Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Four Republicans join Democrats in the Senate to limit Trump’s war powers; Landmark housing bill limits private investors, boosts affordable supply; A new report finds rent-stabilized housing in New York lifts people from poverty; Environmentalists celebrate state's natural treasures for 4th of July.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service daily newscast June the 24th, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

GOP Senators Rand Paul, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Bill Cassidy joined Democrats in voting for a resolution instructing President Donald Trump to end the war in Iran or seek congressional authorization to continue.

The New York Times notes the resolution does not have the force of law and is therefore unlikely to compel an immediate change in policy, but the 50 to 48 vote in which four Republicans joined Democrats in favor marked a striking break by the GOP-led Congress, with a president who has faced little resistance from his party on any topic, particularly matters of war and national security.

Asked to comment, a White House official dismissed the Senate vote, saying the resolution has no significance and blamed the measure's adoption on Republican absences.

Next up, the U.S. Senate has passed what affordable housing advocates describe as one of the most significant pieces of housing legislation in decades.

The 21st Century Road to Housing Act would loosen regulations to encourage new home construction, lower costs for manufactured homes, and help communities convert more vacant properties into affordable units.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren says it also limits the number of homes large investors can purchase.

No longer will private equity firms come in with an all-cash offer to snap up a house while a family loses out on their dream.

Research from UMass Amherst shows from 2004 to 2018, one in five homes in greater Boston were sold to private investors, with a significant impact on low-income neighborhoods.

The bill has broad bipartisan support and now heads to the U.S. House.

I'm Katherine Carley.

And sticking with housing issues, a new report finds New York City's rent stabilization housing keeps people out of poverty.

The report from Columbia University's Center on Poverty and Social Policy and Robinhood, a poverty-fighting nonprofit, finds 40% of New Yorkers live in rent-stabilized housing, and it keeps 140,000 people out of poverty.

Most people living in this housing are low-income older New Yorkers, but Chloe Sarnoff with Robinhood says most rent-stabilized tenants are still burdened in some way.

Those programs are designed to sort of limit the increase in rent over time, but isn't necessarily curbing how much of household income gets spent on rent.

It just is a protected stock in terms of the allowable rent increase year over year.

The report comes as the city's Rent Guidelines Board decides whether to raise or freeze rents for rent-stabilized one and two-year leases.

But the report notes more than half of rent-stabilized tenants are cutting back on everyday essentials like food, transportation, and utilities to afford rent.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

The report also reviews the quality of rent-stabilized housing.

It finds disparities between low-income and high-income tenants, and that maintenance is often deferred for those who can't advocate for themselves.

This is Public News Service.

Social Security trustees report payments for the program could be reduced by as much as 22% as early as 2032, leaving folks from Georgia who are retired uncertain.

Bill Sweeney with AARP says one in five Americans receive benefits, and it's the biggest source of income for people who can no longer work.

Sweeney cites recent polling showing that 8 in 10 people age 50 or older don't want lawmakers to cut Social Security in order to save it, like they did back in 1983.

Prices for everything are going up and people are stretched so thin as to look at cutting social security even further.

What they need to do is shore up the finances without cutting the benefits that people have earned.

In Georgia, more than 1.9 million residents rely on social security and the program keeps 515,000 elderly Georgians out of poverty.

Georgia does not tax social security benefits, making it more retirement friendly than states that do.

Senator Bernie Sanders has reintroduced legislation that would expand benefits by $2,400 and make the program solvent for the next 75 years by removing the payroll tax cap.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

And conservation advocates say America's national wildlife refugees deserve recognition as the U.S. prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary next week.

Congress established the National Wildlife refuge system 60 years ago, which has grown to more than 570 sites.

Taylor Rush with Defenders of Wildlife says her passion for conservation began near Philadelphia at the John Hines National Wildlife Refuge, which she visited frequently.

She says as the Trump administration proposes changes to public land policies and rollback protections, it's important to preserve access to outdoor recreation and community connections to nature.

Animals and wildlife, they deserve to continue to exist and to be protected.

They have intrinsic value there and refuges in particular because they're established to protect wildlife.

Danielle Smith reporting.

And finally, as North Dakotans count down to the American 250th, polling shows people across the country seem to be split on their outlook of the country as a whole.

A recent survey from the Public Religion Research Institute shows nearly 70 percent of Americans think the nation is in real danger of losing important democratic rights and freedoms.

Another poll from Pew Research Center shows people are divided on their optimism for the country's future.

Meg Bostrom with strategic advisory firm Topos said during a recent webinar that exhaustion has set in from political gridlock. that people are disillusioned by the sense that the wealthy and powerful get to call all the shots.

But beneath that pessimism, there really is a persistent belief in America's highest ideals.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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