Congress
Capital agenda: Cue shutdown watch after Republicans go it alone on ICE funding
Republicans solved an immediate crisis Tuesday, clearing for President Donald Trump’s signature a party-line bill to fund immigration enforcement agencies into 2029. But that hardly improves the chances of avoiding a shutdown for the rest of the government.
Members of both parties say the odds of another federal funding lapse are unimproved, if not heightened, by the GOP’s choice to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years without buy-in from Democrats — even though they no longer have to fight about one of the thorniest policy issues confronting Congress.
As Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) put it, the GOP’s move to fund immigration agencies for three years “takes care” of the threat of a shutdown “in that area … But how many other accounts do we have that we could have another kerfuffle?”
“It’s not helpful for sure,” Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the Senate’s top Democratic appropriator, told reporters of the GOP’s use of the budget reconciliation process for funding DHS immigration activities. “It makes it very difficult for us moving forward.”
Republicans’ circumvention of the normal appropriations process comes less than four months from the next government shutdown deadline Sept. 30, which will hit just weeks before the midterms determine which party controls the House and Senate next year.
It’s widely accepted on Capitol Hill that Congress will need to pass a stopgap funding bill to keep cash flowing for the agencies past the November elections. Yet some are predicting that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will go further, directing his members to oppose a funding patch — though Democrats have not committed to threatening a shutdown.
“They do not want appropriation bills. They do want to shut down the government,” Sen. John Kennedy told reporters of Democrats. “And they think they’re going to take the House and maybe the Senate and can get a better deal then.”
Many appropriators are holding out hope that collegiality on the House and Senate funding panels will ultimately prevail — if for no other reason than the margins of the GOP majorities in both chambers depend on it. Others are concerned Republicans have opened the door to funding more conservative priorities through reconciliation measures rather than the annual government funding bills.
After House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris of Maryland floated the idea this week of putting more controversial spending proposals into party-line packages, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) immediately rejected it.
“We’re not doing that. I will just tell you flat out, that will not happen,” Cole told reporters Tuesday morning. “I don’t think [the GOP-only reconciliation bill] is a precedent. But if it became a regular practice, I certainly wouldn’t be supporting it.”
What else we’re watching:
—TRUMP REJECTS A PULTE OFF-RAMP TO SAVE FISA: Trump indicated in a private meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson Tuesday he’s not inclined to appease Democrats and pave the way for an extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by quickly nominating a permanent director of national intelligence to replace the controversial acting director, Bill Pulte. The deadline to avoid a program lapse is Friday.
Trump doubled down on his pick Tuesday evening, announcing on Truth Social that Pulte would officially take the reins on June 19 — even earlier than what many had expected.
Most Democrats are still refusing to move forward with a reauthorization of Section 702 authority — or approve another short-term extension — so long as Pulte, a Trump ally with no intelligence experience, remains in the post.
“People were already getting grumpy about continued short-term extensions, and the naming of Bill Pulte just made them more grumpy,” said Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
— HOUSE OVERSIGHT TO PRESS BILL GATES ON EPSTEIN: Bill Gates has gotten used to hitting softballs from lawmakers about his philanthropy. But the billionaire Microsoft founder and global health activist will face a very different audience Wednesday when he’s due to answer questions behind closed doors about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Gates is set to testify before House Oversight and Government Reform as part of the panel’s ongoing Epstein investigation, and members, in interviews over the past week, say they aren’t going to take it easy on him. It will be a test of whether the world’s richest man can continue to avoid the reputational damage others have incurred by virtue of their ties to the late, convicted sex offender, as people who rely on Gates’ philanthropic foundation have not yet cut ties.
“It’s obviously really, really troubling, and I’m somebody who believes that Bill Gates has done extraordinary philanthropic work around the world and truly life-saving work,” said Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.), a member of the panel. “But we obviously have to separate our feelings about that from this investigation, and those two things co-exist.”
Meredith Lee Hill, Carmen Paun, Hailey Fuchs and Calen Razor contributed to this report.
Rep. Max Miller issued a subpoena to his former father-in-law and fellow Ohio Republican, Sen. Bernie Moreno, in the latest escalation of a long-running family legal drama.
Pamela MacAdams, an attorney for Miller, reported to the Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court Monday that three subpoenas were served in Miller’s divorce case, according to court records. A person with knowledge of the subpoenas granted anonymity to comment on them said that two were sent to Moreno and his wife, Bridget.
Their daughter, Emily Moreno, was married to Miller, and the two remain embroiled in a nasty legal battle.
Spokespeople for Miller, Emily Moreno and Bernie Moreno did not immediately return requests for comment. TMZ first reported on the subpoenas.
Miller is seeking reelection in a competitive district, and his campaign has been marred by accusations of domestic abuse against Emily Moreno and their daughter. Miller has repeatedly denied the allegations and chose to remain in the race despite other Republican lawmakers pressuring him to withdraw his campaign.
The House Ethics Committee, which began an inquiry into Miller after Miller asked to be investigated, is currently in a preelection blackout period. During that period, which will continue through the midterms, the Ethics Committee doesn’t take any action against sitting members who could return next Congress.
Congress
Trump declares $1B canceled in ‘pocket rescission’ in another affront to Congress’ funding power
President Donald Trump informed congressional leaders Friday that he has unilaterally canceled almost $1 billion without Congress’ consent — employing a budget maneuver many lawmakers consider illegal.
In a move that will almost certainly set up an ugly government funding battle after the midterms, Trump has again claimed the power to execute a so-called “pocket rescission” to nix money Congress has already enacted. The money his administration will claw back is for for immigration services, support to foreign countries, education programs, health research efforts and assistance for businesses owned by minorities.
By law, the president is allowed to send Congress a request to rescind federal funding, then withhold that money for 45 days while lawmakers consider whether to approve, reject or ignore it. Trump administration officials also argue they have the power to cancel funding without any congressional action by sending Congress a rescission request with less than 45 days left in the fiscal year. The argument is that the money automatically gets canceled on Sept. 30, when funding lapses at the end of the fiscal year.
Last year, Trump canceled $4.9 billion in foreign aid.
The Senate’s top Republican appropriator, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, immediately blasted the move as illegal, saying in a statement Friday night that “any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.”
“This move shows that OMB intentionally withheld these funds for months to execute this unlawful cancellation of appropriations that were approved on a bipartisan basis and signed into law,” Collins added, pledging to work with other lawmakers “to address these illegal actions.”
Collins and other appropriators have already been on high alert in recent days, pressing multiple agencies about funding officials have yet to spend ahead of the expiration date.
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.
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