Congress
Ayanna Presley is considering a Senate run in Massachusetts
Rep. Ayanna Pressley is seriously considering jumping into the race for the Massachusetts Senate seat currently held by fellow Democrat Ed Markey and has been checking in with allies about a possible run, according to four people granted anonymity to discuss the private conversations.
That could put the 51-year-old member of the progressive “Squad” on a collision course not only with Markey, but with Rep. Seth Moulton, who launched his own primary challenge last month. Moulton, 47, has framed his bid against the 79-year-old incumbent as part of the Democratic Party’s generational upheaval.
A University of Massachusetts Amherst poll conducted at the end of October and released Monday showed Markey leading a hypothetical Senate field including Pressley and Moulton with Markey garnering 35 percent, Pressley with 21 percent and Moulton with 25 percent. The survey of 416 Massachusetts likely Democratic voters has a 6.1% margin of error.
“The Congresswoman remains focused on ending Republicans’ government shutdown, serving her district, and effectively fighting back against the White House’s attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, Black and brown folks, federal workers, and our immigrant neighbors,” Pressley spokesperson Ricardo Sánchez said in a statement Tuesday.
Even before the poll was released, Democrats were chattering about a possible Pressley candidacy.
She has a record of success running against a longtime incumbent. She was elected to her Boston-based House seat in 2018 after unseating incumbent Rep. Mike Capuano in a primary challenge. She became part of a progressive surge in Congress that brought the first four members of the Squad into office.
But she would likely start a Senate race at a financial disadvantage: Pressley only had about $148,000 cash on hand at the end of the last quarter, according to FEC filings. Markey had stockpiled about $2.7 million as of Sept. 30, while Moulton had $2.1 million.
Asked about her reelection plans while campaigning with local officials in Boston Tuesday, Pressley said she is “just very focused right now on how to mitigate the harm of this shutdown and get the government reopened.”
Markey was first elected to the House in 1976 — when Pressley was two years old. He fended off a primary challenge from another younger congressman, then-Rep. Joe Kennedy III, in 2020.
A group of Senate Republicans believe they’ve found a path to ending the five-week Department of Homeland Security shutdown after meeting Monday with President Donald Trump.
Asked after the White House meeting if they had a solution after meeting with Trump, Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama told reporters, “We do.”
Britt and Sens. Bernie Moreno of Ohio, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Steve Daines of Montana met with Trump to try to pitch to accept an agreement that would fund most of DHS.
Their pitch, according to two people with knowledge of it, was to pass a funding bill that would fund all of DHS except specific parts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is already funded under last year’s GOP megabill.
Graham told colleagues on the Senate floor after the meeting that the president is now open to a new party-line reconciliation bill after rejecting the idea over the weekend, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said. That could give Republicans a path to pass more ICE funding — if they can muster the votes.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. And Republicans cautioned that nothing is official until Trump backs it publicly.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said “hope so” when asked Monday night whether a deal was in hand.
Proceeding with the arrangement with Trump’s support would represent a U-turn from just 24 hours ago for the president, who insisted Sunday that DHS could be only funded if Democrats agreed to pass a partisan GOP elections bill, the SAVE America Act, alongside it.
Democrats in both chambers have pressed Republicans multiple times to take up their bills that would fund all of DHS except ICE, Customs and Border Protection and the secretary’s office. Republicans have rejected the efforts each time.
Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), a senior appropriator, said there are “various options” for funding the department but is “hopeful” a solution was within grasp.
“Republicans have put a lot on the table, and hopefully the Democrats will agree,” he said.
Four Senate Republicans are meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss funding the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shuttered for more than a month amid a standoff with Democrats over the administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.
GOP lawmakers attending the Monday night meeting, according to a person granted anonymity to share details of a private confab, are Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Steve Daines of Montana.
Britt is the chair of the appropriations subcommittee with oversight over DHS and has been helping lead negotiations to reopen the agency — though Trump warned Sunday night a deal should not be brokered until Democrats agree to help Republicans pass a partisan elections bill known as the SAVE America Act.
The White House is holding off on further DHS funding negotiations until the Senate confirms Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to lead the agency, according to a White House official, granted anonymity to share internal thinking.
Democrats have previously canceled meetings, and given Mullin is close to confirmation, the official said, aides to President Donald Trump believe it’s better to wait so he can be a “full and active” participant in funding talks from the DHS side.
The White House earlier in the day rejected a Monday morning meetingwith a bipartisan group of senators who have been negotiating to end the DHS shutdown. Democrats had previously canceled a Saturday meeting.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on Mullin’s confirmation shortly before 8 p.m. Monday.
Some Senate Republicans are aiming to meet with Trump on Monday night to discuss the DHS funding situation, although no meeting has been officially scheduled.
The meeting, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, would be to try to pitch Trump on a plan to fund all of DHS except specific pieces of ICE, which have already been funded through last year’s megabill.
Trump was in Memphis, Tenn., earlier in the day, attending an anti-crime event and paying a visit to Graceland, Elvis Presley’s former home.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he expected additional meetings Monday but declined to say who was involved: “Conversations continue,” he said.
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
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