lpetrich
Contributor
What might be done? "Congress dorms"?
Maxwell Frost, 1st Gen Z member of Congress, denied D.C. apartment due to credit : NPR
Maxwell Frost, 1st Gen Z member of Congress, denied D.C. apartment due to credit : NPR
Frost told NPR that he posted his tweet in a moment of frustration, but also to highlight this serious problem of affordability and accessibility in the D.C. political world for people who don't come from wealth. While Frost dealt specifically with a credit rejection, other incoming lawmakers and politicians —especially younger members — have dealt with Washington's lack of affordable housing in recent years.
"[Frost] just stating this publicly is kind of saying the quiet part out loud and shining a light on a reality that it's incredibly expensive to live in D.C., to be young in D.C., and then maintain it even for members of Congress," Casey Burgat, the legislative affairs program director at George Washington University.
This lack of affordability has a trickle-down effect, Burgat said.
"It makes Congress exactly what it's been for so long: A disproportionately wealthy, disproportionately white institution," Burgat said. "This is a main contributor for why people can't afford to run for office. It's not seen as a viable path. And though we're getting a little bit better at our diversity, we still have a long way to go and the cost of it is not getting cheaper."