How They Voted: The committee voted along party lines, 13-11, to confirm Andrew Hughes as deputy secretary of HUD and David Woll as general counsel of HUD. Both nominees will advance to the full Senate for a floor vote.

The committee also held a hearing, Examining Insurance Markets and the Role of Mitigation Policies. Witnesses and members discussed issues impacting high insurance rates, including:

  • Tariffs are adding to the cost of materials needed to rebuild and repair homes following natural disasters;
    • Ranking member Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) shared the National Association of Home Builders estimate that tariffs will raise the cost of building a new, midsized home by $10,900, and the insurance industry estimates the tariffs will cost an average homeowner an extra $100 per year.
  • California wildfires and other natural disasters around the country;
  • President Trump’s decision to cut FEMA funding, deny disaster aid, dismantle the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and eliminate staff at federal agencies; and
  • NEPA reviews are slowing down the process of rebuilding after natural disasters.

All witnesses agreed that local, state, and federal governments, private insurance companies, and individual owners need to work together to fix the skyrocketing rates.

The hearing underscored the urgent need to address the intersection of climate change and insurance market stability.