WASHINGTON (AP) — The leaders of the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security declined to testify publicly at a scheduled Senate hearing Thursday on global national security threats, a break from precedent following years of open testimony before the panel.
“Their choice to not provide public testimony about their departments’ efforts to address wide-ranging national security threats robs the American people of critical information and the opportunity for public accountability of what the federal government is doing to keep Americans safe," Sen. Gary Peters, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee, said in a statement.
The Michigan Democrat said it was the first time in more than 15 years that an FBI director and Homeland Security secretary had refused to offer public testimony at the annual committee hearing focused on threats to the homeland, calling it a “shocking departure” from tradition.
A separate hearing scheduled for Wednesday before the House Homeland Security committee also was postponed.
The hearings were to have taken place at a time of significant political transition as Trump is interviewing candidates to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray and has named South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to succeed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Majorkas.
The Senate committee usually starts scheduling its annual hearing months in advance, and previous hearings have always included a public component. The committee was informed Monday that Mayorkas and Wray would not be appearing.
In a statement Thursday, the FBI said it had “repeatedly demonstrated our commitment to responding to Congressional oversight and being transparent with the American people” and remained "committed to sharing information about the continuously evolving threat environment facing our nation.
“FBI leaders have testified extensively in public settings about the current threat environment and believe the Committee would benefit most from further substantive discussions and additional information that can only be provided in a classified setting,” the statement said.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that they and the FBI offered to speak to the committee in a classified setting and emphasized the amount of unclassified information they've already shared publicly.
“DHS and the FBI already have shared with the Committee and other Committees, and with the American public, extensive unclassified information about the current threat environment, including the recently published Homeland Threat Assessment. DHS takes seriously its obligation to respond to Congressional requests for testimony," the department said.
The agency also noted that Mayorkas has testified in Congress 30 times during the nearly four years he’s held his job.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, center, looks on before President Joe Biden speaks at the National Veterans Day Observance at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
FILE - FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 24, 2020. (Tom Williams/Pool via AP, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in October, the first annual gain in more than three years, with home shoppers encouraged by easing rates and a pickup in properties on the market.
Existing home sales rose 3.4% last month, from September, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.96 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That matches the annual pace set in July.
Sales rose 2.9% compared with October last year, representing the first year-over-year gain since July 2021. The latest home sales topped the 3.93 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.
Home prices increased on an annual basis for the 16th consecutive month. The national median sales price rose 4% from a year earlier, to $407,200.
“The worst of the downturn in home sales could be over, with increasing inventory leading to more transactions,” said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist.
Still, with just two more months left to go this year, existing home sales are on track for the lowest annual home sales since 1995, Yun said.
The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Existing home sales sank to a nearly 30-year low last year as the average rate on a 30-year mortgage surged to a 23-year high of nearly 8%, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage fell to a two-year low of 6.08% in September, when likely many of the purchase contracts on homes that officially sold in October were signed. But it’s been mostly rising since then, reaching 6.78% last week.
Economists predict that mortgage rates will remain volatile this year, but generally forecast them to hover around 6% in 2025.
That may not be attractive enough to entice current homeowners who bought or refinanced to rock-bottom rates from selling. More than 4 in 5 homeowners with a mortgage have an existing rate below 6%, according to Realtor.com.
A wider selection of properties on the market as sales slowed this year has been a bright spot for home shoppers. There were 1.37 million unsold homes at the end of October, up 0.7% from September and 19.1% from October last year, NAR said.
That translates to a 4.2-month supply at the current sales pace, which is down from 4.3 months in September, but up from a 3.6-month pace at the end of October last year. Traditionally, a 5- to 6-month supply is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers.
Another factor helping lift the inventory of homes on the market: Properties are taking longer to sell than a year ago.
Homes typically stayed on the market for 29 days last month before they were sold, up from 28 days in September and 23 days in October last year.
While the number of homes for sale has been increasing this year, the housing market inventory remains well below its pre-pandemic levels. Consider, there were about 1.8 million unsold homes on the market in October 2019.
“We still need another 30% growth in inventory to get us back to pre-COVID conditions,” Yun said.
Limited inventory, especially in the more affordable price range of a given market, helps drive prices higher. That's one reason first-time homebuyers, who don’t have any home equity to put toward their down payment, continue to struggle to afford a home.
They accounted for just 27% of all homes sold last month. That's up from 26% in September, but down from 28% in October last year. First-time buyers have accounted for 40% of sales historically.
Homebuyers who can afford to sidestep mortgage rates and pay all cash for a home accounted for 27% of sales last month, down from 29% a year earlier.
While existing homeowners have overcome rising mortgage rates and home prices by using their strong home equity gains, first-time buyers have had to save longer for a down payment, often delaying when they buy their first home by several years.
It's why Americans who can afford to buy a home are skewing older. The median age of homebuyers between July 2023 and last June climbed to 56, the highest on records going back to 1981, according to NAR. First-time buyers’ median age rose to 38 in the same period. Historically, the median age of U.S. homebuyers overall has averaged about 44.
FILE - A housing development in Cranberry Township, Pa., is shown on March 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
