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.
Congress
The future of SAVE America
As a potential Homeland Security funding deal comes together, Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday the Senate could temporarily drop its consideration of a contentious GOP elections bill, the SAVE America Act, then return to it after DHS funding is passed.
Thune’s comments come as Republicans are trying to reach an agreement with Democrats on ending a five-week shutdown of the sprawling department. Thune has threatened to cancel a planned two-week recess if the shutdown doesn’t end this week.
“Assuming we can move on … government funding, we can pick this thing up when we come back” from Easter, Thune said.
Congress
These House GOP election proposals could end up in a reconciliation bill
The chair of the House committee overseeing elections is circulating a list of proposals to include in a budget reconciliation bill as Senate Republicans and the White House move to rev up the party-line process to pass pieces of a contentious GOP voting bill in the coming months.
The list from House Administration Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) is a peek at what sort of provisions Republicans could try to pass under reconciliation, which is strictly reserved for legislation with a direct fiscal impact. The party-line effort is likely to rule out big portions of the SAVE America Act, the bill President Donald Trump has called his “No. 1 priority” for the year.
Steil’s proposals would mandate or financially incentivize states to implement voter ID laws, require proof of citizenship for voter registration, share voter data with federal agencies for verification and conduct post-election audits, among other items, according to a document obtained by POLITICO being circulated with GOP leaders and several Republican offices. It’s an effort to try to secure major pieces of Trump’s election-related demands.
In some cases, states would lose funding under the 2002 Help America Vote Act, a law passed in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election that provides federal money to help administer elections, if they fail to comply.
It’s not clear if parts of Steil’s proposals would in fact pass muster under the party-line reconciliation process. The Senate parliamentarian’s guidance typically determines what is and isn’t included.
Three people granted anonymity to discuss the brewing deal Senate Republicans and Trump discussed Monday evening, to pass Homeland Security funding now and SAVE America Act provisions later, say the most likely outcome for a new reconciliation bill is adding money for ballot security measures and potentially incentivizing more states to enact voter ID requirements. Steil’s list includes some of those pieces.
Under Steil’s proposal, states using noncompliant IDs would be ineligible to receive HAVA funding — consistent with Steil’s bill, the Make Elections Great Again Act, which overlaps with the SAVE America Act but also has no current path to passage in the Senate.
His effort to mandate proof-of-citizenship requirements would appropriate funds to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to amend the national voter registration form to require “Documentary Proof of Citizenship” such as a passport or military ID. States would have to forfeit HAVA funds if they fail to share data with federal agencies to verify voter registration data, a move officials in several states have refused to make.
Besides the Senate parliamentarian, any effort to pass elections provisions on party lines will face other obstacles. The decision to pursue a new reconciliation bill in lieu of trying to pass the SAVE America Act in full is already generating major pushback from conservative hard-liners.
The House Freedom Caucus took a shot at Senate Republicans Tuesday, arguing the brewing DHS deal means Senate Republicans are opting for “failure theater” and “gaslighting” instead of fighting to pass the bill Trump has endorsed. Even GOP senators and senior aides are privately cautioning the fresh reconciliation push could fall apart, stranding the elections overhaul and other GOP priorities.
Congress
King Charles to make first US state visit, address Congress next month
England’s King Charles III will make his first state visit to Washington next month.
As part of his visit, the king will address Congress in a joint meeting the week of April 27, according to two people familiar with the matter granted anonymity to discuss plans ahead of a formal announcement.
The visit was first reported by Punchbowl News.
It will be the first time a British royal has addressed Congress since 1991, when Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, became the first British monarch to speak before a packed House chamber.
President Donald Trump visited London in September, and House Speaker Mike Johnson visited in January as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Johnson addressed Parliament during his visit, becoming the first House speaker to do so.
Charles’ visit comes as Trump continues to pressure Prime Minister Keir Starmer for assistance in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
Starmer has distanced himself from the war, previously stating, “This is not our war, and we are not getting dragged into this war.”
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