Congress

As midterm prospects grow bleaker, Senate Republicans wonder what they can do about it

Published

1 day ago

September 23, 2026

Facing rising gas prices, an Iran war with no end in sight and increasingly dire midterm polling, Senate Republicans are facing a crucial choice this week: fight or flight.

Some GOP lawmakers are caught between their desire to use the rest of the scant pre-election legislative calendar to improve their standing with voters and the likelihood there probably isn’t much they can do anyway.

House Republicans have already fled Washington until after the Nov. 3 election, and the Senate is set to spend the week debating a bipartisan bill overhauling the multibillion-dollar college sports industry with no firm idea of what comes after.

The split screen between the real economic pain hitting Americans and the relatively light stakes of the Senate floor agenda had several anxious GOP lawmakers raising concerns over cost-of-living issues amid signs that their majority is in real peril.

The college sports bill “needs to be done,” said Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), “but I wouldn’t say it’s top priority in the minds of people in North Carolina or in the world.”

“If you list all the problems that they are facing right now, it’s not college sports,” he continued. “Yeah, it’s a problem, but it’s not the top problem. I mean, it’s affordability, it’s fuel prices, it’s grocery prices. It’s getting this war behind us.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is for now keeping his options open about what to do once the college sports legislation is disposed of, and that topic is expected to be discussed during a closed-door GOP lunch Wednesday.

But one very real option is simply joining the House in calling it quits till after the election — which is what several GOP senators and aides who were granted anonymity to speak candidly said they expect to happen this week.

Should they leave, Republican senators would be essentially standing pat with their legislative record, even with voters clamoring for more help while blaming Trump in a spate of recent polling.

“If there was something that we could get done that would help, I’d be all for it,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said when asked about possible legislation to address rising costs. “But I don’t know what it would be at this point.”

The slim hope that any piece of affordability legislation could possibly get across the Senate floor in the final weeks of September has others in the GOP eager to simply get their vulnerable colleagues back on the campaign trail and make their case directly to voters. It’s highly unlikely any bill could get to President Donald Trump’s desk, anyway, given the House’s absence.

So long as senators stay in the Capitol, they are exposing themselves to a barrage of off-message questions about the Iran war and spiraling energy prices — not to mention the latest Trump-related controversies, such as his White House media ban and reports that a Russian oligarch helped finance his son’s wedding.

To keep the focus on affordability, several endangered senators are making last-ditch appeals for legislative action.

They include Republicans who are coalescing behind a plan to have the Trump administration temporarily curb diesel exports — including Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, who is running in a tough race in a state Trump easily won in 2024 — even as oil industry allies warned it would have little effect or potentially even raise prices in some parts of the country.

“American fuel should stay home with Americans,” Sullivan said in a Tuesday statement.

Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) continued to push Tuesday for further action on a bill he authored aimed at getting data center developers to cover their own energy costs. The bill easily passed the House but was blocked from fast-track consideration last week by Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, who argued the measure didn’t go far enough.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said it would be “stupid” for Republicans not to stay in town and jump through the days of procedural hoops required to put Husted’s bill up for a vote.

“When moms and dads lie down and sleep at night, and can’t, they’re not lying there worried about the football coaches, they’re worried about the cost of living,” Kennedy said. “It’s foolish both policy-wise and political-wise not to put it on the floor. … [But] I wouldn’t faint with surprise if Senator Thune said, ‘Y’all go home.’”

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), who is also in a closer-than-expected race, said GOP leaders could put his bill limiting credit card fees up for vote, claiming it would “lower the cost of gasoline two or three percent.” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), meanwhile, said she wants to see her bipartisan bill capping insulin prices get a floor vote next week.

“You’re always torn, but I expected to be in session next week,” Collins said when asked if it would be better to stay or go. She added that passing the insulin bill, a stalled appropriations measure and legislation to overhaul energy permitting ”would make a real difference.”

Only the energy permitting bill still appears to have a shot of reaching the Senate floor — and senators and aides acknowledge it’s a long one. Republicans believe it would let them show voters they are capable of addressing cost-of-living issues before the election, even if the effects of the legislation won’t be felt for years. Some Democrats believe now is the best time to win concessions from the Trump administration that could help achieve clean energy goals.

Thune pointed to the ongoing permitting talks as one of the reasons that the schedule remains “up in the air” — calling it “something I think most of our members believe is really, really consequential legislation and worthwhile.”

During a floor speech Tuesday, Thune touted the work already done by Republicans, saying they had “spent the last two years delivering on our agenda” — putting “more money in your pocket,” working to lower taxes for families and making “homeownership more affordable.”

But he also acknowledged the political headwinds facing his party in the midterms, telling reporters that he was “hopeful” about their chances of keeping the majority but also “realistic.”

“It’s a very competitive environment out there — a lot of tight races, many of them in the margin of error,” Thune said, but added that Republicans had superior candidates, an aggressive ground game and a “compelling message.”

Kelsey Brugger and Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.

Congress

Senate GOP eyes data center vote next week

Published

14 minutes ago

September 24, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Republicans are discussing whether to call up a data center utility costs bill as they make plans to stay in Washington next week rather than beat an early exit before the midterms.

Two GOP aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the Senate will remain in town amid pressure from some corners of the party to send members home early to campaign.

Asked if the Senate will stay next week, Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday it’s “looking that way.”

While some lawmakers had hoped to move a long-brewing bipartisan energy permitting deal, those hopes have evaporated, and GOP leaders are instead eyeing votes on the Ratepayer Protection Act — a top priority of endangered Ohio Sen. Jon Husted.

Thune said Thursday moving to the data-center-focused bill next week “is an option.” The Senate is also expected to take up a Democratic resolution condemning the Iran war and several presidential nominations.

The Ratepayer Protection Act easily passed the House earlier this month, but some Senate Democrats are arguing it does not go far enough and party leaders could be motivated to deny Husted a pre-election win.

Josh Siegel contributed to this report.

Congress

Permitting won’t get vote ahead of election

Published

14 minutes ago

September 24, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

A bipartisan group of senators failed to close a long-sought deal on legislation to ease permitting approvals for energy projects, kicking consideration of the issue until after the midterm elections.

A senior Democrat aide familiar with the negotiations and granted anonymity to discuss the matter told Blue Light News on Thursday that Senate Democrats don’t think there’s enough time to get it done.

“The goal here has always been to pass permitting reform, not just to introduce it,” the aide said.

Top negotiators — Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), along with Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee and ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) — were unable to reach agreement on a package this week, despite recent overtures made by both sides.

The lack of a deal now means a permitting bill likely won’t get a vote until after the elections, when lawmakers are expected to face a packed legislative agenda and the power dynamics in Congress will begin to shift.

Republicans and the Trump administration were eager to lock in a vote soon, arguing legislation to ease permitting approvals for energy projects would represent a major bipartisan breakthrough to address voters’ affordability concerns.

President Donald Trump even signaled he would ease his administration’s blockade on wind projects to entice Democrats to agree on a permitting deal.

But Democrats wanted more time for their members to review any bill and are seeking stronger assurances that the Trump administration would lay off its attacks on clean energy projects. They also did not face the same political incentives to act now, with Trump and Republicans struggling in the polls.

“I appreciate very much what the Trump administration has done to move in this direction, but in order to brief colleagues on what this really means, we need just a bit more clarity on exactly what return to regular order for wind and solar projects looks like. So that’s still to be done, but that I think can happen in fairly short order,” Whitehouse told reporters Thursday.

For all the common ground in both parties around encouraging more energy production and accelerating projects to help address affordability concerns and meet rising power demand, permitting also touches on thorny issues for congressional Republicans, Democrats and this White House.

Democrats are pressing for significant measures to boost interstate transmission lines to deliver clean power to major demand centers and restrain the administration’s power to cancel projects or stall on approvals.

Republicans, for their part, want to limit states’ authority to reject projects under a provision of the Clean Water Act that Democratic governors have used to block interstate pipelines.

Other elements of a deal would likely include easing approvals and limiting legal challenges against projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, a bedrock procedural environmental law that is increasingly blamed for stalling projects of all types, as well as under the National Historic Preservation Act, a landmark law designed to protect Native American cultural treasures.

Amelia Davidson contributed to this report.

Congress

Capitol agenda: Democrats fracture over college sports

Published

3 hours ago

September 24, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

An ugly fight is brewing among Democrats about an unlikely issue: college sports regulation.

Senate passage of a White House-endorsed bill to overhaul college athletic rules could happen as soon as Thursday. But despite the bill’s bipartisan backing, Black Democratic lawmakers are warning their own party that supporting the measure risks exploiting Black athletes.

The debate spotlights a painful party divide that could also alienate a key demographic in Democrats’ voter base just weeks before the midterms.

“It is stunning to me,” Sen. Cory Booker told Blue Light News Wednesday, pointing out about half of Senate Democrats have voted to advance the measure thus far.

“I am disappointed in a way I’ve never felt before in the United States Senate with my own caucus,” he said, referring to Democrats. “My caucus, some members of my caucus, are about to take away the rights for athletes to sue.”

Booker is backed by the Congressional Black Caucus, which for months has also pleaded with senators not to pass the Protect College Sports Act they argue strips the rights of student athletes while protecting the NCAA and its coaches. The group helped sink a similar measure in the House earlier this year. CBC member and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reiterated the group’s opposition to the legislation Wednesday.

“This is insane to me, especially because the revenue sports are disproportionately African American,” he said. “When has the Democratic Party stood up for taking away rights from disadvantaged minorities? When have we ever done what we’re about to do right now? It is wrong. It is unjust, and it will disproportionately affect African Americans.”

While a host of student and college groups, including the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the United Negro College Fund, support the bill, both the AFL-CIO and the NAACP say they oppose it for denying student athletes labor protections and unduly benefiting athletic conferences.

Another vocal opponent of the measure, Sen. Chris Murphy, called the divide “a unique moment for Democrats.”

Top Commerce Democrat and bill sponsor Maria Cantwell has said the legislation attempts to restore order to college sports, where major football programs can consume resources that would have otherwise gone to women’s and Olympic sports.

Cantwell, in an interview, countered Booker’s concerns by saying the “historic bill…recognizes for the first time in federal law that student athletes get a percentage of the revenue, ticket sales, media rights, media sales, and sponsorship. Historic.”

A Democratic aide, who is supportive of the bill and was granted anonymity to speak candidly, referenced the number of student athletes who stand to benefit from the measure, “There’s nothing progressive about blocking new protections for 550,000 people just so you can strengthen the hand of the highest-earning 1% of them.”

Booker said without major changes, he would continue the fight if the Senate’s bill makes it to the House.

What else we’re watching:

— THUNE PUTS ODDS ON STAYING IN SESSION: Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday night it’s more likely than not that senators remain in session next week, but the plan is “still to be determined.” “Just don’t make any plans yet. I would say right now still odds are we plan on being here next week, and I’d say that still looks like the case, but if that changes I’ll let you know,” Thune said. Senate Republicans are discussing whether to vote on a data center bill next week being championed by one of their most vulnerable incumbents, Sen. Jon Husted, according to two GOP senators granted anonymity to disclose private talks. They’re also waiting to see if a long-sought deal to overhaul the energy permitting process comes together, which Thune has indicated would trigger members staying in town next week.

— INSIDE THE FIERCE HOUSE GOP WAIVER FIGHT: A behind-the-scenes battle is playing out over several powerful House Republicans who don’t want to be forced out of their posts. House Republicans’ decades old three-term limit for panel leaders has grown less strict in recent years. Some want a crackdown, saying the turnover is needed to promote fresh ideas and leadership in the ranks. Three of the 20 sitting House chairs have signaled interest in applying for a waiver. If each follows through, it would be the first time so many exceptions have been sought at once.

Jordain Carney and Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.