Congress

Tom Kean Jr. will return June 30 to House, spokesperson says

Published

3 hours ago

June 18, 2026

Rep. Tom Kean Jr., the New Jersey Republican who has been missing from Capitol Hill since March 5, will return to work later this month — 117 days after his last vote.

Harrison Neely, a spokesperson for Kean, said the 57-year-old lawmaker plans to attend the June 30 House session. It is the first time Kean’s office has provided a specific date for his return. Neely did not disclose any further details about Kean’s extended absence, which his team has attributed to an undisclosed health issue.

“Congressman Kean is eager to return to in person work on June 30 and resume a full schedule,” Neely said. The New Jersey Globe first reported on the return date.

As Kean was missing scores of votes, House GOP leaders had to contend with an even thinner majority than they already had. He now returns to face a highly competitive race to keep his seat in November, with national groups heavily backing Democratic nominee Rebecca Bennett.

Congress

White House scheduled to meet with groups on AI and kids’ safety bills

Published

54 minutes ago

June 18, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The White House scheduled a meeting Thursday afternoon to discuss legislation regarding kids’ online safety and preemption of state artificial intelligence laws, according to two people granted anonymity to share details of the private briefing and an invitation obtained by Blue Light News.

The invitation — sent Wednesday by Hailey Borden, the deputy director of the White House’s Office of Public Liaison — said the meeting would be “an off the record discussion on kids safety and preemption.” The two people said groups advocating for online safety were invited to attend and that the discussion would focus on a package of AI regulations that’s being assembled by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).

It followed several meetings last week that top White House officials convened with tech companies and childrens’ safety groups to discuss the legislative push.

The latest invitation did not name which groups were invited. The White House and Blackburn’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The meeting comes as lawmakers and White House officials continue to iron out details of the legislative package, which is expected to include versions of the NO FAKES Act — which would create new regulations against AI deepfakes and other AI-generated replicas and advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday — as well as the Kids Online Safety Act, or KOSA, which aims to hold companies to stricter design standards that would prioritize child safety. The App Store Accountability Act, or AASA, which requires minors to obtain parental verification before downloading apps, is also expected to be included.

This proposal could have new life now that Meta, which helped kill KOSA two years ago after a fierce lobbying fight, dropped its opposition to the specific bill now that it’s expected to be linked to a limited preemption of state AI laws and AASA, which would put the onus on app store platforms like Google and Apple to verify users’ ages.

But Blackburn’s forthcoming package is expected to face opposition in the Senate, where she’ll be tasked with winning over leadership and key voices on AI like Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Asked about the talks on Thursday afternoon, Cruz told reporters only: “We’re all working collectively.” Blackburn echoed the sentiment that discussions are ongoing, saying, “We’re going to have more to say about that sometime soon.”

The efforts to attach kids’ online safety measures to Blackburn’s broader AI package has also sparked backlash from conservative groups including former Vice President Mike Pence’s Advancing American Freedom and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. The groups wrote to Cruz and Commerce ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) on Wednesday warning that ASAA “would threaten the privacy and data security of Americans of all ages.”

Their letter, shared exclusively with POLITICO, included signees from the industry coalition Chamber of Progress — which was founded by former Google executive Adam Kovacevich — and trade group NetChoice, whose members include Google, OpenAI and Amazon.

Gabby Miller and Kelsey Brugger contributed to this report.

Congress

Steil pushes bill to ban lawmakers from political prediction markets

Published

54 minutes ago

June 18, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Administration Chair Bryan Steil is pitching legislation that would bar lawmakers and their family members from wagering on certain Washington-focused prediction markets.

The Wisconsin Republican’s bill, introduced Thursday, proposes to prohibit members of Congress, their spouses and their dependent children from participating in prediction markets that are focused on specific government policy, government action or political outcomes. Violators would need to pay fines of at least $2,000 and the trade’s net gains, according to Steil’s office.

“The American people deserve to know their Member of Congress is not profiting off insider information,” Steil said. “Lawmakers should be writing policy, not wagering on its outcome.”

Steil’s bill lands in the middle of a firestorm over the risk of insider trading on the prediction markets — or financial exchanges that offer their users the chance to bet on U.S. elections, sports and the Oscars, among other events. The nascent industry has seen an explosion of growth amid a friendlier regulatory environment under President Donald Trump — but that attention has also brought new scrutiny, including from Congress.

Lawmakers’ concerns about insider trading on the prediction markets reached a fever pitch earlier this year after federal authorities charged a U.S. soldier with allegedly using confidential information to trade on the capture of then-Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Polymarket, a leading prediction market. The soldier has pleaded not guilty.

Just days after the charges were filed, the Senate unanimously voted to bar senators and their staffs from using the prediction markets altogether, effective immediately.

Federal regulators at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, more recently, were investigating former Rep. George Santos for his trading activity on the prediction market Kalshi, a person familiar with the matter who was granted anonymity to speak freely told POLITICO earlier this month.

Santos said shortly after NPR first reported that the agency and the Justice Department were investigating, that his lawyers were in talks with authorities.

Congress

Senate Armed Services chair slams Iran peace deal

Published

3 hours ago

June 18, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker on Thursday panned the Iran peace deal signed by President Donald Trump this week, saying the agreement “negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury in ways that are completely out of step with the president’s goals.”

The Mississippi Republican, a vocal defense hawk, has repeatedly warned against negotiating with Tehran, arguing that the country’s leadership can’t be trusted to fulfill any agreement. Wicker has instead urged Trump to end a months-long ceasefire and continue bombing Iran.

In a statement, Wicker criticized the $300 billion fund for Iran’s reconstruction and economic development, even if the money is not supplied by American taxpayers. Administration officials have said the money, coming from regional partners, would be made available only if Iran reaches certain compliance benchmarks.

Wicker said he believes the money will instead be used for terrorist activities, regardless of the guardrails put in place.

“The Iranian regime has not renounced its ultimate goal — ‘Death to America, Death to Israel,’” he said. “The regime will invest every penny it receives to further that aim.”

Wicker is among a chorus of influential Republicans to criticize the nascent deal. The Trump administration sent the 14-point document to Congress on Thursday.

Some have expressed concerns about whether the agreement will free up funds for Iran and whether the pact does enough to limit its nuclear ambitions.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who was defeated in a primary after Trump endorsed one of his opponents, assailed the administration’s deal as “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”

“Reagan is rolling over in his grave,” Cassidy wrote in a social media post on Wednesday. “Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly leverage it in the future. Now, Iran gets to build brand-new infrastructure under this deal.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) defended the deal as an important preliminary step but also dismissed the $300 billion fund as “not something that’s going to happen.”

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said the potential end to the war and the resumption of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are “a step in the right direction,” though he worries Iran might use the windfall of access to frozen assets to support proxy groups in the Middle East.

“I have more concerns about the release of frozen assets,” Rounds said. “If that’s the case, what stops them from using that to fund Hezbollah and other terrorist activities as they have done in the past?”