Sen. Warren and Gallego Are Wrong About Military Housing

Politicians, like magicians, understand that the hand is quicker than the eye.

Some politicians use the same sleight of hand when confronted with complex policy failures. Instead of addressing the root cause of a crisis, they direct the public’s focus to a convenient scapegoat, distracting from the real issues at play. That is exactly what’s happening now with the military housing crisis.

Instead of addressing the fundamental systemic failures that have left service members struggling to find stable, affordable homes, some in Congress—led by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) — have chosen to blame, of all things, algorithmic pricing software. They recently sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “calling for an investigation into whether landlords may be using property management software…to price gouge military families.” These unprincipled politicians contend that software, rather than decades of poor policy, is responsible for skyrocketing rental prices.  However, just like the magician’s trick, this assertion is misdirected and intended to distract from the root causes and viable solutions.

As a former Air Force Colonel and economics professor, I have experienced firsthand the struggles military families face with housing, and I am well-versed in the economic reasons for them.

Most military bases lack housing to accommodate all service members and their families, forcing many of them into expensive, competitive off-base rental markets. Long waitlists for military housing push families into surrounding cities where rents have surged far beyond what BAH covers. In high-cost areas like San Diego, Washington, D.C., and Honolulu, service members are often left paying significant out-of-pocket expenses to keep a roof over their heads. During my four-year assignment at the Pentagon, the only housing available was extremely expensive, only a fraction of which was covered by BAH.

Frequent Permanent Change-of-Station (PCS) moves—on average, every two to three years—only add to the problem. These relocations often come with short notice, forcing families to find housing quickly in unfamiliar and inflated rental markets.

Some landlords refuse to rent to military families due to concerns about short-term leases or deployment risks. Others exploit service members by imposing excessive fees, failing to maintain properties, or forcing them into restrictive lease terms. I experienced all those barriers in my 24-year career.

Instead of tackling these fundamental problems affecting our warriors, politicians like Warren and Gallego have fixated on pricing software as the villain. Such gaslighting allows them to abrogate their responsibility for real solutions. 

The software in question considers dozens of factors, such as location and local demand, and then suggests an optimal price for the property in question. These algorithms don’t set rental prices – they merely provide a window into current local market conditions. Pricing for everyone (not just for service members and their families) is ultimately determined by the laws of supply and demand, inflation, taxes, and government regulations. Blaming the software for the rental price is like blaming a scale for your weight. But as the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board recently noted, sometimes, having a scapegoat is a convenient excuse for politicians who are not interested in doing the heavy legislative lifting.

The fundamental economic reality is that, when inflation is high and demand outstrips supply, prices rise. The housing supply has failed to keep pace with demand in military-heavy regions like San Diego, Jacksonville, and Norfolk because excessive government regulations—including restrictive zoning laws, environmental permitting delays, and costly building requirements—have made new construction difficult and expensive. When developers can’t build, prices rise even further.

Like all renters, military families suffer the consequences, but they have come about because of local, state, and national policy failures, not because of some grand, software-enabled conspiracy.

Instead of demonizing pricing algorithms, policymakers should focus on real solutions — reducing regulatory barriers to new housing construction, ensuring BAH keeps pace with market rents, and holding military housing contractors accountable for providing safe, livable, and economically feasible homes.

Military families deserve more than political distractions. They need genuine reforms that tackle the root causes of the housing crisis—not politicians pursuing self-interests. Because, at the end of the performance, when the magician steps off the stage and rushes to the next magic show, the audience has been entertained, but reality—the housing crisis—persists.

Terry Thompson is a retired Air Force Colonel and former Professor of Economics at John Brown University Soderquist College of Business.