Congress

Tax Day is the GOP’s focus as Congress returns to war, shutdown and other challenges

Published

5 months ago

April 13, 2026

Republicans return to Washington this week eager to promote the pocketbook benefits of their nine-month-old megabill ahead of Tax Day. But the fallout from the war in the Middle East threatens to complicate that election-year message.

Explaining away rising gas prices and spiking inflation is not where GOP lawmakers wanted to be seven months before the midterms, but that is the challenge they face as a cease fire with Iran proves tenuous and there is scant evidence global energy flows will return to normal anytime soon. That’s not to mention the host of internal policy battles further distracting GOP lawmakers as they return from a two-week recess.

Still, they are seeking to rally this around the glue that has held their fractious coalition together — tax cuts — with Trump going on the road this week to tout the “big, beautiful bill” and House Republicans planning a Wednesday all-member news conference, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss the plans ahead of an announcement.

“My constituents are saving thousands of dollars and they know it,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) said in an interview. “Republicans can and should take credit because the alternative would’ve been massive tax hikes under the Democrats had they won the 2024 election.”

She played down fears that the Iran conflict could weigh on the GOP’s tax-cut messaging, calling them “separate issues.” But GOP lawmakers have acknowledged concern that rising gas prices could make it harder for their party to claim it has made life more affordable for Americans.

Republicans, Malliotakis said, “need to ensure that the spike is only temporary and that we get those prices back down as soon as possible so we have all three: low taxes, affordable gas and a safer nation.”

The threat of rising prices was further underscored by new federal data published Friday showing inflation at its highest level in two years, with energy costs accounting for the bulk of the spike, as well as the collapse of peace talks with Iran over the weekend aimed at restoring oil flows through the Persian Gulf.

Directly tackling the issue, however, is not at the top of the congressional agenda at the moment. The Senate is set to restart debate on a sweeping elections bill most Republican members don’t think can pass, and the House is set to vote on a handful of measures rolling back environment regulations as well as an aviation safety bill and the renaming of several post offices.

House GOP leaders hope the deregulatory effort will help assuage some rank-and-file Republicans who want to do more to address cost-of-living issues ahead of the midterms. But they also have to face a pile of problems that have only grown more pressing in the two weeks since they broke for recess.

Those include a rapidly approaching deadline for the reauthorization of key surveillance powers and the ongoing furor over the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The former issue is caught in an internal GOP dispute between Trump’s wishes and those of conservative hard-liners, while the latter was turbocharged last week after first lady Melania Trump called on Congress to “uncover the truth” and hold a public hearing focused on survivors of the late convicted sex trafficker’s crimes.

Leaders also have to figure out how to deal with bipartisan demands to expel several members accused of personal misconduct — including Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), who is facing sexual assault allegations, and Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who admitted to an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide.

The tax cuts, however, are one issue that has proven able to bring the party together — even as members privately fret over whether that talking point will break through with voters.

“It’s all we have to run on,” said a House Republican granted anonymity to speak candidly about the party’s messaging. “Do you see us turning out other big-ticket legislation? This is it.”

The congressional GOP is also growing increasingly entangled with the six-week-old Iran war, which stands to cast a long shadow over the party agenda. Both chambers this week will likely be debating and voting on Democratic-led war powers resolutions. While the tentative cease fire has helped calm Republicans’ nerves, the White House is taking firm steps to ensure GOP members stay loyal.

The White House communications office sent talking points on the cease fire to GOP offices last week, arguing Trump had delivered “Peace Through Strength,” though much of that guidance referred to a possibility of a “broader peace agreement” that appeared kaput by Sunday morning.

“What’s left of the Iranian regime is desperate, dejected, and in denial,” the memo said.

But there were almost immediately sharp questions about how durable the cease fire might be, and the key factor in lowering energy prices — restoring the flow of oil and gas through the strait — remained wholly unsettled into the weekend.

Even some Republicans who backed Trump’s decision to strike are skeptical that a long-term peace agreement is within reach.

“Russia and China will help them rebuild their military,” Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said in an interview. “We are safer today because Iran is significantly weakened. But the government is still in place and that means they’ll threaten us in the long term. We bought time.”

House and Senate Republicans also return to a toxic internal fight over how to end the nearly two-month-old Department of Homeland Security shutdown. House members left town after rejecting a Senate-approved deal funding most of the department, after Speaker Mike Johnson publicly trashed it. He then reversed course, infuriating members who hated the Senate’s two-track plan which leaves immigration enforcement funding for the party-line reconciliation process.

Despite endorsing the plan, Johnson does not intend to move forward on the Senate-approved DHS funding bill this week. The House GOP will instead wait until the Senate makes progress on the bill funding the remainder of the department through the partisan budget reconciliation process, according to four people granted anonymity to describe private plans.

But making progress on that bill is rife with complications. Senate Republicans are charging ahead with a plan not to find spending offsets to pay for the cost of the legislation, which would help keep Democrats from forcing tough Senate votes on a wide variety of hot-button issues as part of the reconciliation process.

But that decision will rankle House GOP fiscal hawks who wanted to include a raft of spending cuts and additional policies beyond immigration enforcement funding.

Some GOP leaders are counting on the possibility of yet another reconciliation bill that could happen later in the year incorporating the remaining items on the GOP wish list. Johnson suggested as much on a tense call with House Republicans over the recess.

That promise is not sitting well with scores of House Republicans who say they’re running out of time to notch GOP wins ahead of the midterms. Many want the next party-line bill to include a multitude of policies aimed at addressing affordability issues weighing on voters, while others want to include tens of billions of dollars for the Iran war the White House requested in its budget blueprint last week.

Johnson is also trying to wrangle a so-far intractable problem: how to extend the spy powers law ahead of its April 20 expiration.

He is planning to put a straight extension of the so-called Section 702 program on the floor this week, as the White House is demanding. But discussions continue with GOP hard-liners who want to vote amendments aimed at protecting American citizens from getting swept up in government surveillance — something that could upend Johnson’s plan.

Congress

Convention puts GOP’s reality on display: Midterm policy agenda is skimpy

Published

22 hours ago

September 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

DALLAS — Republicans used their midterm convention this week to ask voters to preserve their congressional majorities and let them “finish the job.”

But with few consensus legislative goals, it’s far from clear what job they want to finish.

The two-day convention here centered on painting Democrats as an increasingly socialist party that American voters cannot trust with power while highlighting the GOP’s one major victory on Capitol Hill under President Donald Trump’s second term: the year-old tax-cut package known as the “big, beautiful bill.”

In contrast, there was little talk from the podium of what Republicans might seek to pass with a continued trifecta, and members interviewed on the sidelines shared differing visions of what specific legislation the GOP should pursue in the last two years of Trump’s presidency.

The one concrete proposal on offer — Trump’s promise Wednesday of a $5,000 “dividend” for every American adult — blindsided GOP congressional leaders and generated immediate internal dissension.

Asked about his party’s legislative plans, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee said Republicans would “certainly continue the agenda that we’ve done and that we fulfill to the American people.”

“Accentuate all the positives, minimize all the negatives,” said Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, responding to the same question. He added he would like to see “more domestic energy production” and tackling fraud in government programs.

Several others said they want to build on last year’s GOP megabill, pursuing more tax cuts and, echoing Meuser, eliminating wasteful spending in government. Some said they hoped to pursue new health care and immigration policies.

“We’ll continue to work with President Trump, making sure the border stays secure,” Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio said in an interview. “I think we can do more on the tax code, dealing with keeping taxes low for families. Certainly … things cost too much for families. We understand it now.”

Specifics, however, were scarce.

Fleischmann said Republicans have “a good roadmap in place,” but when pressed on what that roadmap entails, he resorted to broad strokes — “to make sure that America stays strong, that defense gets funded, that we make sure that we fulfill our proper domestic obligations.”

Rather than rally around Trump’s promise of $5,000 checks if Republicans are returned to power in Congress, many GOP members — caught by surprise — said they needed more information about the proposal or simply declined to comment. Once mentioned by the president, the proposal was barely mentioned again on the convention stage.

Trump said in a CBS News interview Thursday that he believed he might not need Congress to authorize the dividend checks — a claim some Republicans quickly pushed back on.

The reality is, the narrow House and Senate majorities the GOP now holds have been barely capable of legislating as it is. And while leaders in both chambers play up the possibility of expanding those majorities in November, that would require overcoming historical precedent and many Republicans’ private expectations they will be lucky to hold on to any majority at all.

Both chambers return Monday for what could be a brief pre-election session, with little expectation that serious legislating will get done. House Republicans have sent several partisan bills to the Senate, but they are being blocked by Democratic filibusters. Plans for a new budget reconciliation bill that could skirt Democratic opposition has stalled, meanwhile, due to internal GOP divides.

The lack of action in the Senate has fueled anger from Trump and his loyalists in Congress and in the GOP voter base — much of it trained on Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has repeatedly said he simply does not have the votes to eliminate the filibuster and enact the stalled bills.

That has not appeased angry conservatives — Thune was booed at the convention Wednesday — and a continued GOP trifecta would almost certainly continue to be marked by interchamber tensions — even with turnover in the party ranks.

“Given the current dynamic, we have got to have a serious come-to-Jesus conversation with Majority Leader Thune,” Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said at the convention, demanding the Senate “tweak the filibuster rules” and “call the question” on key bills.

Even on an issue where there is general agreement among Republicans that something should be done — such as immigration — internal disagreements have kept the party from acting.

Jordan, for instance, said he would like to codify tough border security policies backed by Trump. But some more moderate Republicans are hoping for a more comprehensive bill that also addresses legal immigration programs, such as those allowing for guest agricultural workers and high-skilled labor.

Meuser is among those wanting a broader bill — one, he said, that is “not amnesty, but a truly comprehensive, smart plan for illegal immigration.”

Speaker Mike Johnson did not mention immigration legislation or any other specific agenda items in his remarks to the convention Thursday. He instead outlined the House’s achievements under Trump and said voters need to stay the course.

“We’ve succeeded in so many ways, but it takes more than just 20 months to fix the total disaster that we were handed and to turn the ship of state around,” he said. “We know the job isn’t finished yet, but we are all in this together.”

Echoing many other convention speakers, Johnson focused on the threats posed by Democrats: “The alternative is to turn the reins over right now to the radical Marxists who are planning to dramatically grow the government, raise your taxes, drive costs through the roof, and rob you of your freedom.”

But some worried that message might not be sufficient — especially after Democrats’ 2024 message focused largely on preventing another Trump presidency rather than pointing to affirmative plans to tackle rising prices and other key voter concerns.

Roy is not on the ballot this fall after losing a primary for Texas attorney general, but he is helping to campaign for other Republicans. He, too, said his message is that GOP candidates “need to be able to finish the job” and cited an “enormous amount of good work” — listing as examples the Laken Riley Act, a small-bore immigration bill that passed early in Trump’s second term, and federal spending cuts embedded in the megabill.

As for the rest of the GOP messaging, Roy added, “Right now, I would argue we’re focused a little bit too much on how crazy they are instead of talking about all the great stuff we’ve done.”

Congress

House sets vote on Russia sanctions bill

Published

2 days ago

September 11, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House lawmakers are set to vote on the sweeping Russia sanctions bill that senators overwhelmingly voted to approve in August, but now faces a tough test in the House where Democrats fear the bill will give President Donald Trump too much tariff power.

The Senate-passed and White House-backed measure is finally getting consideration from the House, after GOP leaders omitted it from their agenda when lawmakers returned from August recess. Many House Democrats — including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — have voiced opposition for fear that it would give Trump expansive and risky new tariff authorities.

House GOP enthusiasm for the measure has also been tepid, after a boost following the sudden death of its champion, Sen. Lindsey Graham, wore off.

The House Rules Committee scheduled a meeting to consider the bill Monday afternoon.

Advocates of the legislation argue the bill would give Trump the tools he needs to pressure Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end the war on Ukraine. The bill would issue mandatory sanctions on Russian leadership and its energy sector — as well as collaborators in Moscow’s defense industry and so-called shadow fleet.

But it would also give Trump the ability to hit top buyers of Russian oil with 100% tariffs, a move that Democrats say is dangerous given the White House’s eagerness to slap tariffs on U.S. friends and foes alike.

“Donald Trump already has ample authority to impose sanctions on the companies, individuals, and vessels propping up a Russian war machine that continues its deadly attacks on Ukraine,” Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Richard Neal (D-Mass.) wrote in a joint statement with Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia and Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) earlier this month. “Congress does not need to greenlight new tariff authority for the President to impose those sanctions on Russia today.”

Backers of the bill were quick to encourage its passage after the vote was announced on Friday.

“Great news that the House will vote on the much-needed Russia sanctions bill,” Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) wrote on social media. “Ukrainian civilians continue to be killed by Putin’s war machine, and this bill hits the Kremlin’s coffers hard. Now is the time to pass it and force Putin to the negotiating table.”

The measure passed in an 86-11 vote in the Senate in August.

Congress

House eyes Tuesday vote on bill to curb data center costs

Published

2 days ago

September 11, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House GOP leaders have picked Tuesday as the day to vote on legislation intended to shield Americans from the potential costs associated with the data center boom, according to two people granted anonymity to share private scheduling plans.

The upcoming floor action comes after a healthy number of vulnerable Republicans signed onto the measure in recent days, a sign that fears about the issue’s political volatility ahead of the midterms are continuing to grow as voters complain about rising energy prices as a result of data center proliferation.

The bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act, which aims to compel tech companies to pay for the infrastructure associated with data center development, passed unanimously out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee this summer. Senior Republicans, however, said last week they were still weighing whether to bring the bill to the floor before the House recesses until after the November elections.

The decision to proceed this coming week signals that pressure has been building on leaders to act, underscored by the at least five House GOP frontliners who have signed on as cosponsors since September 1: Reps. Bill Huizenga and Tom Barrett of Michigan, David Valadao of California, Jen Kiggans of Virginia and Mónica de la Cruz of Texas.

Valadao, in an interview a week before he signed on as a cosponsor, called such measures “fine” but balked at the idea House Democratic leaders were trying to politicize data centers right before an election.

“Obviously it has to be addressed — making sure that we’re protecting our natural resources like water in my district,” he said. “Obviously, with California and their regulatory process, they’ve made energy more expensive than anywhere else in the country. So those are major concerns that need to be addressed, and I think those pieces of legislation will make sense.”

But, he added, allowing Democrats “to turn this into a political issue, I would say, is pretty irresponsible.”

The total number of cosponsors on the bill, championed by Reps. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), to 42 Democrats and Republicans combined.

The Tuesday vote will take place under an expedited procedure that requires a two-thirds majority of those present and voting to secure passage.

Mia McCarthy and Amelia Davidson contributed to this report.