Democratic Socialist Wins in New York

President Trump could be in for a tense lunch day 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'm mean Martinez, that's Michelle Martin, and this is a first from. PR 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 Mor Zoran Mong Gane won 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 midterm. Stay with us, we'll give you news you need to start your day This message comes from NPR sponsor, Rocket Money. 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Alloy connects you with specialized doctors so you can navigate menopause with real support and care built for this stage of life. Right now, new customers get twenty dollars off sitewide when you visit myalloy. com and use code NPR 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 Thoon 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. Good morning, Michelle. So how is this disconnect playing out on the hill? So just to give you one example of this, Majority Leader Thoon 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 If Don 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 four AM social media post. Senate Republicans were stunned. The blowback was swift Alaska, Senator Lisa Murkowski described it to me like sled dog 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 musher has to do is he's got to stop and spend all of his time untangling this mess. the musher of the Senate, Thon 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 Thon to skirt the sixty vote threshold there by eliminating the filibuster. Last week in a post that actually mentioned Thoon, he called anyone against that idea a fool The White House said in a statement that Trump enjoys working with Thounon, 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 Thoe and his relationship with Trump Yeah, Republican Senator John Kennedy told me Thune is like a golden retriever. No one dislikes him. Translation there Trump's conflict with Thune is really just not personal. And most of the Republican caaucus 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 Chamlis of Georgia told me he's a friend of He feels very strongly that the institution matters. And we get the best legislation. When you have input by Republican and Democrats. 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 twenty twenty than twenty twenty six, pushing old claims about stolen elections and targeting incumbents he sees as disloyal. Some of those departing members now feel more uninhibited, like Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, who provided a crucial vote to advance that W Powers A I did ask Thunon 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 Thoon told me he is trying his best. That is and are Sam Greenlass. 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 NPR personal Fance reporter Stehven Basaha. Stehven, 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. 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 seventy five percent since the pandemic And then there's the classic supply and demand problem. The US is short millions of homes. by some counts, it's 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 homeownership more attainable 's 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 more than three hundred fifty 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 the bill with Republican Senator Tim Scott And 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. belieieve me, you're on that list. Okay, so that's one change, but this bill has more than forty 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 regulations For example, if there's a new building going up between two that already got an environmental review builders where they can skip that step Another provision creates a grant to have communities develop like essentially a serars catalog of pre approved housing designs, so builders need fewer approvals to get up to code And when ask 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? Yeah That is manufactured homes. They are cheaper to build in other homes and this will make it so that it'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 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 save five or ten thousand dollarsth 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. 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 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 Warren said it's been about thirty years since the federal government really took on any major housing legislation Now she says lawmakers have finally actually moved. That is NPR personal finance reporter, Stehven Basa. Stehven, thank Thank you Following New Yor'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. In 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 act Reporter Steve Kastenbaum was following last night's results, 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 Mom Donning 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 primary races. and in one of the biggest upsets last night Five term Democratic Cgressman Adriano Espayat went down in a narrow loss to Democratic socialist Daria Liza Avilas Chvaler. ir momom Donny 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 hopes into this that we are showing there is a new path for politics in our city and in our country. Espayot chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He sits on the very powerful Aropriations Committee. This is a huge loss for the Democratic establishment And what about these primary winners? How did they those who are aligned with Mom Dami? How did they talk about their victory Well they were celebrating, of course, Ser Valier used her victory to fire a shot at that Democratic power structure. Today we make it clear It's a day Mondani 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 Nittv Alazquez, the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress. She backed another candidate, Antonio Reenoso. Valdez is also with the DSA, the Democratic Socialists of America The candidates backed by Mam Donni were highly critical of Israeli actions in Gaza. That includes former New York City comproller 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, 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 Momani 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 affordability message resonates with a 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