Congress

How an Adam Schiff indictment could shake the Senate

Published

10 months ago

November 9, 2025

President Donald Trump’s retribution campaign against his political adversaries could soon hit the Senate — and lawmakers are already bracing for impact.

After securing the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, Trump has his sights set on Sen. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who as a member of the House managed the president’s first impeachment trial.

If Schiff ends up indicted on allegations of mortgage fraud — a charge he has vehemently denied — or for any other claim, it would mark an unprecedented escalation for Trump to target an outspoken political adversary who is also a federal elected official.

As Schiff solicits dollars for a legal defense fund and builds an expansive political operation prepared to do damage control around any potential charges, Schiff’s Democratic colleagues in Congress are increasingly anxious about their own vulnerability. They are also frustrated with the unwillingness of Republican senators to speak out on Schiff’s behalf.

“I’ve spoken to a number of Republicans, and they are certainly disquieted, if not dismayed, by the increasing weaponization of the Department of Justice,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “Because it tears down the norms and rule of law that protects them and all Americans, as well as Adam Schiff and Democrats who may be targeted by Trump.”

It has been just a few months since news broke that Schiff was being investigated for mortgage fraud relating to the financing of his Maryland residence — and weeks since Trump in a social media post called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to go after Schiff, Comey and James. Recent reports have suggested the case against Schiff has stalled as prosecutors are said to be struggling to find sufficient evidence to bring up charges.

“[Trump has] been more than willing to go after his political opponents — to go after universities, to go after law firms, to go after media organizations,” Schiff said last week. “It’s all part of the same effort to silence and intimidate critics and, I think, needs to be recognized for what it is.”

The investigation remains ongoing, however. And FBI Director Kash Patel, another longtime Schiff foe, continues to brandish accusations that Schiff, as chair of the House Intelligence Committee, sought to leak potentially damaging information about Trump.

A report from the DOJ Office of Inspector General, in which names have been redacted, found that the witness levying the leaking charges against Schiff had “little support for their contentions.” Schiff, through a spokesperson, has denied the claims.

Lawmakers of both parties are now closely watching to see what will become of Schiff. Interviews with senators revealed concerns that their institution is at risk of becoming further polarized if the DOJ goes ahead with charges.

“You can’t go around threatening people everyday and have a collaborative environment,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

Democrats are on edge, worrying a Schiff indictment would open the floodgates to more targeting of Democratic elected officials. Many Republicans are either visibly uncomfortable with the dynamics or unwilling to weigh in on a matter that could put them crosswise with the president.

Because Trump took the step of publicly calling on his attorney general to go after Schiff — a break with historical precedent in which the White House has kept its distance from the Justice Department — an indictment would play out differently on Capitol Hill than past episodes where lawmakers have found themselves under legal scrutiny.

The most recent senatorial indictment — of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), accused of bribery in 2023 — presented an awkward situation for many of his longtime colleagues in both parties. Most Democrats repeated the “innocent until proven guilty” mantra while praising him for stepping aside from his leadership post atop the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as the case worked through the system.

Menendez was convicted at trial and is now serving an 11-year prison sentence. In recent months, he has sought to endear himself to Trump, who has pardon-granting power.

But Schiff’s indictment would challenge those old norms in almost every way. Democrats are expected to rush to his defense and blast the Trump administration for carrying out a personal vendetta. Many Republicans will have to decide how strongly to push back, if they do at all.

Senate Democrats concede they are nervous about the looming threat. Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, for instance, said in an interview her team has been in touch with Schiff’s office about how to prepare to be the subject of a Trump investigation.

“We’ve already created a break-glass plan for ourselves if the spotlight turns to others in the caucus,” said Slotkin. A former CIA analyst from a swing state, her decision to support impeaching Trump in 2019 helped catalyze the successful vote in the House.

“It’s based on the experience we’ve watched Adam go through,” she continued of her own preparations. “How do you have a lawyer ready to go? How do you make sure … you know the legal left and right limits of what you can and cannot do? How do you think about a legal defense fund? I mean, there’s a lot of details.”

Schiff’s national profile precedes his current predicament, which means he’s had a considerable infrastructure supporting him. In the years between his election to the House in 2000, his rising to prominence during the first Trump administration, and then winning a Senate seat last year, he has assembled a team of Democratic firms and advisers.

He is standing up a legal defense fund and has an $8.6 million campaign war chest, more than $2 million of which was raised in the year’s most recent fundraising quarter alone — notable because he is not up for reelection until 2030.

A spokesperson for Schiff would not say how much cash is currently in the legal defense fund, but donations from any unrelated individual into that fund cannot exceed $10,000 per fiscal year and lawmakers cannot transfer campaign money into the account. Per Senate rules, members may set up a legal expense trust fund to pay for their defense, but they have to regularly disclose contributions and spending to the Senate Ethics Committee.

Schiff is being represented by the legal giant WilmerHale; one of his lawyers is Preet Bharara, a former U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York who was fired by Trump in 2017 for refusing to follow orders to resign as a Barack Obama-era appointee.

On Capitol Hill, Democrats want Republicans to step up and offer support, too.

“We’re in the middle of a totalitarian takeover, in part, because even threatening major political figures like Adam Schiff … with arrest undoubtedly has a chilling impact on political speech,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in an interview. “It’s been heartbreaking to see relative silence from Republicans in the face of these threats.”

Schiff said he has not yet heard directly from GOP colleagues about his case. However, Murphy is among some Senate Democrats, including Blumenthal, who say they are privately back-channeling with Republicans about the DOJ’s actions against Trump’s political enemies, including Schiff.

For many of the Republican Senators who work alongside Schiff daily, the situation is complicated. Notoriously chatty Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) — Trump loyalists who serve with Schiff on the Senate Judiciary Committee — declined to discuss the matter.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) would only point to the probe’s reportedly dimming prospects when asked for his reaction to the case.

“I just go by what I saw on television, that the people in the Justice Department thought … it was a difficult case to win,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice declined to comment and pointed to a recent social media post from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche denying news reports about the obstacles in charging Schiff for mortgage fraud.

Some Senate Republicans are avoiding comment on Schiff’s predicament by maligning former President Joe Biden for weaponizing the Justice Department — exactly what Democrats say is happening now under Trump.

“I don’t know the underlying facts, but I believe the Department of Justice should enforce the law and not be weaponized the way it was for four years under Joe Biden,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in an interview.

Further underscoring the treacherous terrain in which Schiff now finds himself is that some Republicans are outwardly eager to have him targeted.

“Adam Schiff was probably the most corrupt member of Congress when it came to pushing the totally false collusion hoax. … He used his position as chair of Intel to push that thing,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). He was referring to the accusations during the first Trump impeachment trial that centered around claims that Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to dig up information about Biden.

Johnson, the chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, is now leading an inquiry into revelations that Biden special counsel Jack Smith obtained the phone records of Republican lawmakers as part of his probe into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

“It’s unfortunate the Democrats in California would elect someone like that who’s been censured by the House, that is so thoroughly proven a liar,” said Johnson, referring to a Republican-led 2023 House effort to condemn Schiff for his role in investigating Trump.

“He needs to be investigated,” he added.

Congress

How Republicans are privately talking about their Senate map at the convention

Published

4 hours ago

September 11, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

DALLAS — Top Republicans are scrambling to shore up their Senate map in Alaska, Texas and other red states — and are privately acknowledging they could very well lose in Georgia and North Carolina.

As GOP lawmakers, candidates and party officials gather for their midterm convention in Dallas, their conversations reveal how the party is thinking about their chances in the battle for the upper chamber, less than two months from Election Day.

THE TOP TARGETS

Senate Majority Leader John Thune ticked through a handful of battleground states he’s confident about in a closed-door lunch on Thursday — he’s particularly focused on Alaska, Maine and Michigan.

The meeting was hosted by the Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate’s top GOP super PAC, and was used to rally Republican donors, according to two people in the room who were granted anonymity to share details of the private discussions.

Republicans are bullish about their chances of holding their seat in Maine after the Democratic side devolved into chaos over the summer, when Graham Plater suspended his campaign following an allegation of sexual assault, which he denies. Now, a largely untested, progressive Troy Jackson is looking to unseat five-term GOP Sen. Susan Collins.

In Alaska, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan is locked in a tight race with Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, but they are optimistic about his prospects in the state that President Donald Trump won by double digits in 2024.

Michigan is another opportunity: Republicans have been leaning into attacks warning of the takeover of socialism this cycle. They are spending heavily to boost Republican Mike Rogers, who is running against progressive Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee who’s backed by the Democratic Socialists of America and who has become a boogeyman for Republicans.

TEXAS IS FOR TRUMP

Senior Republicans also indicated they would continue to leave shoring up imperiled Ken Paxton in Texas largely to Trump, given that he helped unseat Sen. John Cornyn by backing Paxton in the primary.

Trump said in his convention speech Wednesday night that he would help boost Paxton. His affiliated super PAC, MAGA Inc. has already started spending in Texas to shore up the Republican. Senate Leadership Fund, which publicly backed Cornyn during the GOP primary, has not announced any spending in Texas.

THE PROBLEM CHILDREN

Georgia, where Republican Rep. Mike Collins is facing rising Democratic star Sen. Jon Ossoff, didn’t come up in the SLF meeting with Thune, according to the people. One of the people who was in the room later told Blue Light News that North Carolina would be “tough.”

Republicans have been increasingly worried about Collins falling behind in Georgia and Michael Whatley, a former RNC chair, in North Carolina. Public polling shows both candidates trailing their Democratic opponents. They are also both being outraised on the candidate level, but Republicans have a substantial overall fundraising advantage — buoyed in large part by Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC.

Sen. Rick Scott, a former NRSC chair, said in an interview at the convention this week that if the Georgia GOP gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson “runs an unbelievable race in Georgia, he gives Mike Collins an opportunity possibly to beat Ossoff.” He also painted North Carolina as “probably one of the hardest ones,” given that Whatley is facing popular former Gov. Roy Cooper for an open seat.

Democrats need to hold onto all of their seats — including defending the open seat in Michigan — while also flipping four GOP-held ones to gain control of the upper chamber. Republicans are also eager to boost John Sununu in New Hampshire after his primary win this week, as they work to beat back serious challenges in Ohio and Iowa.

Collins and Whatley both welcomed additional financial support coming into the final stretch of their races in interviews during the convention.

“Listen, we’ll always make a case for more money,” Collins told Blue Light News he left a closed-door meeting with the NRSC, SLF head Alex Latcham and top Senate Republicans on Wednesday.

Congress

House will vote on legislation shielding consumers from data center energy costs

Published

6 hours ago

September 10, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House GOP leaders will put legislation on the floor next week designed to compel tech companies to pay for the infrastructure associated with energy-sucking data centers, according to the offices of Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

It comes as vulnerable House Republicans have been pleading with leadership to take some sort of action before the midterms to address the rising power prices linked to the data center boom, necessary to meet the growing artificial intelligence demand.

Many of these Republicans, who were hammered on the issue during the summer recess by fed-up constituents, have been calling for consideration specifically of the so-called Ratepayer Protection Act, which passed unanimously out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in July.

Leaders, however, have been weighing whether or not to move forward with the measure on the floor, with Scalise’s office claiming late last month that some of his members had problems with the proposal that still needed to be worked out.

That Scalise and others have now caved is a sign of the political pressure the party is feeling on the matter as Election Day draws near. This is one the last bills lawmakers will vote on before leaving town for a six week recess before the midterms.

According to four people with knowledge of next week’s agenda, the bill will come to the floor under an expedited floor procedure that only requires a two-thirds majority of those present and voting to secure passage. That means Republican leaders won’t have to worry about the legislation overcoming a procedural, party-line rule that GOP lawmakers could tank for any number of reasons, including outstanding concerns over the Ratepayer Protection Act.

One person granted anonymity to describe internal deliberations said the bill that passed out of Energy and Commerce has not been revised, meaning there could still be lingering opposition.

Many Republicans, in recent weeks, have continued to argue that data center construction is a local matter that ought not be regulated at the national level.

“I’m a true believer in local control,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said in an interview Thursday along the sidelines of the GOP midterm convention in Dallas this week.

The news of the planned vote was first reported by Axios.

Lawmakers next week will also vote on the so-called AM Radio in Every Vehicle Act, legislation that would force automakers to include AM radio capabilities in all new vehicles, according to two people granted anonymity to describe private scheduling.

The measure has wide bipartisan appeal but has been criticized as too onerous by some electric vehicle manufacturers who say their car designs cannot currently accommodate AM radio functionality.

Congress

Tom Emmer has a message for House GOP chairs: Term limits matter

Published

8 hours ago

September 10, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

DALLAS — House Majority Whip Tom Emmer has a message for the multiple House committee chairs seeking an exception from Republicans’ term limit rule: He’s “not a fan” of waivers, and you should have a good reason for seeking one.

“I’ve never liked waivers,” Emmer said in an interview at the GOP midterm convention. “I think it’s one of the things that helped the Republican majority stay more connected to Main Street.”

As the No. 3 Republican leader, Emmer does not control the waivers, which are in the hands of the 35-member GOP Steering Committee and the larger House Republican Conference.

But he has an influential voice as a top leader and Steering Committee member, and he said there are only “limited circumstances where it might make sense” to allow Republicans to lead a committee for more than three terms.

Several chairs, including Agriculture’s G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) and Armed Services’ Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), have applied for waivers to continue in their posts next Congress. The three-term limit includes time served leading panels in both the majority and minority.

Emmer said members should be free to make their case to continue on but, he said, the bar should be high.

“I love our members who have been around for years and have institutional knowledge,” Emmer said. “But unlike Democrats, we have turnover on the Republican side.”

He added, “Every two election cycles or so, you have close to 50 percent turnover in the Republican House. You don’t get that in the Senate. You get people who are serving as octogenarians, and they’re showing no signs of leaving.”

One GOP chair who is planning on handing off his gavel is Judiciary’s Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a MAGA favorite who could start the new Congress without a perch of power — leading to rampant speculation about what he has planned.

“I heard the president saylast week in the Rose Garden that we need to keep Jim right where he is, which was interesting because it’s like — OK, but I think he’s termed out,” Emmer said.

Many believe that Jordan — as well as Emmer and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise — could seek to run for the top leadership post now held by Speaker Mike Johnson if Republicans lose their majority in November. Emmer reiterated that he believes that won’t happen and that the GOP leadership will stay the same.

“It’s going to be Mike Johnson, Steve Scalise. I hope I’m rehired, and I expect Lisa McClain will be rehired,” he said, referring to the No. 4 GOP leader from Michigan.