Congress

Republicans scratch their heads over Trump’s ‘comprehensive’ crime bill

Published

1 year ago

August 27, 2025

President Donald Trump is envisioning a sweeping crime bill and billions of dollars in new funding for the nation’s capital. His Republican allies in Congress are largely in the dark on the details.

Multiple times this month, Trump has said he’s working on crime legislation with GOP congressional leaders. His latest comment came early Wednesday morning when he posted on Truth Social that he is working with Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other Republican lawmakers on a “Comprehensive Crime Bill” with “more to follow.”

There have been some early conversations between White House officials and House GOP leadership aides about legislation related to Trump’s public-safety crackdown in Washington as well as certain other crime provisions.

But Trump’s latest comments have puzzled Republicans, including members of leadership and key congressional committees, who don’t know what “comprehensive” measure the president is talking about, according to seven Republicans granted anonymity to speak candidly.

Trump, who speaks frequently with Johnson, discussed the president’s Washington crime campaign with the speaker on a call Tuesday morning, including extending his current temporary control over the D.C. police, according to two other people granted anonymity to describe the private conversation. Johnson was supportive of an extension, they said.

The House Oversight Committee, which has jurisdiction over D.C. issues, is already planning to advance a slate of bills in September, spanning efforts to crack down on juvenile crime in Washington, overhaul the city’s education system and unwind certain policing policies enacted by the D.C. Council. But it’s the Judiciary Committee that would have to advance any crime-related bills that are national in scope.

Trump’s request to extend his 30-day D.C. police takeover is adding a wrinkle to the House GOP’s plans, since his authority is set to expire Sept. 9 — just one week after lawmakers return to Washington. Republican leaders will need to advance it quickly — likely in a resolution they will put directly on the floor — leaving a broader package for later.

Even if the House quickly passes the extension, its fate in the Senate is uncertain. Trump said during a marathon Cabinet meeting Tuesday that he’s planning to speak with Thune about the matter. But because of the chamber’s filibuster rule, Republicans can’t act alone to approve the measure, and Senate Democrats have signaled they’ll block any attempt to do so.

Still, Republicans are eager to force Democrats into tough votes on crime, which they see as advantageous political ground — especially with House GOP leaders facing ongoing headaches over the Jeffrey Epstein case and the administration’s handling of it.

Republicans are also still waiting on details on what Trump has described as a $2 billion bill to “beautify” Washington. Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Katie Britt of Alabama are taking the lead on the D.C. funding bill, and Trump spoke with Graham, who is currently traveling overseas, about the president’s plan for the capital city earlier this month.

“I’m going to try to find him the money to repave the roads, take the graffiti off the building, refurbish the parks and give homeless people some place to go other than a tent,” Graham said at a South Carolina event last week.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a news conference Wednesday that she, too, was sketchy on the details of what Trump is proposing with the federal funding infusion. But she said “we will be supportive of the president’s $2 billion request to improve infrastructure, especially federal infrastructure, in the District.”

But Trump is now making clear he wants a major crime bill, too — and fast.

The president has spent weeks bashing Democrats on crime, particularly governors who are seen as key 2028 presidential race contenders, and he’s eager to leverage a winning and unifying issue for Republicans on Capitol Hill.

But just how ambitious the crime bill ends up being remains an open question. Even the D.C.-focused legislation stands to be a significant undertaking on Capitol Hill next month — with GOP leaders already scrambling to hammer out plans to fund the government, pass a defense authorization bill and a litany of other items this fall.

Congress

Sanders to rally for Troy Jackson in Maine

Published

8 hours ago

October 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

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.

Congress

Hill: Trump’s ‘lack of favorability’ creating challenging politics

Published

8 hours ago

October 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

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.

Congress

Sanders, AOC, Merkley propose bill to ban Flock cameras

Published

14 hours ago

October 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on Friday released text of legislation intended to ban the use of Flock surveillance cameras and other license plate readers.

Flock has faced severe public backlash against the surveillance technology following reports that police officers misused the technology to track women, and it has the largest network of license plate readers across the U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) hosted a hearing last month probing its potential misuses, although the company’s CEO Garrett Langley did not appear.

The latest bill, unveiled Friday and named the Ban Flock Act, would bar federal agencies from using automated license plate readers or accessing data from the technology and prevent federal grants from funding states and local governments that use automated license plate readers.

“At a time of growing concern about the unchecked power of artificial intelligence, Flock is eviscerating the very notion of privacy by installing tens of thousands of cameras in communities across America without their consent,” Sanders, who has positioned himself as a leading progressive voice on AI technology, said in a statement. “We cannot allow America to become a surveillance state where a handful of AI oligarchs profit by giving the government the power to track our every movement.”

Ocasio-Cortez similarly condemned the surveillance capabilities of the technology and said the bill would “enforce our constitutional right to privacy and protect Americans from both corporate and government surveillance.”

“No one should have this unchecked surveillance power at their fingertips,” Merkley added.

Republicans have introduced similar efforts to regulate license plate readers, such as Hawley’s Stop Flock Abuse Act, which would require audits and limits on unauthorized searches.

Flock did not immediately respond to a request for comment.