His immigration and trade policies could also raise construction costs. About 30% of construction workers are undocumented, and many are avoiding work due to fear of immigration raids. The U.S. also imports building materials like lumber from Canada and Mexico. Tariffs on these materials are on hold for now, but the future is unclear.
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Trump and DOGE want to cut half the staff at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD oversees affordable housing programs, distributes grants to build housing, and upholds fair housing laws.
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Trump campaigned on lowering the cost of living and making housing more affordable, but his actual policies could end up doing the opposite.
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During his first term in office, Trump also changed rules at the Department of Labor. Because of this, over 8 million workers lost their right to earn overtime pay. This cut those workers’ wages by over $1 billion a year.
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Workers can fight for better pay and better working conditions by coming together and bargaining as a group. For years, Republican leaders have stopped new laws that would give workers more power to speak up without being punished and make it easier to form unions. During his first term, Trump promised to undo policies that […]
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Trump made the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) weaker by firing one of its members, Gwynne Wilcox. That made it hard for the board to make decisions on important worker’s rights cases.Trump also picked Acting General Counsel William Cowen. Cowen wrote rules that made it harder to protect workers and help them earn more money.