Congress
Bipartisan congressional delegation saves US-Mexico joint military exercise
Bipartisan congressional pressure helped push Mexico’s legislature to approve a joint military exercise between the U.S. and Mexican militaries, according to two people familiar with a U.S. delegation to the country.
The U.S. and Mexico had been considering a joint exercise where 19 U.S. Marines would train with the Mexican Navy in the city of Campeche along the Gulf of Mexico (the U.S. calls it the “Gulf of America”). But Mexican lawmakers balked at approving the exercise after the U.S. conducted a Jan. 3 operation to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The plan got back on track following a visit from a congressional delegation led by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), according to two people familiar with the visit who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations. U.S. lawmakers raised the issue with their counterparts in the Mexican Senate, urging them to approve the exercise and telling Mexican lawmakers they would closely track the matter, the people said.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum officially requested the Marines’ entry earlier this week for the exercises, which will run from Feb. 15 to April 16. The nudge from Congress apparently helped, and Mexico’s Senate unanimously approved the Marines’ entry on Wednesday.
The involvement of the congressional delegation in securing the approval of the exercise has not been previously reported.
McCaul, who chairs the Mexico-United States Interparliamentary Group, and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), the top Democrat for the group, said in a joint statement that they “welcome the approval” and said it was a “key objective of our bipartisan delegation to Mexico this past weekend.”
“We are grateful for the Mexican Senate’s commitment to shared security, which will enable our countries to enhance intelligence-sharing and naval capabilities, intercept dangerous shipments before they reach our shores, and better protect communities on both sides of the border,” McCaul and Cuellar said.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson said in his own statement that the delegation “in its meetings with Mexican authorities and Senate counterparts, reflects the profound depth of our bilateral cooperation.” He added it was also part of the embassy’s round-the-clock efforts “to work alongside the Government of Mexico and deliver greater security and prosperity for the American and Mexican peoples.”
At least in this case, the episode underscores that lawmakers still have some ability to sway foreign policy.
And the approval of the exercise comes at a critical juncture for the bilateral security relationship between Mexico City and Washington. President Donald Trump has previously warned he might consider using military force against Mexico’s drug cartels in the name of combating fentanyl trafficking.
Meanwhile, drug cartels, which control an increasing amount of territory in Mexico, have continued to expand their technological capabilities. On Wednesday, the U.S. abruptly closed the airspace around El Paso International Airport, saying that a Mexican cartel’s drone had breached U.S. airspace and counter-drone operations around the airport could have endangered commercial flights.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will headline a fundraiser next week for Rep. Mike Collins, the state’s GOP Senate nominee, according to an invite obtained by Blue Light News.
The Sept. 24 event will be held in Atlanta, and it comes as public polling shows Collins trailing Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff. Republicans have pushed to bring in more financial resources to close the gap in the top battleground.
Ossoff has repeatedly led Collins in candidate-level fundraising, but the Republican party committees and President Donald Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC combined hold a huge fundraising edge over the affiliated Democratic Party’s committees — which could potentially give Collins a boost.
The event, billed as a “roundtable and reception benefiting” Collins, could be a boon to Georgia Republicans, who have privately worried that party leaders are prioritizing other competitive Senate races, including in Michigan and Maine, as they look to defend the upper chamber.
Thune, as Senate GOP leader, is one of the party’s most prominent fundraisers. Kemp, meanwhile, has strong ties to Georgia and remains a popular figure in the state.
Collins’ campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The party is closing ranks behind Mike Collins with two of the strongest fundraisers heading to Atlanta to help him,” said one person close to the Collins campaign, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the dynamics of the race. “That’s not the sign of a candidate in trouble, it’s the sign of a candidate — who has closed the race from 13 to 7 points while being outspent — getting air support to bring this thing home.”
Kemp — who initially backed former football coach Derek Dooley in the Senate GOP primary — endorsed Collins earlier this week.
The fundraiser will also feature Georgia’s first lady Marty Kemp.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries again declined to say how he will respond to two rebel Democrats who have twice bucked party leaders to advance the Republican floor agenda.
“As I repeatedly made clear, I’ll have more to say — we’ll have more to say — about the situation when we have more to say about the situation,” Jeffries said at a Thursday news conference with the No. 2 and 3 leaders, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California.
Clark suggested Wednesday that one of the rebels, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, should lose her Appropriations Committee seat after the second break. After Gluesenkamp Perez and Jared Golden of Maine voted with Republicans earlier this month, Jeffries pledged a “serious response” that did not publicly materialize.
Standing beside Clark and Aguilar on Thursday, Jeffries said, “There is no daylight between the three of us, and we’ll address the situation when we address the situation.”
“The focus right now on taking back control of the House of Representatives,” he added. “That’s what the American people want to see — a dramatic change in this country because they are drowning.”
Sen. Jon Husted will try to send the first major legislative action to address the costs of the artificial intelligence boom to President Donald Trump’s desk Thursday.
The Ohio Republican, facing a tough reelection bid, will try to pass the Ratepayer Protection Act by requesting unanimous consent from his colleagues, a process by which senators can swiftly clear legislation. It would take only one senator to object, however, to sink the effort.
“Senator Husted will go to the floor this afternoon and request a live UC on the Ratepayer Protection Act,” said Olivia Tripodi, a spokesperson for his office.
If passed, the Ratepayer Protection Act could become Congress’s answer to address the costs of the data center build-out ahead of the midterm election. It comes after weeks of internal debate among lawmakers in both parties over how to best respond to growing backlash against data centers and could set the stage for further congressional action on AI in the months ahead.
It’s unclear, however, if all Democrats will line up behind the bill, which passed in a broad bipartisan House vote of 417-3 on Wednesday.
Democrats haven’t said if they will block Husted’s bill, but they could make a counteroffer to try to pass their own legislation instead, according to two people granted anonymity to speak candidly. Some Democrats have said the bill doesn’t go far enough to protect ratepayers.
“Data centers is a key issue and Jon Husted is in a very tough race, … so this is a frequent approach: last-minute legislation on a subject that’s controversial in the senatorial contest,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
The bill would require states to consider — but not mandate they adopt — a federal standard ensuring large data center operators cover 100% of the costs of new generation and transmission upgrades.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) also said he would need to review the bill more closely.
“I’ve got to review that more closely if it’s going to be UC,” Lee said Tuesday. “There are several other procedural mechanisms by which this could receive a vote in some fashion.”
Husted is leading the Senate version of the bill, while Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) and Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) sponsored the House bill.
Anthony Cruz contributed to this report.
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