Congress

‘It’s going to be a circus’: Inside Mike Johnson’s grueling week’

Published

2 months ago

April 27, 2026

Welcome to another grueling week in the House.

A growing list of deadlines is bearing down on Speaker Mike Johnson as House Republicans try to push through an extension of an expiring government spy power Tuesday, a budget plan to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown Wednesday and a farm bill many members say is key to midterm victories Thursday.

Each legislative undertaking is deeply complicated and rife with intraparty warfare — from a MAHA revolt over the farm bill to a rebellion from ultraconservatives who blocked Johnson’s last bid to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and could do so again.

Johnson is also facing a rebellion from his rank-and-file all the way up to some of his senior members over his plan to move ahead with the budget resolution the Senate advanced last week that would only address immigration enforcement funding. Hard-liners insist they need a comprehensive follow-up to last summer’s tax and spending megabill to help them stave off massive losses in the November elections.

Hanging over it all are the events of this past weekend’s White House Correspondents Dinner, where a gunman fired shots near a ballroom where the president, vice president, the Speaker of the House and Cabinet officials in the line of presidential succession were all dining.

It’s not clear yet how it will affect negotiations around extending Section 702 or passing an immigration funding bill by April 30 and June 1, respectively, but lawmakers late Saturday night and the weekend said it underscored the need to quickly reopen DHS, which houses the Secret Service.

The speaker will need nearly every Republican to advance all three of these critical items that hold enormous political and policy consequences; none are guaranteed to survive the week.

“It’s going to be a circus,” one Republican said.

“The week from hell,” another added.

GOP leaders are already losing precious floor time Tuesday when King Charles III, who is in town for a state visit at the White House, will address a joint session, forcing leaders to cut off House votes by noon, according to two people with knowledge of the plans. Republican leaders are now in further talks surrounding security protocols for the royal visit, which could result in additional delays for the House GOP early in the week.

This week will also mark 60 days since the start of the conflict with Iran, and some Republicans are growing anxious over the economic uncertainty it has wrought, especially concerning energy prices. This is the time, some GOP lawmakers have warned, they could break rank and vote with Democrats on legislation to rein in Trump’s military authority overseas, though, many Republicans are pointing to the ceasefire — though tenuous — as a reason to continue opposing war powers resolutions for the time being.

And in another blow, Johnson is down one GOP vote as Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) has been away from Capitol Hill since March 5, with little more explanation than his team saying he’s dealing with a personal health matter.

AfterPOLITICO reported that New Jersey House Republicans have called and texted Kean, only to get “radio silence,” Johnson released a statement late last week saying he spoke “by phone” with Kean last Thursday. He added: “He is attending to a personal health matter and expects to be back to 100% very soon.”

Perhaps the biggest political landmine for Johnson will be the budget resolution needed to allow Republicans to write and pass a filibuster-skirting reconciliation bill funding immigration enforcement activities under DHS. Trump is demanding such a bill on his desk in a little over a month, at which point the House is expected to finally pass a bipartisan measure funding all other DHS operations and end the record-setting shutdown.

But Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio and other Republicans have warned the budget resolution will fail on the floor if Johnson pushes ahead with the narrow Senate plan rather than a more expansive policy package. Republican leadership needs to convince these members to go along with the Senate budget plan for immigration funding now — by promising to move another partisan package of other GOP priorities later.

“We will not get a third reconciliation bill,” Davidson said in a statement. “We need to use reconciliation 2.0 to deliver the full agenda the American people sent us to accomplish. The train is leaving the station, and we need to load it up.”

Leaders plan to discuss the matter in closed-door meetings throughout the week, conference-wide and in smaller groups. The speaker will also try to put some more meat on the bones of general ideas Republicans could pursue in a later party-line package during the weekly House GOP conference meeting Tuesday, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Changes to the blueprint, Johnson and his allies caution, would punt the measure back to the Senate and almost certainly cause Republicans to miss Trump’s deadline. The White House and Homeland Secretary Secretary Markwayne Mullin are warning the administration is running out of money to pay a swath of DHS employees, increasing the urgency to move quickly.

Some senior House Republicans believe the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner could spur some GOP lawmakers to put aside their various gripes and support the budget resolution now, recognizing national security risks without a fully operational DHS, according to three people granted anonymity to speak candidly.

“I think Congress should pass DHS funding — it needs to be everything,” said Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) in an interview Sunday. “I think it’s going to be a much higher priority.”

Many Republicans said the events of Saturday night should prompt Democrats to end the impasse over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda and just vote to reopen all agency operations without conditions. Democratic leaders were signaling Sunday their calculus hadn’t changed, however, underscoring the need for Republicans to pursue a party-line approach to immigration funding if other department functions stand a chance of coming back online in the coming weeks.

The Secret Service is still getting paid through emergency funding, lowering that pressure point for now.

The Saturday shooting also has had the adverse effect of ginning up enthusiasm among hard-liners to expand the pending budget resolution to allow construction of the White House ballroom to proceed despite legal challenges, with members arguing increased political violence necessitates a secure place for elected officials to gather safely.

“Any consideration of DHS reconciliation instructions this week & beyond should provide for construction of a secure ballroom on White House grounds,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) posted on social media.

Budget Chair Jodey Arrington, Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan and Rep. August Pfluger — who helms the Republican Study Committee of 189 Republicans — spent last week agitating for broadening out the upcoming party-line package beyond just stalled immigration funding. They all stood up during a closed-door conference meeting last week to make their case, according to four people granted anonymity to share details of the discussion.

Then there’s legislation to renew section 702 in time to both meet the expiration deadline and give the Senate time to clear it for Trump’s signature.

Johnson unveiled a reworked, three-year extension late last week but he has to sell it to a group of House Freedom Caucus members who want guardrails on the government’s warrantless surveillance practices. Many hard-liners are still not backing down from demands that leadership agree to advance a ban on a central bank digital currency as part of a reauthorization.

And finally there’s the farm bill. Activists with the Make America Healthy Again movement — a coalition that helped President Donald Trump win the presidency in 2024 — say they’ve been betrayed by the GOP over a provision in the legislation that would shield pesticide makers from lawsuits.

Some Republican lawmakers are so angry about the leadership-sanctioned plan that they’re now working with a group of House Democrats to strip out the provision or kill the whole bill, according to four people involved in the conversations.

Farm state Republicans, who are aligned with the powerful pesticide industry, don’t think the pushback will be successful; they argue the farm bill simply clarifies labeling rules and national standards for popular pesticides and herbicides used by the agriculture sector. But threats from the opposition could present a major headache and draw attention to larger party dysfunction.

Several conservatives are privately warning they could take down the farm bill and Johnson’s DHS funding plans if he tries to steamroll them on a Section 702 extension that relies on some bipartisan support.

“They are all connected,” one House Republican warned of the trio of bills.

Congress

Top tech executives expected to testify at July 28 Senate hearing

Published

1 minute ago

June 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Senate Judiciary Committee is tentatively planning to have top tech executives testify at a July 28 hearing, according to five people with knowledge of the committee’s plans granted anonymity to discuss private negotiations.

Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) had previously summoned the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and Google to a hearing, originally scheduled for Tuesday, to discuss their online child safety practices, AI safety and other topics.

“Chairman Grassley looks forward to a productive hearing as he continues his bipartisan efforts to get lifesaving child safety legislation signed into law,” a spokesperson for Grassley told Blue Light News.

The hearing, which remains provisional, comes at a pivotal moment for the tech sector. Congress is actively debating legislation aimed at protecting children online, while courts and state attorneys general are intensifying pressure on social media companies over allegations that their platforms harm young users.

The list of tech executives the committee is eyeing to testify remains in flux but currently includes head of Instagram Adam Mosseri and YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, according to the five people. Three of the people said Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel and CEO of TikTok’s U.S.-based joint venture company Adam Presser may also be called to attend.

The four companies did not immediately comment on the proposed hearing.

Congress

Capitol agenda: Jeffries gets preview of his future headaches

Published

7 hours ago

June 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Trouble for Hakeem Jeffries is brewing close to home.

New Yorkers will decide Tuesday whether to support a slate of insurgent progressive candidates who are bullish about bucking the party establishment: Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez.

The Zohran Mamdani-backed trio are taking on incumbent, leadership allies: Reps. Dan Goldman, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat as well as outgoing Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who endorsed a different successor.

The progressive challengers are positioning themselves as firebrands willing to play hardball to force the Democratic Caucus leftward. Take Chevalier, a Democratic Socialists of America member who told Vox last week that “all deportations are wrong” including for people who have been convicted of breaking U.S. law. Neither she nor Valdez have said if they would back Jeffries as speaker should Democrats take the majority.

In addition to presenting a long-term headache for a potential Jeffries speakership, progressive challenger wins would deliver an immediate blow to Jeffries’ credibility as a power broker in his own backyard. He endorsed Goldman and Espaillat.

As Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer weighs a 2028 reelection bid, he too will be paying close attention to the depth of lefty, anti-incumbent fervor among voters in his state.

Democratic leadership’s old guard will also be on watch Tuesday evening as Maryland decides who will replace former Majority Leader Steny Hoyer: his preferred successor Adrian Boafo or his old frenemy Nancy Pelosi’s pick of former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn.

Democrats have been divided on the race from the jump, with Gov. Wes Moore and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks also backing Boafo. Fellow Marylander — and maybe 2028 presidential candidate — Sen. Chris Van Hollen got in on the action last month by knocking Boafo for taking AIPAC and crypto money.

And a PSA: The many, many self-funded campaign ads from warring Democratic millionaires Rep. April McClain Delaney and her predecessor David Trone – who is trying to win his seat back after losing a Senate bid in 2024 – will come to an end Tuesday night.

Republicans won’t escape the messy primary day.

In Utah, House GOP leadership member Rep. Blake Moore will attempt to beat challenger Karianne Lisonbee who is taking him to task for once opposing partisan gerrymandering. An AI proxy war is also playing out in Rep. Celeste Maloy’s district where former state Rep. Phil Lyman is attacking the congresswoman — who has received nearly $1 million from an Anthropic-funded super PAC — over data center construction.

Yet, at least one House Republican is pulling for a Democrat Tuesday evening.

Vulnerable GOP Rep. Mike Lawler has meddled in the Democratic primary to run against him. Jason Beeferman reports that Lawler has tried to tear down Army vet Cait Conley via a covert text blast, among other tactics, seeming to prefer that he get to run against her opponent Beth Davidson.

What else we’re watching:

— TRUMP TO GET SAVE AMERICA ACT REALITY CHECK IN SENATE: President Donald Trump was invited to Republican senators’ lunch Wednesday to push for his No. 1 priority, the GOP election bill known as the SAVE America Act. But several outgoing Republicans who have clashed with Trump said Monday they will be there to deliver a reality check: The bill isn’t passing, and it’s time to move on.

— SCHUMER FORCES IRAN WAR POWERS VOTE ON WARY GOP: Schumer Tuesday plans to force the Senate to vote on a House-passed Iran war powers resolution – putting on record Republicans who are publicly skeptical of Trump’s agreement last week to end the conflict. The measure won House approval earlier this month after four House Republicans joined Democrats to effectively halt military operations unless Congress authorizes it.

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

Congress

Senate Republicans exclude Democrats’ food aid demand from farm bill

Published

18 hours ago

June 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Republicans’ farm bill proposal rejects Democrats’ demands to delay a planned shift of some food aid costs to states, according to three people familiar with the plans — jeopardizing hopes of winning bipartisan support for the package.

Democrats say they will oppose a farm bill that doesn’t push back a requirement that will soon force some states to pay for some Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, a provision included in the domestic policy megalaw Republicans passed last year.

Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) gave Senate staff and industry representatives a private preview of his farm bill text Monday afternoon ahead of a planned public release of the discussion draft at 2 p.m. Tuesday, according to the people, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss the not-yet-public plans.

Boozman will need some Democratic support to guarantee the bill can clear the 60-vote threshold on the Senate floor.

A GOP spokesperson for the Agriculture Committee said Boozman had “developed a discussion draft that can earn the bipartisan support needed for Senate passage.” The spokesperson added that Boozman will continue talks with senators and industry representatives while “finalizing text and moving toward a markup.”

The draft legislation also excludes some Republican and agriculture industry priorities, such as provisions that would allow year-round sales of E15 fuel and block states from creating certain animal welfare and pesticide labeling laws, according to the three people.

Senators from both parties are already eyeing how they might amend the bill to include their priorities. That could muddy the legislation’s path forward by generating a number of conflicts during the committee’s markup ahead of a potential floor vote on the package.

Some GOP senators whose state budgets would be hard hit by the change have privately indicated that they would support delaying the provision, which is set to begin October 2027.

Those senators and anti-hunger advocates argue the SNAP cost-share plan will kick people off the program and lead to benefit cuts. Democrats also note that many states will already receive delays or exemptions to the cost-share requirement due to high or low payment error rates.

Boozman said in an interview last month that he was “open to listening” to Democrats’ argument, but contended it could complicate his efforts to craft a budget-neutral bill.

The Senate’s version largely mirrors the House’s, which passed with 12 Democratic votes in April. Boozman is aiming to mark up his bill between the chamber’s Fourth of July and August recesses.