Senator Elizabeth Warren addressed the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington, D.C., outlining the need for urgent actions to address rising housing costs and criticizing the impact of President Donald Trump's trade policies. Warren highlighted "Donald Trump is personally making it impossible for more Americans to own a home: the National Association of Home Builders estimates that the tariffs President Trump put in place last month would add more than $9,000 to the cost of building a home."
Warren continued by expressing concern over "Trump's latest chaotic round of tariffs" that "will drive up housing costs even more and could force more Americans into heartbreaking realizations that they just can’t afford the dream they thought they could."
During her speech, Warren criticized various administrative actions that could exacerbate the housing crisis. She cited recent cuts at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) as detrimental to home affordability. She emphasized, "HUD has cancelled or frozen tens of millions of dollars in grants... Hundreds of affordable housing development projects across the country that were well underway are now in limbo."
Warren called for bipartisan cooperation to address these crises, acknowledging agreement with Chairman Tim Scott. She emphasized the role of federal agencies in the housing sector, noting that cuts to HUD and FHFA "will make buying and selling homes more expensive for current homeowners and, for those who don’t yet have homes, move the dream of homeownership further out of reach."
She urged the federal government to actively support housing supply initiatives and called on Congress to "create incentives for localities to modernize building codes and improve zoning so the cost of building housing drops."
Warren expressed the potential for bipartisan solutions to address the affordability crisis, referencing collaboration with various members of Congress on housing legislation. Despite political challenges, she committed to pursuing legislative measures to increase housing supply, stating, "We need to solve this side of the problem too."
Warren concluded by affirming her commitment to working with the Mortgage Bankers Association and other stakeholders to bring housing solutions forward.