Up First from NPR - Trump Vs Thune, Road To Housing Act, Democratic Socialist Win In New York Primaries

Starting point is 00:00:00 President Trump could be in for a tense lunchday with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill today. Last night, four Republican 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'mi Martinez. That's Michelle Martin, and this is up 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. hear about whether it'll actually make homes more affordable. And all the congressional candidates endorsed by Mayor Zoran Mammani won primaries in New York last night. We are showing there is a new path for

Starting point is 00:00:42 politics in our city and in our country. Now the Democratic Party is wrestling with how far left it should go heading into the midterm. Stay with us. We'll give you news you need to start your day. 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 for 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 Thune about not getting what he wants done. NPR congressional reporter Sam Greenglass has been keeping a

Starting point is 00:01:28 close eye on this relationship and he's with us now. Good morning, Sam. Good morning, Michelle. So how is this disconnect playing out on the hill? So just to give you one example of this, Leader Thune 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 Thune 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 a.m. social media posts. Senate Republicans were stunned. The blowback was swift. Alaska, Senator Lisa Murkowski described it to me. like sled dog startled by a moose.

Starting point is 00:02:09 You got half the team going over here and half the team going over here. It is chaos. And then what that musher has to do is he's got to stop and spend all of his time untangling this mess. And as the musher of the Senate, Thune 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.

Starting point is 00:02:42 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 Thune to skirt the 60 vote threshold there by eliminating the filibuster. Last week in a post that actually mentioned Thune, he called anyone against that idea a fool. The White House said in a statement that Trump enjoys working with him. Thune, but Michelle, it's Thune that often has to give Trump a reality check. So what does all this say, what do these episodes say about Thune and his relationship with Trump? Yeah, Republican Senator John Kennedy told me Thune is like a golden retriever. No one dislikes him. Translation there,

Starting point is 00:03:22 Trump's conflict with Thune is really just not personal. And most of the Republican caucus is still behind their leader. And for Thune, the filibuster is about preserving the consensus-driven nature of the Senate. That's what former Republican Senator Saxby-Cambliss of Georgia told me he's a friend of Thunes. He feels very strongly that the institution matters. And we get the best legislation when you have input by a Republican and 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 incumbents. He sees as disloyal. Some of those departing members now feel more

Starting point is 00:04:14 uninhibited, like Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, who provided a crucial vote to advance that War Powers Act. I did ask soon 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 Thune told me he is trying his best. That is, NPR Sam Greenglass. Sam, thank you. You're welcome.

Starting point is 00:04:42 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 NPR personal finance reporter, Stephen Bassaha. Stephen, good morning. Good morning, Michelle. So, homeownership is a big part of the American dream, but it's just financially out of reach for many people right now.

Starting point is 00:05:03 Why is that? Yeah, well, there are a lot of reasons the cost of homeownership has gone up. Like, you know, mortgage rates have risen over the past several years. Wages have recently fallen behind inflation. The cost of land alone has skyrocketed about 75% since the pandemic. And then there's the classic supply and demand problem. The U.S. is short millions of homes. By some counts about four or five million units short of the demand.

Starting point is 00:05:28 And you know, that sends prices up. So what does this legislation try to do to make homeownership 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 gobbling up these homes by putting down cash offers. And that also drives up prices. So this legislation will make it so those big investors can't buy it 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.

Starting point is 00:06:10 And she 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 next 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

Starting point is 00:06:42 environmental review, builders really can skip that step. Another provision creates a grant to have communities develop, like essentially a Sears catalog of pre-approved housing designs, so builders need fewer approvals to get up to code. And when asked researchers, there was, like, one thing they were most excited about. this corner of the housing market that sort of has been forgotten about and stigmatized. Okay, what corner is that? That is manufactured homes. They are cheaper to build than other homes, and this bill will make it so that's even cheaper

Starting point is 00:07:13 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 just not needed in many cases. That alone could save $5,000 or $10,000 with the price tag, so it can make a pretty big difference here. Okay, yeah, I see that point. But, you know, housing problems have been a problem for a while.

Starting point is 00:07:38 I mean, 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, you know, take time to encourage more new home building and just actually build the homes. The bill also encourages local governments to do some reforms because they have actually a lot of power over how fast houses get built. and there would 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.

Starting point is 00:08:12 That is. And Parapersonal finance reporter, Stephen Bessaha. 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 after the victories of two Democratic Socialist candidates in congressional primaries. And less than a year after taking office, New York mayor Zoran Mamdani swept the first major test of his political influence within the city, thanks to primary wins by candidates he backed. Reporter Steve Kastenbaum was following last night's result, and he's with us now for an early morning after a late night. Thanks, Steve.

Starting point is 00:08:52 Oh, my pleasure. Thank you. So how did the night turn out for Mamdani and his slate of Democratic candidates? Well, the mayor really flexed his muscle in this election, and it paid off in a very big way. All three candidates he backed, won their president. primary races. And in one of the biggest upsets last night, five-term Democratic Congressman Adriano Espayat went down in a narrow loss to Democratic socialist Daryaliza Avela Chevalier. Mayor Mamdani spoke at her election night party after the Associated Press called the race. And it is because you poured your hearts into this. Because you poured your

Starting point is 00:09:27 hopes into this that we are showing there is a new path for politics in our city and in our country. Esbayat 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 these primary winners? How did they, those who were aligned with, how did they talk about their victory? Well, they were celebrating, of course. Sovalier used her victory to fire a shot at that democratic power structure. Today we make it clear. The politics of the past ends today. Momdani also stumped heavily for Claire Valdez.

Starting point is 00:10:08 She's a state assembly member. She was declared the winner in Brooklyn's 7th congressional district. That seat is being vacated by retiring Representative Nidia Velazquez, the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress. She backed another candidate, Antonio Reynoso. Valdez is also with the DSA, the Democratic Socialists of America. The candidates backed by Mamdani 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.

Starting point is 00:10:40 All of these districts are heavily Democratic, so all three will likely go on to D.C. Okay, Steve, to your point, though, these primaries happen in 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, Mayor Maldani and his followers are arguing that this energizes young voters. voters and they think it could help with voter turnout in the fall. They think that their anti-corruption, anti-billionaire, pro-affordability message resonates with a broad range of Americans, centrist Democrats. They have their concerns.

Starting point is 00:11:13 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. Real quick, Steve, there's a toss-up race left in New York. Suburb, Democrats hope to flip a seat held by Republicans. Republican Representative Mike Lawler had that turnout. Well, Kate Conley, an Army combat vet and a former member of the Biden administration, won that race, beat her a close opponent by a wide margin. Democrats expected to pour a lot of money into that race to defeat Lawler.

Starting point is 00:11:46 He's trying to distance himself from President Trump, but the president campaigned for him at a rally in his district. That is reporter Steve Kastenbaum in New York. Steve, thank you. My pleasure. And that's up first for Wednesday, June 24th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm May Martinez. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Jason Breslo, Kara Plotoni, Padma, Padma, Mohamed El Bardisi, and Olivia Hampton, who's produced by Zia Bunch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hines.

Starting point is 00:12:17 Our technical director is Carly Strange, and our supervising producer is Rina Abani. Join us again tomorrow.

Up First from NPR - Trump Vs Thune, Road To Housing Act, Democratic Socialist Win In New York Primaries

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