaign trail, she focused on national security and affordability, largely steering clear of some of the party’s biggest intraparty fights…And across the country in Utah’s newly drawn 1st District, former Rep. Ben McAdams, a centrist Democrat, prevailed over further-left progressives…Taken together, the results suggest Democratic voters are being highly pragmatic. In deep-blue districts, they’re embracing progressive candidates who promise dramatic change and are willing to challenge the party establishment. In swing districts and suburban battlegrounds, they’re continuing to gravitate toward candidates they believe can win competitive general elections…Democratic leaders around the country aren’t going to copy-and-paste New York City politics, but these results do reinforce that many Democratic voters are demanding a more aggressive message and messengers.”
In “Latino Voters Are Reconsidering. Many who supported Trump in 2024 are starting to voice their doubts,” Natasha S. Alford writes at The Preamble: “President Trump may be losing his touch with many of the Latino voters who once supported him. A recent poll by UnidosUS, a bipartisan Latino advocacy group, found that 25% of those who voted for him in 2024 say they’d make a different choice today…While Trump’s approval numbers overall have tanked to the lowest since he took office, the drop in Latino support is notable given the hoopla about how successfully he’d made inroads into Latino communities, who were once seen as Democratic Party strongholds…In 2016 during his first run for president, Trump had the support of just 28% of Latino voters. That number jumped up to 36% in 2020, even though Trump lost the general election. In 2024, the number of Latino Trump voters reached 48%, representing one piece of a racially and ethnically diverse coalition that handed him a second term…Latino voters who are now turning away from Trump explain the shift by pointing to the economy and unaffordable living costs, combined with harsh immigration policies and the Iran war. Leaders like Guesnerth Josué Perea of the Afro-Latin@ Forum have witnessed up close and personal the reality of Trump’s promises not matching the dream he sold to communities…“A church that I know very well, their voters were majority for Trump,” Perea tells The Preamble. “Then their church immediately after the inauguration had to create emergency response protocols for people being deported and wrongfully detained in the streets right outside near the church.”…According to recent estimates, ICE deported more than 540,000 immigrants in 2025 alone. Latinos accounted for 9 in 10 arrests made by ICE. Critics say the pressure to hit deportation quotas has led immigration enforcement to a “by any means necessary” approach, which has included rounding up community members, elders, and children everywhere from the halls of immigration hearings to graduations.” More here.
