Capitol agenda: House revolt ahead for housing bill - Live Updates

The Senate is on track to easily pass a bipartisan housing affordability package Thursday after an 89-9-1 procedural vote earlier this week.

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The bill is effectively dead in the House as-is, which the article describes as an ominous sign for GOP affordability measures and the party’s ability to make legislative progress before the midterms.

House Freedom Caucus members warned they will not support the Senate version and likened some provisions to “socialism.”

Their key concerns include a temporary ban on a central bank digital currency they want permanent and a ban on institutional investors from owning single-family homes.

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“There are problems,” Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) said.

The article notes the House passed its own version in February under a fast-tracked process with Democratic support.

Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged conservative objections during a closed-door, conference-wide meeting at the House GOP retreat and suggested a conference would be needed, according to four people in the room.

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Rep. Mike Flood said he is “holding out hope for some fixes, but time runs short.”

Senators are moving ahead with their version and largely ignoring the House-passed bill; many do not support the House’s community banking provisions.

The Senate version includes the institutional investor provision that President Donald Trump requested.

“I don’t think we’ll need a conference. I think we’ll get it worked out,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said.

Kennedy added, “If one side, Senate or House is being unreasonable, the White House may have to slap a couple of people to Pluto,” and senators appear to believe the White House will help get House GOP colleagues on board.

Lawmakers are taking steps to meld artificial intelligence and biotechnology with a bipartisan, bicameral proposal to create a national framework for standardizing biological datasets to train advanced AI models.

The measure is described as intended to provide American scientists access to high-quality, federally funded biodata and as answering a call about datasets’ importance in the geopolitical competition with China.

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The article’s text truncates where it would name the lawmaker championing the measure, and that name is unclear from this excerpt.

Rep. Jim Clyburn announced he will run for reelection and is quoted saying he will answer a familiar question about what remains unfinished.

Sen. Joni Ernst sent a letter outlining $93.5 billion in savings proposals to House GOP leaders, and the story says Speaker Johnson discussed pursuing another reconciliation megabill while some senior Republicans warned time and a fragile majority could limit their ability to pass a large package.