While the House remains in recess this week, the Senate has resumed consideration of Senators Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) and Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Massachusetts) substitute amendment to H.R.6644 — Housing for the 21st Century Act. The Senate overwhelmingly voted to advance the bipartisan housing package Tuesday, even as conservative House Republicans oppose the bill over a central bank digital currency provision and housing industry groups call for changes to a measure that would ban large investors from purchasing single family homes. Senators voted 89-9-1 during the third procedural vote advancing the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, with final passage expected as early as Thursday. The bill seeks to combine the House and Senate’s housing priorities with the Trump administration’s push to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes. The White House has been vocal about its support for the current version of the legislation making its way through the Senate.
Senate Democrats demanded on Tuesday that President Donald Trump immediately dispatch Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to testify under oath on the war in Iran, saying his administration had failed to explain the objectives, scope and endgame for the sweeping military operation in the Middle East. In a letter sent to President Trump, the Senate’s top Democrat and the ranking members of the armed services and foreign affairs committees noted that it has been common practice for cabinet officials to come before Congress when the country is at war. And they pointed to the dizzying series of changing explanations from the president and senior officials about the justification and goals for the military campaign, along with its high cost. As the party in the minority, Democrats have no power to summon Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Rubio to testify. But several Democratic senators have threatened to try to stall Republican legislative priorities on the floor, including supplemental appropriations for the war, by forcing votes on a series of resolutions seeking to limit Mr. Trump’s authority to use military force in Iran, in a bid to get Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota), the majority leader, to agree to hold public hearings on the war.
