Congress

MAGA world is thrilled with Hegseth pick. Republican senators have questions.

Published

2 years ago

November 19, 2024

After a weekend of brutal headlines disclosing sexual assault allegations against Pete Hegseth, Senate Republicans are offering a tepid defense of Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon.

Republicans have downplayed and deflected when asked about Hegseth — arguing Trump picked an outsider to shake up the Pentagon bureaucracy or that the confirmation process should play out.

“Let me say this: I have asked to read the allegations and I honestly have not had time to look at it, so I just can’t comment,” Senate Armed Services ranking Republican Roger Wicker said on Monday. “I am looking to be very supportive of his nomination.”

By Tuesday, Wicker, who will preside over Hegseth’s confirmation process when Republicans take control of the Senate in January, wasn’t taking reporters’ questions. Other Republicans also said they’ll wait and see.

Four Republicans would need to defect to sink Hegseth’s nomination, and all senators are facing immense pressure from Trump and his camp to approve his Cabinet picks. The campaign will kick into higher gear this week, as Vice President-elect JD Vance accompanies Hegseth and former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the embattled pick for attorney general, to meetings with Republican senators on Capitol Hill.

The selection of Hegseth, a weekend Fox & Friends host and Army veteran, has been dogged by a series of controversies, the most serious of which revolve around allegations of sexual assault. Hegseth’s lawyer said that Hegseth in 2017 paid a woman who accused him of the crime to settle a threatened lawsuit, calling the episode “successful extortion.” Hegseth denies the allegations, asserting the encounter was consensual, while police investigated and Hegseth was never charged.

Meanwhile, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a combat veteran, has said Hegseth needs to explain his opposition to women serving in combat roles. The newly surfaced assault allegations, she said Tuesday, would also merit a “discussion.”

“Any time there are allegations, you want to make sure they are properly vetted, so we’ll have that discussion,” Ernst said.

When asked for their views, some panel Republicans who will have a say in Hegseth’s coming confirmation process quickly changed the subject to Hegseth’s unconventional background, which they framed as a strength.

Another Armed Services Republican, Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), pointed to an eventual confirmation hearing for Hegseth, arguing “There’s a constitutional process, and we’ll go through that.”

“Let’s remember, Donald Trump was elected to shake up Washington as is, and I think that’s one of the reasons why he chose Pete Hegseth,” Budd said.

Though Hegseth’s confirmation is ultimately in the hands of Republicans, who will hold a 53-seat majority next year, Democrats on Tuesday were still mulling their options for handling the allegations and the nomination overall.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services and Judiciary committees, questioned whether the transition team had performed the normal FBI background check for a Defense secretary nominee and expected SASC would institute its own. Each committee, he noted, can do its own inquiry and has subpoena power.

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), who publicly asks all nominees for Pentagon jobs about whether they’ve engaged in sexual misconduct, said the allegations “are disqualifying,” if true.

“There are just so many aspects to this nominee’s behavior and positions he’s taken that should give us pause, huge pause,” Hirono said. “I don’t know how my colleagues are [approaching the nomination], but we’re all going to need to figure out what we’re going to do with this nominee.”

Anthony Adragna contributed to this report.

Congress

House Oversight requests Alan Dershowitz testify in Epstein probe

Published

20 hours ago

June 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The House Oversight Committee requested that Alan Dershowitz, the lawyer who once represented Jeffery Epstein, testify as part of its investigation into the federal government’s handling of the Epstein files.

The interview is tentatively slated for 10 a.m. on July 9, with a video and transcript of the testimony being released “as expeditiously as practical,” Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) wrote in a letter to Dershowitz on Friday.

“Due to public reporting, documents released by the Department of Justice, documents obtained by the Committee, and your former role as Mr. Epstein’s attorney, the Committee believes you have information that will assist in its investigation,” Comer wrote.

Comer told reporters on Wednesday that he wanted to hear from Dershowitz, who helped Epstein secure a controversial plea deal in his 2008 sex abuse case.

“I’m looking forward to testifying,” Dershowitz wrote in a text message to Blue Light News on Friday, adding that he is “trying to adjust my schedule” for July 9.

Congress

Cornyn tells Mike Lee to lay off John Thune

Published

22 hours ago

June 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. John Cornyn isn’t a card-carrying member of the Senate GOP’s growing YOLO caucus. But with less than seven months left in office after losing his primary, the Texas Republican appears to be feeling newly free to speak his mind.

The latest clap-back came Thursday night and the early hours of Friday morning, when Cornyn called a conservative influencer a “grifter” and told Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on social media to stop publicly blaming fellow Republicans — including Senate Majority Leader John Thune — for the fact that the GOP elections bill doesn’t have support to pass inside the party.

“You don’t have the votes” for the SAVE America Act, Cornyn posted on X. “@LeaderJohnThune can’t change that. It is math.”

He was directing his comments at Lee, who had just penned a post telling Thune, “let’s do this!”

Cornyn continued, “Try focusing on Democrats instead of Republicans. Republican on Republican attacks are hurting our chances to win the majority in November.”

Lee responded to ask, “on what planet is this an attack on Republicans?” and appeared to suggest a staffer was tweeting on Cornyn’s behalf: “Once my friend John Cornyn realizes that you’re saying this in his name—whoever you are—I don’t think he’ll be happy with you.”

Cornyn, however, is known for posting himself on his social media accounts in a chamber where many Senate accounts are run solely by staff. And he’s been making it clear all week that he will push back on Trump and his party when he thinks it’s needed.

In multiple conversations with reporters in the Capitol, Cornyn said that Republicans need to “stop the circular firing squad.” And he added that he won’t intentionally be “a thorn in [Trump’s] side,” but he’s also “not going to go out of my way to try to appease him.”

“I want him to succeed, I want the Republican Party to succeed, I want the country to succeed,” Cornyn said this week. “But on a case-by-case basis, when I think there’s been overreach or just a bad idea, I’m not going to hesitate to weigh in.”

The four-term senator’s comments come after he lost his primary last month to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who Trump endorsed in the final days of the runoff.

Cornyn said in an interview with The New York Times that he was not a “wounded bear” but that he believed Trump’s insistence on “slavish adherence” was going to backfire for Republicans in the midterms and result in “the most miserable two years of his life” if Democrats flip the House or Senate.

“I think it is going to be a pretty bumpy ride for the next seven months,” Cornyn said.

Congress

Capitol agenda: What Schumer told us about AI

Published

1 day ago

June 12, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Chuck Schumer wants Congress to pass AI legislation. But he’s casting doubt on it happening this year.

“In this Congress, it’s hard,” the Senate minority leader said in an interview Thursday.

Schumer’s reality check isn’t a complete door-slam. But it underscores the steep climb lawmakers face to bridge a slew of intra-party and inter-chamber divides about what Washington’s approach should be toward the emerging opportunities and risks from the rapidly developing technology.

The problems are multi-pronged.

The White House, whose posture toward AI has shifted dramatically in recent weeks, is angling to enact legislation that would preempt state laws in favor of a national standard. Most recently, administration officials have been exploring a plan to attach preemption legislation to bills designed to shore up kids’ safety online. But there are issues — House Republicans aren’t in love with the Senate GOP’s kid safety bills and Senate Majority Leader John Thune has warned that many senators have concerns “about not trampling states’ rights in the process.”

Democrats aren’t unified on what to do next, with the public broadly skeptical about AI.

Some House and Senate Democrats are leery of state preemption and want to wait until next year to tackle AI, when they might be in power. Opposition from key Democrats is a major factor derailing an attempt by Reps. Lori Trahan and Jay Obernolte to strike a deal on legislation that would set nationwide safety and transparency rules while restricting state action. And Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have proposed a moratorium on AI data centers pending stricter government oversight.

Schumer is striking a balanced tone on how to proceed, arguing that there are “tremendous benefits” from AI but that “we also have to have guardrails.”

“We should get something done on AI, and it’s … got to be balanced — keep innovation strong, but have guardrails to prevent the dangers,” he said. “That’s a hard needle to thread, but I would very much like to see that get done the sooner the better.”

What else we’re watching:

— FISA LAPSE, CLAYTON NOMINATION: Thune is vowing to move “fairly quickly” to confirm Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence, with the FISA Section 702 spy authority set to lapse at midnight thanks to a stalemate between Democrats and the White House over the position.

— GOP ADVANCES BIG DEFENSE BOOST — Republicans have taken the first steps toward granting President Donald Trump’s request for the largest budget ever for the Pentagon. Senate Armed Services members on Thursday approved a draft of their annual defense authorization bill outlining priorities for $1.14 trillion in defense spending next year. The House Appropriations defense subcommittee advanced $1.1 trillion in fiscal 2027 funding for the Defense Department in a closed-door markup.

Calen Razor and Connor O’Brien contributed reporting.