Congress takes aim at housing costs; National Guard deployed to Reflecting Pool
Buying a home feels more out of reach than ever, but Washington may have found one thing both parties agree on. The Senate has advanced a plan to build more homes and to take on big investors, and the House could vote on it today.
Plus, President Donald Trump’s new intelligence chief isn’t wasting any time. Bill Pulte begins cutting jobs just days after taking over the nation’s intelligence office.
And nearly five months after Nancy Guthrie vanished, investigators are revealing what a second note claimed happened to her.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
Senate passes housing bill aimed to boost supply, curb investors
The Senate overwhelmingly approved the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, a sweeping package designed to increase the nation’s housing supply and make homeownership more affordable, on Monday. The bill would limit some large investors’ ability to buy up homes, cut federal red tape for new construction, expand access to manufactured housing and make more mortgages available.
Lawmakers from both parties said the goal is simple: build more homes and bring down costs.
The push comes as many communities continue to struggle with high home prices, rising rents and a shortage of available housing.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, one of the bill’s lead backers, called it “years of work to lower costs, expand housing supply, cut red tape, protect taxpayers and help more Americans achieve the dream of homeownership.”
The measure now heads to the House, where lawmakers will decide whether to send it to Trump’s desk. That could happen as soon as Tuesday.
Pulte begins cutting intelligence agency staff
Trump’s new acting director of national intelligence has wasted no time, already taking steps to reshape the agency. Just days after taking over as Director of National Intelligence, Bill Pulte has begun firing employees as part of a broader downsizing effort.
Straight Arrow first reported last week that Pulte visited ODNI headquarters before his official start date to assess the agency’s operations and staffing.
When announcing the appointment, Trump said he wanted Pulte to “execute the immediate and needed downsizing of the office.”
One source told CNN that the National Counterterrorism Center and the National Counterintelligence and Security Center are expected to be among the hardest hit.
A source familiar with the process told multiple news outlets that “the deep state firings have begun.”
Pulte officially took over Friday despite concerns from lawmakers in both parties about his lack of intelligence experience.
Plus, his role may be temporary. Trump has nominated Jay Clayton to lead the agency permanently, but put that nomination on hold last week during a separate standoff with Congress.
Before joining the intelligence community, Pulte served as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
National Guard now patrols Reflecting Pool as renovation dispute grows
The controversy surrounding Trump’s Reflecting Pool renovation is now drawing another response: increased security.
National Guard members and U.S. park police are now patrolling the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as questions continue to swirl around the troubled project.
The pool was renovated to give it an “American flag blue” appearance ahead of this year’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
But the project has been plagued by problems. Algae turned the water green, parts of the new liner began peeling, and crews have been forced to use chemicals and ozone nanobubbles to control the damage.
The White House says additional repairs are still being evaluated, and the pool may need to be drained again.
Trump has blamed vandals, claiming someone cut a 350-foot slit in the liner and may have added fertilizer to the water.
So far, neither the White House nor the president has publicly released evidence to support those claims.
U.S. park police say five people have been arrested in connection with vandalism at the site.
And the fight is now spilling into the media. Trump is threatening legal action against ABC News over its reporting on the project’s costs and repairs.
Guthrie ransom note offers grim claim, saying 84-year-old died after abduction
One of the year’s biggest unanswered mysteries may have taken a darker turn. Several news outlets have reported a second ransom note sent days after Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance. The note claimed that the 84-year-old died shortly after being abducted and was buried in a natural setting. It also said her death was unintentional.
The note was reportedly sent to media outlets in Arizona and is one of only two messages investigators have deemed potentially credible. Both are believed to have been sent by the same person or group using the same digital IP address.
Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson, Arizona, home on Feb.1. Early ransom demands sought millions in cryptocurrency, but this second message reportedly asked for no money.
Despite months of searching and thousands of tips, Guthrie has not been found. Investigators are still trying to identify the masked man captured on doorbell video outside her home the night she disappeared in Tucson.
Alligator Alcatraz shutting down: Report
Less than 15 months after opening with a presidential tour and plenty of fanfare, Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” is closing.
CBS News reported state officials have ordered the full demobilization of the controversial immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, with contractors told to begin dismantling the site this week. The government transferred the final detainees out last week.
Officials initially cited hurricane season concerns, but CBS reported the closure had been planned as part of a broader shutdown effort.
Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis championed the facility as a model for immigration enforcement. In its time open, it processed more than 20,000 detainees since opening last July. But it also faced criticism from immigration advocates and human rights groups over conditions inside, while the cost of operating the facility reportedly ballooned to about $1.2 billion.
Once the teardown is complete, the site is expected to return to its previous use as a small airport and pilot training facility.
Messi breaks World Cup record with 18th goal
Another chapter in the career of soccer’s biggest star. Argentina’s Lionel Messi is now the all-time leading goal scorer in men’s World Cup history.
Messi, 39, scored twice as Argentina beat Austria 2-0 in Arlington, Texas. His first goal came in the 38th minute, when he took a pass from Facundo Medina and buried a left-footed shot into the net. The crowd erupted as teammates swarmed the 39-year-old star.
Messi entered the match tied with Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the World Cup record. By the final whistle, he stood alone.
He now has 18 career World Cup goals, the most ever in the men’s tournament. And he’s still adding to the total in his sixth World Cup appearance.
More from Straight Arrow:
Inside America’s political polling problem
In the early morning hours of Nov. 9, 2016, news networks called Wisconsin for Donald Trump, cementing his victory over Hillary Clinton. Most voters were surprised, both candidates were shocked and pollsters were left looking up and down at their final polls, showing that Clinton would almost certainly win.
It wasn’t an anomaly: Since 2016, when FiveThirtyEight gave Clinton a 75% chance of winning, pre-election polls have shown incorrect trends among voters in 2020, 2022 and 2024. Now, with the 2026 midterm elections just a few months away, worry this will happen again.
While theories that voters may be lying to pollsters or that people are just too shy to share their actual beliefs have proliferated, the data says otherwise. And several researchers who’ve dedicated their careers to ensuring polling is conducted and used correctly told Straight Arrow they believe something else is going on.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
