On a trip to Las Vegas, where rents climbed twice as fast as wages last year, President Joe Biden is pitching a plan for national rent stabilization — sort of. The plan wouldn’t directly cap rents — despite a growing freak-out from the lobbying groups that fight tooth and nail to oppose rent controls — and it would need the approval of Congress.

But while acknowledging its limitations, tenant organizers and advocates see Biden’s announcement as a rare acknowledgment that the federal government could wield its vast power to shape the housing market on behalf of tenants.

The announcement is one of several populist economic policies Biden has recently endorsed as progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) circle the wagons around the embattled president while making the case that his path to victory lies through pro-working-class policy. Rising rents are a key driver of inflation and a top concern for voters in battleground states like Nevada.