Congress

Democrats split over shutdown endgame

Published

11 months ago

November 4, 2025

Democrats showed unmistakable signs of splintering Monday as the government shutdown reached the cusp of setting an all-time record.

While many are still demanding their colleagues dig in and fight, a critical mass of Democratic senators appear to be engaged in serious talks about bringing an end to the five-week stalemate. The shutdown is set to overtake the 35-day record Tuesday night.

The divisions among Democrats over whether it’s time to negotiate a way out — or even what that way out should be — comes as Senate Republicans grow increasingly confident about their posture, with top leaders hoping to be able to pass a funding patch by the end of the week that would reopen shuttered agencies.

To do that, they’ll need to flip at least five more Democratic votes. Double that number of senators met behind closed doors Monday night in a Capitol hideaway office.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who has been involved in informal bipartisan talks since before the shutdown started, said in a brief interview afterward she hoped there would be a resolution to the shutdown this week.

“We’re having lots of active conversations,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) told reporters.

The sense of fatigue with the marathon standoff — and the mounting impacts on everyday Americans, including missing food aid and air travel delays — was acknowledged by at least one senior Democrat.

“I sense that people are tired of this shutdown and all that flows from it,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the No. 2 party leader, who added that the bipartisan interlocutors he has spoken to “seem more optimistic.”

But Durbin warned the major sticking point for his party — health care — remains unresolved.

The outlines of the agreement under discussion by rank-and-file senators would fall short of what many Democrats have drawn as a red line: a firm bipartisan agreement to extend Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies that will expire Dec. 31.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer showed no signs of backing down during a floor speech Monday. He knocked President Donald Trump and Republicans for not coming to the negotiating table even after the open enrollment shopping period opened Saturday, exposing many ACA enrollees to markedly higher premiums.

“It was a bitter, stressful weekend for millions of Americans, but you would never guess it listening to Donald Trump,” Schumer said of the “sticker shock.”

And amid signs that their colleagues could be preparing to concede, a cadre of Senate progressives warned that Democrats need to keep fighting.

“We have the moral responsibility to stand up and fight for the 15 million people who are about to lose health care,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in an interview Monday. “What the polling tells me, and what I believe to be true, is that the vast majority of the American people are behind us not to give in to Trump or the Republicans.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said he believed Democrats should continue to fight until they get an agreement to extend the subsidies. He predicted that the results of Tuesday’s off-year elections would confirm that “the American people want us to fight for them.”

“Donald Trump and the Republicans need to come to the negotiating table,” added Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

In another signal of impending movement, some rank-and-file Senate Democrats who have been involved in the bipartisan talks tried to sell senior House Democrats on a potential off-ramp to the shutdown, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss the private conversations.

But many House Democrats, especially in leadership circles, are still opposed to any deal that doesn’t include a concrete legislative solution to extending the ACA subsidies. The developing Senate deal would likely include the promise of a Senate floor vote that would probably fail, paired with a possible framework for subsequent bipartisan negotiations.

“It won’t be pretty if they vote ‘yes’ over a promised process versus outcome,” one of the people involved in the conversations said, describing the view of many House Democrats. “But they’re trying.”

In addition to Shaheen and Slotkin, Democratic Sens. Chris Coons of Delaware, Mark Kelly of Arizona, Gary Peters of Michigan, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada attended the Monday night meeting, as well as Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats.

Some who attended, but not all, are also part of the bipartisan group of senators who talked through the weekend. Their conversations have focused on passing a new funding patch to reopen agencies, reaching an understanding on moving full-year appropriations bills and scheduling a vote on ACA subsidies. Republicans have also pledged that Trump will meet with Democrats after the shutdown ends.

Cortez Masto and King have already voted multiple times to advance a House-passed stopgap spending bill that would fund the government through Nov. 21. But there is widespread agreement that this measure is now out of date and will have to be revised to extend the deadline into mid-December at least.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday he hoped to be able to send a revised stopgap back to the House by the end of the week. Under the most optimistic timeline, if the Senate can strike a deal and pass an amended bill by Thursday, the House would return early next week to vote on sending it to Trump, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

But there are divisions on the Republican side that could complicate that plan.

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) is pushing for a new deadline of Dec. 19, which she hopes would build momentum to pass a package of full-year funding bills in the coming weeks. She and Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), along with other GOP appropriators, have in recent days been trying to build support for such a plan with Democrats.

But House and Senate GOP leaders are pushing hard against a December deadline, as they face pressure from conservative hard-liners wary of a holiday jam.

“You can’t go to December,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Monday. “It has to be longer.” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) wrote on X Monday that he believed the new deadline has to go past Jan. 15.

Republicans could be forced to swallow the December date if it’s the only compromise available in the Senate, but Democrats need to get on the same page, too. Durbin didn’t close the door Monday to a January deadline, but Shaheen said she wanted it to end in December.

“Those people who are arguing for a January CR are those people who want a full-year continuing resolution,” Shaheen said, referring to an extension of current funding levels that would sideline appropriators. “I don’t think that’s in anybody’s interest.”

Collins was among those who struck an optimistic note Monday. “It’s too soon to declare that this nightmare of a shutdown is over, but I’m very cautiously hopeful,” she told reporters.

Later, though, Collins added, “who knows — it could all fall apart again.”

Calen Razor and Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.

Congress

Rep. Casar: ‘The AI race is not an arms race that you win’

Published

8 minutes ago

September 16, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) is objecting to the notion that America should be focused on winning the AI race.

“The AI race is not an arms race that you win,” Casar said during the Blue Light News Decoded Summit in D.C. “It’s an arms race that we need to end, and we need to protect the American people.”

Casar also questioned the idea that competition with China should dissuade the U.S. from putting guardrails on AI, and noted he plans to release bill text for a proposal banning superintelligence. He further cast doubt on the impact of a pending bill to mitigate utility cost increases from data centers, reiterated his push for CEOs of the leading AI companies to testify before Congress.

“Over 30 members of Congress sent letters to these companies, and in the example of OpenAI, we asked if there were other incidents where AI got out of its sandbox, hacked into other companies,” Casar said. “Is there anything else we should know about in addition to hugging face?”

Speaking Tuesday at the Pro-Human Assembly, a conference on AI organized by the Future of Life Institute, Casar called for activists and whistleblowers to speak more forcefully about threats arising from advanced AI, saying the time for “tempered rhetoric has passed.”

His latest comments follow an array of warnings from employees at labs developing advanced AI models, including Anthropic whistleblower Jacob Coxon, which have fueled public concern about the technology’s advancing capabilities.

Public opinion over the risks associated with AI has hardened, with new results from The Blue Light News Poll underscoring the depth of anxieties about the rapidly developing technology. Overall, about two out of three Americans say there is at least a “moderate” risk that advanced AI could destroy humanity, with majorities across parties, genders and age groups holding that view.

Ahead of a House vote on a bipartisan bill designed to curb data center costs, Casar said he plans to vote for the bill —- but poured cold water on how much of an impact it will have.

“It’s not going to make a huge difference on the electric rates, especially right now,” Casar said. “There are way stronger proposals and I don’t really think that this one is gonna come off as much of a win for the Republicans who are flailing to hold on.”

One of the guardrails Casar proposed during the summit was a new cabinet-level agency to enforce AI safety measures. “

Congress

Congress in AI deadlock as public fear soars

Published

2 hours ago

September 16, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Nearly two thirds of Americans surveyed in a new Blue Light News poll out Wednesday see at least a moderate risk that artificial intelligence will destroy humanity, and nearly half favor pausing development of more advanced models.

The survey, conducted this week, magnifies the pressure some lawmakers say they’re facing from constituents to rein in the industry’s latest models. More than 100 House Democrats are urging House GOP leaders Wednesday to keep the chamber in session until they pass “meaningful, bipartisan AI safeguards,” Blue Light News scooped.

“I’ve just come back from Connecticut, and as I went around the state, a lot of people were talking about AI in a way they had not done before,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal said at a Washington event Tuesday.

But Capitol Hill has been slow to respond to the issue. House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie, whose panel has yet to rally around any specific AI safety bill, will likely overview what he sees as lawmakers’ next steps during Blue Light News’s Decoded Summit Wednesday in an interview with Kelsey Brugger.

So will Rep. Greg Casar in an interview with Riley Rogerson. Casar is among the progressives in Congress calling for an immediate moratorium on the development of the most advanced AI models and just yesterday encouraged whistleblowers to speak more forcefully on the growing threat of the technology.

The Blue Light News survey also spotlights a growing partisan divide over whether and how to regulate the emerging technology.

Fifty percent of Donald Trump 2024 voters said the U.S. should not allow itself to fall behind other countries in AI, even if that means taking risks to stay ahead of them. That compares to just 34 percent of Kamala Harris voters who feel the same.

The lack of political consensus in Congress only grew more obvious Tuesday.

OpenAI on Tuesday threw its weight behind what could be considered political middle ground by backing proposals requiring AI developers embed independent watchdogs to ensure their products are safe.

That idea was spiked by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who co-chairs the Democrat-only House Commission on AI. Gottheimer said developers should instead submit their models for mandatory government vetting.

Third party evaluators are a key part of arguably the most-developed AI safety legislation in Congress right now, led by Reps. Jay Obernolte and Lori Trahan, and Obernolte said yesterday he’s in conversations with OpenAI about the “urgent need for action.” But the overall measure is struggling to gain momentum on Blue Light News.

Meanwhile, leaders in the GOP just landed on a new strategy to combat worries AI will soon spiral out of control: calling it Democratic hysteria.

Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday likened the intense focus on AI threats to Democrats’ warnings about climate change: “You’re not all going to be dead in 10 years.”

Still, plenty of Republicans remain staunch in their belief Congress needs to step up — including Sen. Bill Cassidy, who argued as much on The Conversation with Blue Light News Tuesday.

“Anything that is this transformative, the American people need to weigh in on, and the American people express their thoughts and anxieties and hopes and aspirations through representative government,” he said.

What else we’re watching:

—HUSTED’S DATA CENTER PROBLEM: Ohio Sen. Jon Husted is drowning in political attacks centered on his past support for data centers. But the chamber’s leaders aren’t sure he’ll secure a lifeline. The House is expected to vote Wednesday on legislation meant to curb data center energy costs. And Husted, who is facing a tough midterm race, is trying to get his fellow senators to quickly follow suit.

— COLLEGE SPORTS BILL DRIVES AHEAD — More than two dozen Senate Democrats on Tuesday voted to advance a sweeping college athletics bill, teeing up more floor debate and a final passage vote before lawmakers leave to campaign for the midterms. The chamber is expected to stay for the entirety of its planned three-week session now that senators opened a path to take up the bill, according to four Senate aides granted anonymity to discuss planning.

Owen Dahlkamp, Dasha Burns and Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

Congress

Why the Senate might not solve Jon Husted’s data center problem

Published

5 hours ago

September 16, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Ohio Sen. Jon Husted is drowning in political attacks centered on his past support for data centers. A potential life preserver could end up just out of reach.

The House is expected to vote Wednesday on legislation that aims to compel technology companies to cover utility costs associated with data center buildouts. And Husted, who is seeking election in November to complete the final two years of the term he was appointed to, is trying to get his fellow senators to quickly follow suit.

But getting the Senate to leap into action this month is far from straightforward. Assuming the House acts on the measure Wednesday as planned, putting it on President Donald Trump’s desk before senators leave town for a final campaign sprint would require Husted to convince all 99 of his colleagues to agree to a quick vote — or even to let it pass without one.

There are already signs it could be a big ask, especially from Democrats who are already skeptical of the House bill and aren’t eager to give Husted a leg up in his race against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, either.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), who has offered his own bill aimed at preventing data centers from shifting energy costs to consumers, called the bill Husted is backing a “fig leaf” in a Tuesday interview.

“I think it’s a very symbolic piece of legislation,” said Heinrich, the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “I would like to see something done that actually has some teeth to protect consumers.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was noncommittal Tuesday when asked at a news conference about artificial intelligence legislation and if Democrats could support an idea like Husted’s bill, known as the Ratepayer Protection Act. The New York Democrat said that there were “many different ways to approach AI” but they wouldn’t get done unless it was on a bipartisan basis.

While Husted’s bill has one cosponsor — a fellow Republican, Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama — the House bill has multiple Democratic cosponsors and passed unanimously out of the Energy and Commerce Committee in July. House Republican leaders are so confident of bipartisan approval that they’re bringing the bill to the floor under a fast-track process requiring a two-thirds-majority vote.

Husted insisted to reporters Tuesday that he was not connecting his push for data center legislation with the political headwinds he’s facing back in Ohio.

“I don’t look at it in those terms,” Husted said. “I just think that it’s something that is just the right thing to do. … They need to pay their own way, and not pass their cost on.”

But with Brown hammering him on the Ohio airwaves as the “face of data centers,” Husted is facing an acute need to reassure voters on the issue. The Senate GOP campaign arm warned in a memo last month that data centers are “the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck” and that if Husted loses it could have negative consequences for the industry.

Getting the Ratepayer Protection Act to Trump’s desk would give Husted and other Republicans a key talking point to raise in TV ads and debate appearances as many acknowledge that the growing backlash from voters over data centers is becoming a grave political liability.

If Husted can’t get an across-the-board agreement to hold a vote, he could go to the floor and try to pass his bill by unanimous consent, but any one senator would be able to block his attempt.

Asked whether he would object to such an effort, Heinrich said he hadn’t considered it yet, but added that “given the pressures consumers are under right now, they deserve something more real.”

Schumer helped recruit Brown into the race against Husted, and the former senator has been running ads against Husted for months over his support for data centers as lieutenant governor.

“He led the path to bring data centers to Ohio and gave billions of tax dollars to make it happen,” the narrator says in one Brown campaign ad from earlier this month.

A spokesperson for Husted’s Senate office said in a statement that Husted has “always believed that it should be up to the local communities whether or not they want new data centers.”

Husted joined Trump in March for the signing of a “ratepayer protection pledge” aimed at defusing the issue for Republicans. The Husted spokesperson said his bill “simply codifies this pledge, and what he has always firmly believed: tech companies should be held accountable, and local ratepayers should not have to pay for new data centers.”

Democrats view Ohio as one of their best pickup opportunities on the Senate map, with political prognosticators viewing the contest as a tossup. If Husted is able to keep his seat in a state Trump won by more than 11 points in 2024, it would be a boon for Republicans’ fight to hold onto the majority.

The data center bill is not the only way Republicans could use the Senate floor to boost Husted, who was appointed last year by Gov. Mike DeWine to fill the seat vacated by JD Vance when he became vice president.

Two GOP senators granted anonymity to speak candidly said they believed a Tuesday vote on cryptocurrency regulation, for instance, was designed to help Husted. Democrats blocked the bill from advancing, and Republicans are hoping the crypto industry spends heavily in Ohio to defeat Brown, a former Senate Banking chair — as they did in 2024.

Republicans are also discussing if they can bring up a House-passed bill cracking down on lawmaker stock trading that also has voter ID language attached to it. Husted has pushed voter ID legislation in the Senate.

Asked about the data center bill Tuesday, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso said in an interview that “we’ll see how it goes there and get it over here.”

Unprompted, he added, “Since you mentioned Senator Husted, I would also like to do the stock trading ban, which also requires a mandatory showing of voter ID.”

Husted said that he believed his data center bill is “broadly supported” and that he’s hoping a strong House vote will “give us some good momentum to get it done in the Senate.”

But Senate Majority Leader John Thune cautioned that it would take buy-in from all 100 senators to move it quickly.

“We’ll see what the options are over here,” Thune said in an interview. “He obviously has the option to try and ask [for unanimous consent] to get it done.”

Anthony Cruz contributed to this report.