As the 119th Congress staggers toward conclusion, marked by seemingly endless partisan conflict, one major, amazingly bipartisan bill was enacted. The new federal housing law significantly restricts private equity in the real estate market while offering enhanced subsidies and new programs to help working families trying to buy their first homes. Mitchell, who was grappling with defunded federal housing programs, saw what was coming. While Ronald Reagan, the most popular Republican president of recent decades, saw his plan to cut Social Security benefits rejected, he did sharply reduce federal housing funds. The housing bill shows the way.