Congress
The transition crisis Congress feared didn’t materialize
Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election handicapped Joe Biden’s presidential transition so badly that it spooked Congress into taking action. But this year’s quick and decisive results mean the Trump-proofing they did for the process won’t be put to the test.
Four years ago, Trump’s election defiance triggered a broader national crisis and prevented Biden’s transition team from accessing federal funding and information for several weeks, a holdup that hampered the new administration’s readiness on national security and tackling the then-raging Covid-19 pandemic.
Lawmakers believe they solved at least part of the problem two years later: Instead of leaving the General Services Administration, an obscure federal agency that manages the government’s real estate, in charge of declaring whether and when to share resources with the winner’s transition team, multiple candidates can now get parallel access during a contested election.
Had the race dragged for days or weeks past Election Day as happened in 2020 and 2000, Trump and Kamala Harris could have both prepared to be the next commander-in-chief while courts and state legislatures hashed out the votes. The new law gave multiple transition teams the ability to send “landing teams” to agencies across the government, get money to set up offices and receive security briefings until a winner is declared.
Congress’ 2022 fix also created new vulnerabilities and left a lot of things unaddressed should there be another contested election in the future. An eventual election loser could access extremely sensitive government intel, for example, and other parts of the government could still obstruct the transfer of power.
As Trump fought the 2020 election results, individual agencies and officials refused to meet with and share information with the Biden team — even after the GSA gave them a green light to do so. And some election experts argue there’s nothing much Congress can do.
One additional curveball: Trump’s team has not yet signed agreements to receive federal funding for their transition — nor are they bound by the usual ethics and financial transparency rules that come with them.
Sen. Bernie Moreno said Thursday he expects the Senate to move a party-line legislative package after the midterm elections — especially if Democrats flip one or both chambers.
“We will do a reconciliation bill — one way or the other we will,” the Ohio Republican told reporters at the Capitol, referring to the simple-majority budget process. “Obviously, if we lose control of Congress, it’ll be the Last Supper.”
Such a bill, he added, would be “giant” and would include “all the Republican priorities that we can get done.”
The House approved a framework for a party-line bill over the summer that includes war funding, farm aid and election integrity incentives. But the push has so far run aground in the Senate
Moreno said the threat of imminent Democratic control of either the House or Senate would jumpstart matters — and potentially push Republicans to include a debt-ceiling increase as well.
The borrowing limit is set to be reached sometime next year, and a Democratic majority could have significant leverage to demand concessions as part of any deal — something the GOP could forestall by acting in the lame-duck session.
“I mean, nobody wants to see a debt default,” Moreno said. “That would be 1929 on steroids.”
Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) also told reporters on Capitol Hill that a new reconciliation bill “has to happen” after the election but warned against expanding the scope of the House framework.
“I think you have to go with the one that we’ve got,” he told reporters. “The Senate needs to act and get the job done.”
A senior member of the Armed Services Committee, Wittman said the legislation is “key to restock our weapons magazine” and “should be the main focus when [members] get back.”
Moreno said if Democrats win control of both chambers, Republicans should stay in session nonstop to pass GOP legislation — which could be a tall order given worries about poor post-election attendance.
“If we lose the House and the Senate, we should be here from Nov. 9 until Dec. 31 with no break at all,” Moreno said. “Like, we’ll have turkeys here for Thanksgiving because we have to get this done.”
Authorities are investigating letters containing “suspicious substances” sent to multiple Capitol Hill offices, according to a notice sent to senior congressional staff.
“Law enforcement officials are working to intercept any additional letters before they are delivered, however, it is possible that some letters may reach their destinations,” says a memo from the Senate Sergeant at Arms and obtained by Blue Light News.
The Capitol Police, FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are involved in the probe, according to the notice, which said additional letters have been mailed to other addresses across the U.S., including lawmakers’ state and district offices.
It is unclear if any of the suspicious letters reached Capitol Hill. Letters and packages sent to congressional offices are subject to off-site screening under a system established after the 2001 anthrax attacks.
The memo includes a photo of one of the suspicious envelopes and warns staff to keep an eye out for warning signs, such as messy handwriting or postmarks that do not match the return address. The memo was first reported by Bloomberg Government.
Suspicious letters were also sent to state election offices and election officials, according to a joint statement Wednesday from the National Association of Secretaries of State and National Association of State Election Directors.
They said they are working with law enforcement to protect “personnel and facilities” and that contingency plans and security measures are in place to respond to threats “while maintaining essential election operations.”
House and Senate mail is processed in two separate Maryland facilities where materials are screened, irradiated and tested for a variety of substances before they are sent to the Capitol complex — a process that can add as much as two weeks to delivery.
The process has proved effective in the past, catching a string of suspected explosive devices sent to prominent Democrats in 2018 and a ricin-laced envelope sent to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) in 2013.
Members’ district and state offices have the option to send mail for screening before it is delivered or to contract with a similar mail security system.
Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers urged President Donald Trump to follow through on the Russia sanctions law he signed last month, warning on Thursday against giving Moscow economic relief as a key enforcement deadline approaches.
In a letter led by Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) and shared first with Blue Light News, 22 House lawmakers asked Trump to fully implement the sanctions law named after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham by Oct. 18 and scrap his administration’s recent Russian diesel deal.
“As Russia prepares to wage a fifth winter campaign against Ukraine, the United States has an opportunity to reinvigorate peace efforts by placing maximum pressure on Vladimir Putin and the governments and networks that finance his war,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter sent to Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The House lawmakers called for the Trump administration to apply sanctions “to their fullest extent and without delay” against Russian officials, oligarchs and banks financing the war — as well as the foreign banks, shadow fleet operators and intermediaries helping Moscow evade restrictions.
Included among the lawmakers who signed Thursday’s letter are Republican Reps. Don Bacon (Neb.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Michael McCaul (Texas), Dan Newhouse (Wash.) and Joe Wilson (S.C.), along with Democrats including Reps. Steny Hoyer (Md.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio) and Jared Golden (Maine) — among others.
The lawmakers’ demands Thursday add to growing bipartisan pressure on Trump over his deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, after the president announced on Friday that Russia would supply hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel to the “American and Global Marketplace.”
They also requested details on which sanctions and tariffs will take effect before Oct. 18, whether any provisions will be delayed or waived, and how the administration reconciles the diesel license with the existing statutory ban on Russian energy imports.
“Putin has repeatedly shown that he responds to pressure, not goodwill,” the House members wrote. “This will make clear that American resolve is bipartisan and durable, and that the cost of continuing this war will only grow until Russia comes to the negotiating table.
The White House, the State Department and the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump defended the agreement Tuesday as “a deal for the world,” saying the diesel would enter global markets rather than go directly to the U.S. The move comes as the president scrambles to try to bring down fuel prices ahead of the midterms.
The Iran war — now in its seventh month — has contributed to the surge in costs, with the average price of diesel peaking at a record $6.53 per gallon in September, according to AAA.
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