Biden’s Rent-Control Scheme Is a Dumb Idea Expressed Thoughtlessly

Midway through his press conference at the close of last week’s NATO summit, Joe Biden trailed off into what seemed like a bizarre digression. “I’m not anti-corporate,” the president said in a meandering response to a question about the legacy he would leave behind if his insistence on staying in the race paved the way for a Trump restoration. But “corporate profits have doubled” since the pandemic, and it’s “time things get back in order a little bit.” In a subsequent non sequitur that had nothing to do with corporate profits, Biden proposed in his second term “to make sure that rents are kept at 5 percent increase, cor- — corporate rents for cor- — apartments and the like and homes are limited to 5 percent.”

At the time, it was hard to tell whether this was a parenthetical thought that somehow escaped the president’s lips or a genuine policy proposal. It turns out it was the latter. The White House is telling reporters this week that it will lobby Congress in a second Biden term to implement something like a national rent-control program.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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Midway through his press conference at the close of last week’s NATO summit, Joe Biden trailed off into what seemed like a bizarre digression. “I’m not anti-corporate,” the president said in a meandering response to a question about the legacy he would leave behind if his insistence on staying in the race paved the way for a Trump restoration. But “corporate profits have doubled” since the pandemic, and it’s “time things get back in order a little bit.” In a subsequent non sequitur that had nothing to do with corporate profits, Biden proposed in his second term “to make sure that rents are kept at 5 percent increase, cor- — corporate rents for cor- — apartments and the like and homes are limited to 5 percent.”

At the time, it was hard to tell whether this was a parenthetical thought that somehow escaped the president’s lips or a genuine policy proposal. It turns out it was the latter. The White House is telling reporters this week that it will lobby Congress in a second Biden term to implement something like a national rent-control program.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.