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Exclusive / Trump drives up housing costs, liberal group says

Eleanor Mueller
Eleanor Mueller
Congress Reporter, Semafor
Jul 21, 2025, 5:41am EDT
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Housing construction in California
Mike Blake/Reuters

The progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative will release a new analysis today, shared first with Semafor, that lays out how Trump’s tariff policies, funding cuts, and privatization ideas are making it more expensive to rent, buy, and build housing.

It includes new polling that finds six in 10 voters believe the administration’s actions will raise housing costs. As construction declines, “we’re just seeing a sclerosis in the market, and Trump is not doing anything to make it better,” Groundwork Collaborative’s Alex Jacquez told Semafor. “People are pretty sour.”

A spokesperson for the the Department of Housing and Urban Development dismissed the analysis as “propaganda … by radical Democrats,” arguing that Trump is cutting “miles of red tape” created by the Biden administration.

The Senate Banking Committee is in talks to advance housing legislation this month.

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