There's something uniquely frustrating about watching lawmakers kill legislation designed to help people afford homes while simultaneously renovating government buildings with gold leaf. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) made exactly that point Wednesday, hammering House Republicans for yanking a bipartisan housing bill from a must-pass defense authorization while President Donald Trump moves forward with what she called a "golden ballroom" project at the White House.

The Bill That Almost Was

According to realtor.com, House Republicans stripped the ROAD to Housing Act from the National Defense Authorization Act this week. Instead of letting the bipartisan measure ride along with defense spending, House leadership decided they'd rather pursue a stand-alone bill next year that aligns more closely with their preferences. Translation: the reform effort's immediate future just got a lot murkier.

Here's the thing—this wasn't some partisan pet project. Warren co-sponsored the legislation with Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), and it was specifically designed to tackle the housing affordability crisis by boosting supply and cutting through regulatory red tape. The Senate Banking Committee passed it unanimously, 24-0. That's the kind of bipartisan support that's become vanishingly rare in Washington. Senator Scott urged his House colleagues to act, stating, "Families across the country are being crushed by soaring housing costs, and Washington cannot continue to sit on the sidelines."

The Ballroom vs. The Bedroom

Warren didn't hold back when framing what she sees as wildly misaligned priorities. Taking to X, she drew a sharp contrast between stalled relief for families struggling with housing costs and reports of luxury renovations underway at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

"While Trump builds a golden ballroom for his corporate donors, Republicans won't build more housing to lower costs for you," Warren wrote.

In follow-up posts, she ticked through what she characterized as Trump's real priorities: "demolishing the East Wing for a ballroom" and putting "gold leaf all over the Oval Office." Meanwhile, she noted, lowering costs for housing, health care, or groceries didn't make the cut.

Looking Ahead to 2026

Warren isn't just complaining—she's drawing a line in the sand ahead of next year's midterm elections. In a statement cited by realtor.com, she issued what amounts to a direct challenge: "If House Republicans continue to block legislation to cut housing costs in 2026, then Democrats will pass it ourselves when we take back Congress."

Whether that's a realistic promise or campaign rhetoric depends on whether Democrats can actually flip the House. But it does signal that housing affordability is going to be a central theme heading into the midterms, particularly as families continue dealing with elevated prices and mortgage rates that remain stubbornly high.

What Investors Are Watching

For those tracking the housing market through exchange-traded funds, the current policy uncertainty adds another variable to an already complex picture. Here's how key real estate ETFs have been performing:

The mixed performance across these funds reflects broader uncertainty about the direction of housing policy and market dynamics. Whether legislative action eventually materializes could have meaningful implications for these sectors.