Congress
How Schumer is preparing for the fall funding showdown
Chuck Schumer is quietly turning his caucus toward a critical decision on how to handle a fall funding showdown, after he and Senate Democrats faced blistering criticism from the party’s base earlier this year.
As the chamber is set to vote Tuesday to tee up the first tranche of government funding bills, the Senate minority leader is holding discussions with his colleagues about what their strategy should be ahead of the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline.
Democrats are having behind-the-scenes conversations on this topic, including during a more than hour-long meeting last week. Schumer is expected to have more member-level discussions about the September roadmap over the next two weeks, and has been in close touch with Democrats on the Appropriations Committee. He is also meeting with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Tuesday to discuss funding endgame strategy, said three people granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Those private discussions come as Schumer has stopped short of threatening a shutdown publicly — even as he warns Republicans against pursuing GOP-only spending tactics.
“He is making recommendations and listening to our recommendations,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said about Schumer in an interview, adding that Democrats are “starting to have significant discussions within the caucus about Sept. 30 and the appropriations and [continuing resolution] process.”
Schumer’s decision to have conversations months in advance underscores what many in the caucus will acknowledge: Democrats are trying to be proactive by not waiting until they return from the weeks-long August recess to start feeling out their strategy, when they’ll have few legislative days left to figure out how to fund the government.
Ultimately, Schumer will make the final play call. But while Democrats want to see him find a strategy that unifies the party after facing intense criticism from the progressive base for helping advance a GOP-only bill earlier this year to avoid a shutdown, Democrats haven’t settled on a strategy. Schumer’s role, so far, is largely to facilitate the caucus’ private conversations and act as a soundboard as needed.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), asked about what guidance Democrats are now hearing from Schumer, said the New Yorker was currently in “listening mode.”
“You know, generally, Chuck listens to people and then he typically tries to pull together the best thoughts of everyone for the policy, but he never ignores anyone,” Reed said.
Democrats are mulling a range of proposals internally with Schumer about what conditions they can place on Republicans in exchange for voting to move ahead with shutdown-averting legislation, according to two people granted anonymity to share private deliberations.
So far, Democrats have floated the idea of making Republicans agree to a deal on the budget process and specific policy concessions, or locking in a commitment from Senate Republicans that they will not support additional rescissions packages — potentially publicly or in writing.
There has been no agreement among Democrats, however, about what formal demands they will make of Senate Republicans, who need Democratic votes to reach a 60-vote threshold to advance a government funding bill. And, said the two people with knowledge of the conversations, it’s too soon to say which idea will end up as the lead contender.
Senate Democrats will face their first government funding decision Tuesday, with Republicans teeing up the first procedural vote on a package of government funding bills that have passed the Senate Appropriations Committee largely on a bipartisan basis.
Democrats appear to be leaning toward at least helping start debate on the package. But Schumer told his No. 2, Dick Durbin, that he wants to have a full caucus discussion Tuesday about how to handle that first tranche of funding measures before announcing a strategy, the Illinois Democrat said in an interview Monday.
Publicly, Schumer is trying to keep the pressure on Republicans, accusing Senate Majority Leader John Thune of “talking a bit out of both sides of his mouth” on government funding by talking up the importance of the normal appropriations process while also greenlighting efforts by the administration to clawback funding previously blessed by Congress.
“If Leader Thune wants to talk about bipartisanship, he should focus on keeping his side of the street clean first,” Schumer said.
He warned in a letter to his caucus earlier this month that Republicans shouldn’t bank on having help from Democrats on government funding if they pursue go-it-alone funding strategies like the rescissions package. But Schumer has also declined multiple times to discuss what the outcome would be for such actions, telling reporters late last week to ask Republicans if they were willing to stand up to White House budget director Russ Vought.
Across the Capitol, Jeffries is drawing his own line on government funding, saying Monday at a press conference, “it’s my expectation that if Republicans try to jam a highly partisan spending bill down the throats of the American people here in the house, we will reject it.”
But while the two New Yorkers face a similar dilemma, Schumer also faces a tougher task: House Republicans don’t need Democratic votes to pass legislation if they can achieve near-unity — a rare occurrence for the fractious conference but, as they have proven, not impossible. Schumer’s caucus, in contrast, plays a more decisive role given the need for 60 votes for the Senate to advance a funding bill to avoid a shutdown.
“Here’s the reality: we have to have a budget. We’ve got 47 votes, they’ve got 53,” said Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), in an interview. “How we deal with that, when we’ve got 47-53, remains to be seen.”
Katherine Tully-McManus, Jennifer Scholtes and Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.
Congress
Trump apparently shares Tom Cotton’s phone number in push to make Daylight Saving Time permanent
President Donald Trump appeared to share Sen. Tom Cotton’s phone number in a Saturday morning social media post imploring the Arkansas Republican to get behind a bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.
“Almost everybody wants “The Sunshine Protection Act” to pass, except for Tom Cotton,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “To the Great People of Arkansas, please let your Senator know it would be a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate, and for America, itself.”
The president has spent months personally pushing Senate Republicans to end the practice that sees Americans change their clocks twice a year, cementing more sunlight hours in the evening for all twelve months of the calendar. Cotton, whom Trump called “a friend of mine” in the Saturday post, has long argued that making daylight saving time permanent would leave children, farmers and other early risers in the dark for hours on winter mornings.
One of Trump’s key selling points on Saturday: the PGA tour.
“The PGA TOUR, as an example, needs more Daylight in the afternoon in order to finish their Tournaments,” he said, attaching a letter from PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp endorsing the bill. ”Likewise, regular Golfers, Tennis Players, Hunters and, perhaps most importantly, Farmers who want more Daylight to play or work.
A Blue Light News call to the cellphone number went to voicemail. A spokesperson for Cotton did not respond to a request for comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The current version of the bill was introduced in the House in January 2025 by Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), with Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) leading the Senate version. The legislation would make daylight saving time permanent across most of the country, ending the twice-yearly clock changes. The legislation has been stalled in the Senate since July.
The president encouraged supporters of the bill, dubbed the “The Sunshine Protection Act,” to call Cotton to “let your Senator know it would be a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate, and for America, itself.”
During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, he publicly gave out the personal cellphone number of then-rival Sen. Lindsey Graham after the South Carolina Republican criticized him. Trump, who came to count on Graham as a reliable Senate ally after he won the presidency, revisited the moment during Graham’s funeral in July, acknowledging that sharing the number was something he “shouldn’t have done.”
Kelsey Brugger contributed to this report.
Sen. Bernie Sanders will hit the road for Troy Jackson in Maine starting Oct. 10, the first time the progressive leader will stump for the candidate this cycle.
The Vermont independent plans to hold three rallies with Jackson, according to an itinerary shared first with Blue Light News: first in Bangor on Oct. 10th followed by Lewiston and Biddeford on Oct. 11.
The Maine swing will kick off Sanders’ travel for the final stretch of the midterms, covering ground throughout October for House and Senate candidates, POLITICO reported.
“Bernie and Troy know that working people built this country and deserve a government that fights for them,” Jackson spokesperson Dan Gottlieb told Blue Light News. “Susan Collins has had nearly 30 years to deliver, and working Mainers are still getting squeezed while she serves the billionaires and corporate interests who bankroll her campaigns. Mainers don’t need another six years of excuses.”
Sanders campaigned ahead of major wins for progressives in the primary season, speaking at more than 60 rallies since last year’s Fight the Oligarchy tour and endorsing more than 90 candidates up and down the ballot.
He’s also opening his substantial $23 million campaign war chest, POLITICO reported, and contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars toMinnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan’s Senate campaign and others including Angie Nixon in Florida and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison,
Sanders will return to Maine after initially backing Graham Platner’s campaign for Senate. Allegations reported by POLITICO ultimately led him to call on the Democratic nominee to drop out of the race.
Sanders had not formally endorsed Jackson since he clinched the nomination from Platner, though he previously backed Jackson’s initial run for governor.
House Financial Services Chair French Hill said he has “no concerns” about winning back his Arkansas seat in the upcoming midterm elections, but the six-term House member acknowledged the political headwinds for his party.
“I consider the atmosphere a very tough political environment right now because of President [Donald] Trump’s lack of favorability at the top, and you know people are concerned about, as I say, what it’s like to live under an inflated economy the last four years,” Hill said in an interview.
Hill is in a solidly red district, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, and said he is up against a “weaker candidate this time than I’ve had in past races.” Polling in the district, however, has shown a tighter race. The two polls done this year placed Democratic challenger Chris Jones ahead of Hill by a few percentage points. Any perceived polling victory for Jones is still well within the margin of error, and one of the polls had a Democratic sponsor.
Stephannie Lane Baker, a spokesperson for Jones, said that “of all the Republicans in Congress, the chairman of the Financial Services Committee doesn’t get to dodge responsibility for this economy. He’s in trouble, and he knows it.”
Additionally, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s PAC, Ready for the Fight, committed more than $1 million in television ads through the next five weeks for Jones’ race in Arkansas’s 2nd District, Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for the PAC confirmed. Overall Democratic spending on advertising for the race was just over $1 million, primarily made up by contributions from the Ready for the Fight PAC, with Republicans spending almost $2.7 million on ad buys, according to AdImpact, an advertising tracking service.
Hill said he has addressed affordability concerns “head on” this Congress.
“My work on housing, my work on the Price Stability Act, my work to try to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse, and drop the federal budget deficit as a percentage of GDP,” Hill said. “All these things can contribute to a more affordable environment for people. So I’ve tried to make that a forefront of my campaign this year.”
Hill was a key architect of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bipartisan housing affordability bill that became law in July. The Price Stability Act, which is unlikely to become law this year, would narrow the Federal Reserve’s current dual mandate of pursuing maximum employment and price stability to focus exclusively on containing inflation.
-
Politics2 years agoFormer ‘Squad’ members launching ‘Bowman and Bush’ YouTube show
-
Uncategorized2 years ago
Bob Good to step down as Freedom Caucus chair this week
-
The Josh Fourrier Show2 years agoDOOMSDAY: Trump won, now what?
-
The Dictatorship2 years agoPete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse
-
Politics2 years agoFormer Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron launches Senate bid
-
The Dictatorship2 years agoLuigi Mangione acknowledges public support in first official statement since arrest
-
Politics2 years agoBlue Light News’s Editorial Director Ryan Hutchins speaks at Blue Light News’s 2025 Governors Summit
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoMike Johnson sums up the GOP’s arrogant position on military occupation with two words