Congress

Bipartisan Russia hawks urge Trump to pull Putin invite to G20 summit

Published

35 minutes ago

September 25, 2026

A bipartisan group of 14 senators urged President Donald Trump to rescind his invitation for Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the Group of 20 summit in Miami in December.

The letter, whose bipartisan signers were led by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chair of the Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee, came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the invitation on Wednesday.

“President Putin bears sole responsibility for launching Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine,” the senators wrote in the letter. “Allowing him to participate in a G20 Summit in the United States raises serious concerns about legitimizing and normalizing a government that continues to attack Ukrainian civilian targets every day.”

The senators also noted that the U.S. has sanctioned Putin, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and others in the Russian delegation. If the U.S. does not join in isolating Russia on the world stage, Putin may not feel motivated to pursue a ceasefire and further negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, they wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request to comment on Friday.

The letter surfaced following Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington that concluded Friday.

During the summit, Xi said he will meet with Trump two more times this year, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November and again at the G20 summit. Trump subsequently confirmed on social media that he will attend the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China.

Putin is also set to attend the APEC summit in China, and there were talks of a trilateral meeting there, Reuters reported earlier this month.

The Russian presidential press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter or whether Putin has accepted Trump’s invitation.

Congress

Gallego grades Democrats on their midterm messaging to men

Published

20 minutes ago

September 25, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Democrats are finally catching on to how to talk to young male voters in the lead-up to the midterms, but the party can still up its game, one battleground senator and potential 2028er said Friday.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has been one of his party’s most outspoken critics on its handling of outreach to young men, who swung right and helped deliver the White House and both chambers of Congress to Republicans in 2024.

The party is now “definitely moving in the right direction,” Gallego said Friday.

“Like back in the day, I was like the only one,” putting out positions on men, Gallego said at a Washington event on young American men. “Now, like, it seems like everyone every week is coming out with a new position, new idea, which is great.”

Gallego has criticized Democrat’s failure to highlight mens’ struggles and their tendency to over-police mens’ ideas. But there are signs the political winds have shifted in his party’s favor.

A new Cygnal poll released with the event of men ages 18-30 who say they’re the most determined to vote revealed Democrats’ generic ballot lead over Republicans at 57%-40%, Blue Light News reported. The poll also said nearly 40 percent of respondents said they feel their lives are off track.

“We need to take the opportunity to invest in that portion of this country, to say that we care about them and actually try to change the trajectory of what’s happening with men in this country,” Gallego said at the symposium.

Still, the path for specific legislation targeting the needs of this demographic faces an incredibly tight calendar this Congress and is uncertain in the political landscape of next year.

A proposal from Gallego and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) to establish a men’s health office within the Department of Health and Human Services, for example, has not advanced. Nor has bipartisan legislation from Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who also spoke at the event, targeting education outcomes, college investment transparency and dyslexic student support.

Congress

Capitol agenda: Dems weigh doing Husted a solid

Published

9 hours ago

September 25, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Democrats have a decision to make about whether to grant a political favor to one of their most vulnerable Republican colleagues.

GOP leaders are expected to set up an initial vote Wednesday on legislation that would advise states on ensuring data centers pay for all their energy costs and grid updates. Democrats may discuss the matter at a weekly party lunch Tuesday, but so far haven’t had a caucus-wide conversation yet, several senators said in interviews.

The bill is being championed by Ohio GOP Sen. Jon Husted — who is facing a tough election bid against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. The measure easily passed the House last week with 206 Democratic votes, but campaign-season politics are making action trickier for the party in the Senate.

On one hand, voting to start debate on the bill could help keep Republicans off the campaign trail even longer and insulate Democrats against charges of politically motivated obstructionism.

On the other hand, a successful procedural vote could kick off an unpredictable amendment process and — as some Democrats see it — risk helping GOP leaders bail out an embattled candidate who has been inundated with data-center-themed campaign attacks.

“It’s an effort to rescue Husted’s campaign,” Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said in an interview, even as he acknowledged that he himself hasn’t yet made a call on how to vote.

Most in the party have yet to decide whether to lend their support, according to interviews with more than a dozen Senate Democrats and aides.

That includes in-cycle Jon Ossoff and known bipartisan dealmakers such as Jeanne Shaheen and Mark Warner, who all said Thursday they hadn’t made up their minds.

Sen. Peter Welch is so far the only Democrat to say he will support Husted’s bill, though he, like other Democrats, said “the bill didn’t go far enough.”

Sen. Brian Schatz, the Democrats’ deputy whip, said in an interview Thursday he found the bill “kind of weak” but that he didn’t have an announcement about whether party leaders would whip against it.

Two GOP senators, granted anonymity to describe private conversations, said that Republicans privately don’t expect the bill to get the votes needed to ultimately pass.

But Husted is keeping the pressure on Democrats publicly.

“They say they’re for more affordability,” he said. “This is a chance for everybody to prove it.”

What else we’re watching:

— JOHNSON, TRUMP SET MEETING WITH AI EXECS —- Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump will meet at the White House Tuesday with the executives of top artificial intelligence companies. Congress is under increasing pressure to put federal guardrails on AI development, but House GOP leaders continue to resist any major legislative action to address concerns. The speaker and president were in attendance at the state dinner Thursday night in honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, as were OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. It was not immediately clear which of these executives would be invited to next week’s meeting, and who will be participating.

— SENATE GOP’S NOMS IN LIMBO: Senate Republicans’ hopes of getting several of Trump’s key nominees confirmed before they leave for midterm campaigning are still in limbo. The main GOP sticking point is Sen. Kevin Cramer’s blanket hold on nominations — including but not limited to Keith Sonderling for labor secretary — “pending a repeal of the Biden setback rule on fish and wildlife easements” in his state, the North Dakota Republican told Blue Light News. After weeks of a complete hold, Cramer lifted his blockade on some nominees after the Trump administration committed to reevaluating some of the Fish and Wildlife Service easements that restrict farming.

Jordain Carney, Amelia Davidson, Nico Portuondo, Mia McCarthy, Sophia Cai and Miranda Willson contributed to this report.

Congress

Democrats weigh how to handle data center vote that could benefit a GOP foe

Published

12 hours ago

September 25, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Democrats will soon have to decide whether to do one of their most vulnerable Republican colleagues a big political favor just weeks before the midterm elections.

Republican leaders are expected to set up a vote next week on the Ratepayer Protection Act, legislation that aims to curb energy prices associated with the data centers. It easily passed the House last week with 206 Democratic votes, but it faces a tougher path to passage across the Capitol — thanks to campaign-season politics.

The Senate version of the bill was written and is being championed by Ohio Sen. Jon Husted, the Republican who was appointed to replace Vice President JD Vance and is now facing a tough election bid against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

Despite near-unanimous approval in the House, Senate Democrats see it as an attempt by GOP leaders to bail out an embattled candidate who has been inundated with data-center-themed campaign attacks. Most have yet to decide whether to lend their support, according to interviews with more than a dozen Senate Democrats and aides.

“It’s an effort to rescue Husted’s campaign,” Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said in an interview, even as he acknowledged that he himself hasn’t yet decided how to vote. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer this week dismissed Husted’s bill as a toothless “fraud.”

But there are strategic considerations for Democrats: Voting to start debate on the bill could help keep Republicans off the campaign trail even longer and insulate their own members against charges of politically motivated obstructionism. On the other hand, even a successful procedural vote risks boosting Husted and could kick off an unpredictable amendment process.

The Senate is expected to take an initial vote Wednesday, and at least seven Democratic votes will be needed to advance it. Democrats haven’t yet had a caucuswide discussion about the bill, several senators said in interviews. They could discuss the matter Tuesday at a weekly lunch.

Two GOP senators granted anonymity to describe private conversations said that Republicans privately don’t expect the bill to get the 60 votes needed to ultimately pass.

Publicly, however, Husted is trying to keep the pressure on Democrats, telling reporters Thursday “everybody is going to get a chance to decide whether they’re for the American consumer.”“This would require data centers to pay for their own electricity rather than pass it on to the consumers,” he said. “That’s something the American public wants. That’s something that everybody in Congress says they’re for. They say they’re for more affordability. This is a chance for everybody to prove it.”

Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) is so far the only Democrat to say publicly he will support Husted’s bill — though he added that “the bill didn’t go far enough,” echoing House Democrats who overwhelmingly backed the measure despite similar concerns.

“I’d like to help,” Welch said. “I’d like to protect ratepayers.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said he would support a procedural motion to take up the bill but would then try to attach his own Power for the People Act, a more aggressive effort to address the data center issue.

He said he would support advancing the bill further “only … if they agree to allow amendments.”

Several other Senate Democrats — including in-cycle Jon Ossoff of Georgia and known bipartisan dealmakers such as Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Mark Warner of Virginia — said Thursday they hadn’t yet made up their minds on the bill.

The Ratepayer Protection Act would require states to “consider” — but not mandate — a framework ensuring data centers pay for all energy costs and grid updates. Senate progressives and Democratic party leaders have spent the past week amplifying concerns that the bill does not go far enough in enforcing protections for ratepayers. Some have pushed a more forceful bill from Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).

Husted’s bill is “voluntary,” Schumer told reporters Wednesday. “No company has to do it. The bill we have is mandatory. It is much stronger and is what is needed.”

Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, the Democrats’ deputy whip, said in an interview Thursday that he found the bill “kind of weak” but that he didn’t have an announcement about whether party leaders would whip against it.

The bill has already seen its share of drama in the Senate, when Husted last week tried to follow up a resounding 417-3 House vote on the bill by passing the bill by voice vote on the Senate floor. Heinrich, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, shot down that request, claiming that the Senate needed to pass legislation with “real teeth.”

Heinrich repeated those concerns Thursday as GOP leaders moved toward a roll call vote on the measure next week. He urged lawmakers to instead pass his own legislation or await a broader energy permitting reform package that could include data center provisions.

“There’s a reason why we’re working on these kinds of issues in permitting reform right now,” he said in an interview. “It’s because we’ve already seen electric rates go up for consumers as a result of the increased demand from data centers. So we should pass something, but it should have teeth in it.”

Anthony Cruz contributed to this report.