Congress

How Arizona voters are set to put Mike Johnson in a corner

Published

9 months ago

September 23, 2025

Speaker Mike Johnson is about to confront one of his biggest leadership tests yet, courtesy of voters in southwest Arizona.

They are highly likely to elect a new Democratic House member in a special election Tuesday. That would-be lawmaker, Adelita Grijalva, told Blue Light News she plans to become the 218th and clinching supporter of a bipartisan effort to force public disclosure of federal investigative files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

It’s a controversy that Johnson has been working desperately to snuff out in recent months on behalf of President Donald Trump, who has called the effort a “Democrat hoax.” Now he will have to decide whether to pull rank and settle a fight that has divided his conference or let the matter play out on the House floor.

Grijalva — who is heavily favored to succeed her late father, Raúl Grijalva, in a district Trump lost by 22 points — said she will be pleased to force the issue. She would be eligible to sign immediately after she is sworn in, likely early next month.

“This is as much about fulfilling Congress’ duty as a constitutional check on this administration as it is about demanding justice for survivors,” she said. “The days of turning a blind eye to Trump must end.”

Grijalva’s signature would complete a process launched by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) after the Epstein controversy exploded over the summer, cornering Republican leaders between Trump and GOP voters who have insisted on transparency in the government’s handling of the abuser.

The discharge petition allows Massie and Khanna to sidestep Johnson, who has instead supported a House Oversight Committee probe into Epstein. It would force a floor vote requiring publication of all Justice Department records related to the sex offender, with limited exceptions to protect victims.

Johnson has options, however. He can seek to block the discharge effort in the Rules Committee, which he nominally controls, but he has faced a string of mutinies there over Epstein in recent weeks. Or he can let the bipartisan Epstein bill proceed to the floor, where it’s very likely to pass, extending the controversy and handing the hot potato to Senate GOP leaders.

Asked last week about the dilemma, Johnson said he wasn’t ready to make a call.

“We haven’t talked about any of that,” he said in a brief interview before leaving the Capitol Friday, adding that the discharge vote was a “moot point.” He referenced a House vote this month that directed the Oversight panel to continue its probe without explicitly requiring the Justice Department to release the files.

“The Oversight Committee is working overtime on this,” Johnson said. “They’re releasing every single page of documents every time they receive one. I mean, it’s all out in the open. It genuinely is a moot point.”

Behind closed doors, Johnson has told Republicans in recent weeks he wouldn’t force the Rules Committee to short-circuit the discharge petition. Johnson and GOP leaders have also acknowledged in private that a floor vote is likely if the petition gets 218 signatures, as POLITICO reported earlier this month.

House Rules Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) also said in a brief interview earlier this month that her panel would not intervene in the discharge petition and block a floor vote on Massie-Khanna bill.

White House operatives have been aware for weeks that the petition was on track to receive the necessary 218 signatures without any additional GOP support, according to two Trump officials granted anonymity to comment on internal dealings. Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) became the 217th supporter after winning a special election earlier this month. Grijalva’s victory has not been in much doubt.

Trump has stewed over the matter. Earlier this month, he argued on the Truth Social that DOJ “has done its job” and “given everything requested of them,” adding that it’s “time to end the Democrat Epstein Hoax.”

Despite White House pressure, three Republican women — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Nancy Mace (S.C.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.) — have declined to remove their names from the discharge petition. They have cast their decisions to sign as a gesture of support for Epstein’s victims and for transparency.

“These are some of the most courageous women I’ve ever met,” Greene said after meeting some of them earlier this month. “This shouldn’t have been a battle, and unfortunately, it has been one.”

If the bipartisan bill goes to the floor, other House Republicans who didn’t sign onto the discharge effort are expected to join the three women in supporting the measure — possibly many more.

That could ramp up pressure on Senate Republicans to take action, though Majority Leader John Thune has so far beaten back several Democratic efforts to surface the Epstein issue in that chamber. He has declined to say how the Senate might act on the Massie-Khanna measure.

Some Republicans have recognized that burying the issue could be untenable for party leaders.

“I don’t think there’s too many options,” Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) told reporters when asked about the House discharge petition in late August. “I think you have to take it up, right?”

Nicholas Wu and Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

Congress

Johnson says he will send housing bill to Trump on Monday

Published

11 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Speaker Mike Johsnon said he plans to send President Donald Trump a bipartisan housing bill Monday, just days after the president abruptly canceled a signing ceremony for the legislation after Congress failed to pass his elections security act.

Speaking with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Johnson said the 21st Century ROAD To Housing Act is a Republican priority for lowering costs for Americans.

“I’m going to send the bill over to him on Monday, and it will become law,” the Louisiana Republican told host Maria Bartiromo. “I certainly want him to take the biggest, boldest marker that he has and do that big Trump signature proudly on that legislation because we’re delivering for the people, and that’s what he wants to do.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Johnson’s remarks.

The bill is the product of almost a year of back-and-forth between all four congressional corners and aims to increase affordability by boosting housing supply and home ownership. It passed both chambers of Congress with wide bipartisan support.

Trump was scheduled to sign the bill into law last week but canceled the ceremony “until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency.”

Trump’s SAVE America Act would require voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box and effectively end mail-in voting. Trump has also said he would like the bill to include prohibitions on transgender athletes competing. But Republican leaders have repeatedly indicated the legislation does not have enough votes to pass.

Congressional leaders appeared taken aback by Trump’s signing cancellation, but Johnson on Sunday said he and the president have since met in the Oval Office to discuss the housing bill “in great detail.”

“We made a lot of promises to the voters, and we’re fulfilling those every single day of this Congress,” Johnson said. “This is a big part of that because this will increase the availability, the access to more housing, bring down cost, cut regulations, do the things we know are very important for that market. The president and I talked about that at length. Of course he wants to do those things.”

But if Trump does not sign the housing bill into law within the next few days, it would still become law unless he were to veto it. Congress also has the power to override a presidential veto.

Congress

Sen. Thom Tillis rails against Trump’s fixation on voting legislation

Published

11 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Thom Tillis on Sunday expressed frustration with President Donald Trump’s continued fixation on passing the SAVE America Act.

In an interview with BLN’s “Face the Nation,” the retiring North Carolina Republican lamented “the impossible task” of implementing the requirements of the legislation ahead of November’s crucial midterms.

“Why are we doing more things to undermine our confidence in elections, rather than getting the strong message out that will win for Republicans this year?” Tillis said.

Rather than promoting the bill — which would require voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box and effectively end widespread mail-in voting — Tillis said Republicans should tell voters about “the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America” while accepting the current voting laws.

“Win by the good results that Republicans have produced and stop undermining the confidence in the elections,” said Tillis. “This is a bedrock of our 250-year history of success as the democracy that changed the world. Let’s not mess with that between now and November.”

Trump has said the SAVE America Act is his “No. 1 priority” ahead of midterms, going so far as to abruptly cancel a bill signing for major bipartisan legislation on housing affordability until Congress passes his elections bill. But many Democrats are staunchly against the bill, arguing it could disenfranchise millions of voters, and Republican leaders in Congress have repeatedly indicated it does not have the votes to pass.

Tillis co-sponsored the original SAVE America Act but has objected to Trump’s version of the legislation, which would also bar transgender athletes from women’s sports.

It’s not the first time Tillis has clashed with Trump.

Earlier this year, Tillis blocked Trump’s Fed chair nominee, Kevin Warsh, until the Justice Department dropped an investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He has also spoken out against the Justice Department’s $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” calling it a “payout for punks.” And he has emerged as a fierce critic of Bill Pulte, Trump’s interim director of national intelligence.

“Let’s try and figure out a way to completely and finally end these distractions so that we can focus on the damage Democrats could do if they take the House, if they beat incumbent Republicans in the Senate. That’s what Republicans need to be talking about between now and November,” Tillis said Sunday.

Congress

Sen. Bill Cassidy on Trump: ‘Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage’

Published

12 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Bill Cassidy appeared to question President Donald Trump’s view of Congress, saying in an interview that he is not sure Trump grasps that Congress “is a separate body, separate from the presidency.”

“Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage, and, frankly, sometimes Congress acts like it’s an appendage,” the Louisiana Republican said in a pre-taped interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” that aired Sunday.

The latest criticism in a public clash between the two leaders, Cassidy also told host Margaret Brennan that he would be focused on affordability, including the cost of health care and groceries, if he were president.

“If I were president, I would be focused on those people that they have, my people, our people, us at the kitchen table. How do you make their life better? And that’s what I think the president should be focused on,” Cassidy said.

The relationship between Cassidy and Trump has been rocky for some time. Cassidy was one of only a handful of Republican leaders who voted to convict Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Trump and Cassidy recently clashed in a closed-door meeting between GOP leaders, with Cassidy admitting he raised his voice to “match” the president’s.

“The president said something negative about me. I received it as attempting to bully me from asking a question that I think the American people need to know, and I’m not going to be bullied,” Cassidy said at the time.

However, after receiving a special briefing from Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff, Cassidy changed his vote on a resolution designed to rein in Trump’s power to wage war against Iran.

“They said right now the negotiations are delicate, and they could collapse if they’re not nursed along in the appropriate way. I can accept that,” Cassidy said.

“That’s the reason they said for their kind of lack of being forthcoming. I can accept that, but my goal was to be briefed, to have the truth in order to make a decision for the benefit of my country, and that was satisfied.”

Still, Cassidy’s stance against Trump has cost him: After serving more than a decade in the Senate, Cassidy lost his campaign for renomination after Trump endorsed against him. Rep. Julia Letlow will be the Louisiana Republican Senate candidate this fall.