Senate Republicans are furious that a bipartisan bill they passed to address housing affordability has languished in the House for weeks and undergone revisions that may doom its chances of becoming law before the November election.
On Wednesday evening, the House unveiled new legislative text that would scale back the Senate bill’s restriction on institutional investors’ ownership of single-family homes, even though the language was endorsed by President Trump.
If the House approves those changes on the floor next week, the bill would need to go back to the Senate for approval before it heads to Trump’s desk.
Senate Republicans fear that could ultimately derail what would be the largest housing bill enacted in decades and one they were hoping to tout as a major accomplishment in the fall campaign.
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📸: Associated Press
FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly took a “VIP” snorkeling trip around the USS Arizona during a visit to Pearl Harbor last summer, according to The Associated Press.
The outlet reported Thursday that Patel made a previously undisclosed trip to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam last summer, citing government emails shared with AP.
Photos of the Week (swipe left):
1. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) holds Artemis II mascot Rise while making remarks during a reception with Artemis II Cmdr. Reid Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover along with members and staff of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on May 12 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., to celebrate last month’s successful space mission. Greg Nash
2. Women grieve as they carry the body of 6-month-old Mariam Fahos during a funeral procession for people killed a day earlier in an Israeli airstrike in the village of Saksakieh, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, on May 10. Mohammed Zaatari, Associated Press
3. Passengers wave inside a bus after being disembarked from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at the Port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Spain, on May 10. Manu Fernandez, Associated Press
4. Barcelona players lift the trophy after winning the Spanish La Liga soccer match against Real Madrid to clinch the Spanish league title in Barcelona on May 10. Joan Monfort, Associated Press
5. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti gives President Trump a jersey during an event welcoming the 2026 college football national champions from Indiana University to the White House during a ceremony on the South Lawn in Washington, D.C., on May 11. Bonnie Cash, United Press International
6. Pentagon’s acting Chief Financial Officer Jules Hurst III, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Dan Caine are seen before a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing to discuss the fiscal 2027 budget for the Department of Defense at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on May 12. Greg Nash
7. Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa, Texas Democratic Senate candidate and Texas state Rep. James Talarico, and former President Obama visit the Taco Joint on May 12 in Austin, Texas. Joel Angel Juarez, Associated Press pool
8. First-year midshipmen climb the Herndon Monument to cap off their plebe year at the U.S. Naval Academy on May 13 in Annapolis, Md. Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Associated Press
More captions in the comments ...
A comment from President Trump dismissing the pocketbook concerns of millions of Americans is threatening to upend his party’s midterm messaging on affordability.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he does “not even a little bit” think about Americans’ financial situation when dealing with Iran, saying he only thinks about not letting Tehran have a nuclear weapon.
The comments could not come at a more politically inconvenient time for Trump.
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📸: Associated Press
On Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping told President Trump ahead of their high-stakes meeting in Beijing that the major question that China and the U.S. will have to answer is whether they can avoid the “Thucydides Trap.”
Xi asked if both countries can overcome the “Thucydides Trap and create a new paradigm of major country relations?” according to CNBC, citing the Chinese-based outlet CCTV. The Chinese president has used the term as far back as 2014, Bloomberg reported.
Xi also warned Trump about tensions between both countries over Taiwan, arguing that “‘Taiwan independence’ and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning wrote on the social platform X.
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📸: Associated Press
Some moderate Republicans are pushing back against latest budget plants for the White House ballroom. The $1 billion budget proposal for security have prompted some GOP leaders to pause, seeking more details to justify the expense.
The Hill's Sudiksha Kochi discussed these concerns on Sunrise on The Hill.
Watch Sunrise on The Hill on weekdays from 6-9 a.m.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is placing a moratorium on new Medicare enrollments from home health care and hospice providers, as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to combat fraud.
The six-month freeze went into effect immediately on Wednesday, according to the department’s announcement. The decision will prevent these providers from signing up to receive reimbursements from Medicare, a government health insurance program that services people who are over the age of 65 or have a disability.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the temporary pause in partnership with Vice President Vance’s Anti-Fraud Task Force. The president tapped Vance to take on this role earlier this year, after federal investigators brought allegations of widespread fraud against a Minnesota social services program.
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📸: Associated Press
Three Republican senators broke with their leadership Wednesday and voted to advance a Democratic-sponsored resolution under the 1973 War Powers Act to halt the conflict with Iran unless Congress formally authorizes further military action.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joined fellow GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Rand Paul (Ky.) — along with almost every Senate Democrat — in voting to advance the resolution directing President Trump to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities against Iran.
The motion to discharge the resolution from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee still failed by a vote of 49-50.
Centrist Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.) was the only Democrat to vote against advancing the measure. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), who’s in a tough re-election race, split with Murkowski and voted against discharging the war powers resolution.
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📸 Greg Nash
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated Tuesday that the Golden Dome missile defense system will cost about $1.2 trillion to develop, deploy and operate over the next 20 years.
In a 12-page report, the CBO stated that acquisition costs for a national missile defense system would total more than $1 trillion. That includes funding for interceptor layers, a space-based missile warning and tracking system, research and development and improvements in the system’s integration and performance.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) shared the results of a test to assess alcohol disorders after FBI Director Kash Patel told the lawmaker he would also submit to the test if he and the senator did them “side by side.”
Democrats have called on Patel to take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) in the wake of reporting from The Atlantic claiming the director was drinking excessively and at times was difficult to reach.
“Yesterday, @FBIDirectorKash told me he’d take the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test if I did. Well, here’s mine,” Van Hollen said on social media, sharing the results of the survey.
“Given all the lies he told yesterday, I imagine he’ll fudge the numbers here, but let’s see yours, Director Patel.”
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📸 Associated Press
Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee Chair Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Trump administration’s tenuous plans to fund key parts of the Pentagon’s $1.5 trillion budget request and for alienating U.S. allies amid several major world conflicts.
McConnell objected to putting crucial Pentagon programs — such as the Golden Dome missile defense system, munitions, the F-35 fighter jet and drone production — in a reconciliation bill separate from the annual defense appropriations bill.
“Political realities will not always allow a party-line budget reconciliation, and if the department’s top priorities aren’t built into annual appropriations, we’re actually taking a big risk,” McConnell said in his opening statement during a panel hearing. “These key lines of effort only work if we put them on solid fiscal footing.”
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📸 Associated Press
FBI Director Kash Patel strongly denies allegations of excessive drinking on the job. The accusations came up during an FBI budget hearing on Tuesday. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen confronted Patel about a recent article in The Atlantic that was critical of his leadership.
Patel, who has sued over the story, called the claims “unequivocally, categorically false.” He also accused Van Hollen of “slinging margaritas with gang-bangers” during a visit to El Salvador last year and running up a 7,000 bar tab in Washington, D.C.
