POLITICO: GOP grapples with housing affordability message

November 24, 2025 -- The following is an excerpt of an article published in Politico:

Whether it’s rolling back construction red tape or freezing the rent, both camps have highlighted ideas to address the affordable housing crisis.

Republican lawmakers are in a position to address voters’ affordability concerns by boosting the homebuilding sector, said Sarah Chamberlain, president of the economically focused, GOP political action committee Republican Main Street Partnership.

Experts have blamed a short supply of housing for rising costs. Zillow, a real estate marketplace company, estimates that the country is short 4.7 million homes.

Republicans could “own this issue” by rolling back homebuilding regulations, said Chamberlain.

That could look like reducing environmental review requirements for federally supported housing construction — a piece of the bipartisan legislation sponsored by GOP Main Street Caucus Chair Rep. Mike Flood of Nebraska and Missouri Democrat Rep. Emanuel Cleaver — or working with state and local governments to revise zoning and building codes.

“We really have a housing crisis,” Chamberlain said. “This is something that I would every day be talking about back home, if I was a member of Congress.”

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