Congress

Capitol agenda: Dems face tricky votes before midterm sprint

Published

56 minutes ago

September 29, 2026

Senate Democrats may be feeling pretty positive going into their final campaign sprint, but first they must deal with a handful of political headaches on Blue Light News.

Democrats at their weekly caucus lunch Tuesday will talk strategy on a number of measures that could split members who have stuck together on other recent high-profile votes.

Senate Democratic leaders expect a mostly unified caucus against a bill targeting data center costs and another restricting lawmaker’s stock trading, according to a leadership aide, who acknowledged it’s possible some members break ranks if it makes sense for them politically.

Vote counts on a third bill on violence in the West Bank are less clear.

With only five weeks until the midterms, senators will be weighing whether their votes will fly under constituents’ radar, draw bad headlines or drive up donations for — or against — their campaigns. A unified party vote against a cryptocurrency bill this month, for example, spurred open industry discussions of punishing Democrats and preceded a massive spending announcement against a key candidate.

— DATA CENTER BILL: Party leaders have been openly critical of the Ratepayer Protection Act, arguing it wouldn’t adequately prevent costs of data center infrastructure from being shifted to the public. Several are also skeptical about granting a win to bill sponsor Sen. Jon Husted, who’s in a tough race.

A handful of Democrats, including Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, Alex Padilla and Brian Schatz were noncommittal Monday on their plans.

“We’re going to talk about it,” Shaheen said. “I haven’t gotten the details on it.”

— STOCK TRADING BAN: Democrats also must decide as soon as Wednesday on whether to get behind a House-passed bill restricting lawmakers and their families from stock trading.

Only 13 House Democrats backed the bill, with many rejecting what they saw as a “poison pill” provision on voter ID requirements. A vote for the bill would also notch a win for sponsor Sen. Pete Ricketts, who’s also in a close race.

Ricketts argued Monday Democrats should support the voter ID provisions that are “desired by 80 percent of Americans.”

— WEST BANK VIOLENCE: Sens. Chris Van Hollen, Tim Kaine and Bernie Sanders plan to force a floor vote on a measure requiring a State Department report on violence in the West Bank, an issue that could tap into wider party divides on Israel.

Van Hollen told Calen Monday he expects widespread support, with about half the caucus co-sponsoring the measure.

“I think we will,” Van Hollen said. “Everybody who wants the U.S. government to stick up for American citizens and Palestinians being terrorized by violent settlers needs to vote for this.”

What else we’re watching:

— WHITE HOUSE AI MEETING LIGHT ON LAWMAKERS: Tuesday’s White House meeting with AI executives could be light on Capitol Hill voices — with Speaker Mike Johnson the only lawmaker confirmed to attend so far. Expected Silicon Valley attendees include Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Palantir CEO Alex Karp and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, according to six people familiar with the meeting plans.

— TRUMP CONTROVERSIES PILE ON GOP: It’s 35 days until the midterms, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune is still fending off some final curveballs from President Donald Trump. White House decisions to air campaign-style ads with taxpayer funds while separately rescinding about a billion dollars in congressionally approved spending are the latest pre-midterm frustrations for GOP senators — who spent much of Monday fielding off-message questions about the president’s latest actions.

Owen Dahlkamp, Mia McCarthy and Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

Congress

Inside Thune and Barrasso’s midterm campaigning plans

Published

56 minutes ago

September 29, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and GOP Whip John Barrasso are preparing to hit the campaign trail in October.

Thune is planning to swing through a number of states starting with North Carolina this week, he told Blue Light News. He said he’ll also go to South Carolina, Florida, twice to Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota and Michigan, among others, as Republicans fight to keep control of the Senate in an increasingly difficult political environment for their party.

“There’s a whole bunch,” he said about the campaign stops.

Barrasso, meanwhile, will travel to Ohio, Montana, Kansas and Kentucky next month, according to plans first shared with Blue Light News. Barrasso has already been on the campaign trail in Iowa, Texas and South Carolina.

Ohio and Michigan are battleground races that could determine which party controls the chamber come January as Sen. Jon Husted tries to fend off a come-back bid by former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D). Republicans also believe they could flip outgoing Democratic Sen. Gary Peters’ seat in Michigan.

And in Iowa and Kansas, Republicans are facing closer-than-expected races that are privately giving some GOP senators, granted anonymity to speak candidly, heartburn.

Thune and Barrasso aren’t the only members of GOP leadership making campaign stops.

In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson was in New York on Sunday and New Jersey on Monday as part of his 22-state campaign sprint across 44 districts, according to a person familiar with his plans.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who is in the middle of campaigning across 11 states for 16 incumbents and candidates, is heading on a Northeast swing, according to a different person familiar with his plans.

Starting Wednesday, Scalise will head to New York and New Hampshire.

Congress

New Democrats back candidates in deep-red districts

Published

56 minutes ago

September 29, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The centrist New Democrat Coalition is expanding its endorsements into firmly Republican territory, another sign of the party’s ballooning confidence in their midterm prospects.

The group’s campaign arm, NewDem Action Fund, is endorsing seven candidates running in seats currently held by the GOP — including several that President Donald Trump won by double digits in 2024.

They are Chris Backemeyer against Rep. Mike Flood in Nebraska, Kristina Knickerbocker against Rep. Mike Turner in Ohio, Mitchell Berman against Rep. Bryan Steil in Wisconsin, and Raymond Smith against Rep. Greg Murphy in North Carolina. They are also endorsing Nancy Lacore in South Carolina, Teresa Benitez-Thompson in Nevada and Blake Gendebien in New York, who are running for open seats.

“I spent 21 years serving our country in national security roles, where the focus is on the mission and getting the job done,” Backemeyer said in a statement. “That’s the pragmatic approach the New Dems bring to Congress, and it’s what Nebraska’s First District deserves.”

Rep. Greg Stanton of Arizona, who chairs the fund, said that the endorsed candidates will have access to money, support and advice, as well as likely future visits from New Democrat members. Stanton said he intends to campaign with candidates in Arizona and Iowa.

The new endorsements come as President Donald Trump campaigns in deep-red regions ahead of Election Day. Stanton and his fellow New Dems see the move as a sign Trump and House Republicans are on their back foot.

“I’m not sure where friendly Trump territory is in the United States of America,” Stanton said in an interview. “Americans are very upset at the poor decisions of this president … but they’re even more mad at the Republicans in Congress who have rolled over and let him do whatever he wants without any resistance.”

The more New Dem-endorsed candidates that flip their seats, the more influential the already 100-plus-member caucus will be next term. The coalition will be well positioned to have would-be-speaker Hakeem Jeffries’ ear and his back, Stanton said.

“Every single endorsed candidate supports Hakeem Jeffries for speaker of the House,” Stanton said in an interview. “We will be a strong governing partner with Hakeem Jeffries to make sure that his speakership is as successful as possible.”

Congress

Senate passes bipartisan bill to overhaul college sports

Published

8 hours ago

September 29, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Senate passed a sweeping bipartisan bill Monday that would overhaul the multibillion-dollar college sports industry — a major legislative victory shared by members of both parties and President Donald Trump, who wants to sign the package as soon as possible.

A high priority for Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz of Texas and the panel’s top Democrat, Maria Cantwell of Washington, the Protect College Sports Act would replace a patchwork of state laws governing student athlete compensation, transfers and eligibility with one overarching federal rulebook.

“Today the Senate has the opportunity to protect the half million college athletes and the millions more who follow in their footsteps,” said Cruz in a floor speech Monday. “Students are transferring three or four times. Pros are trying to play ball against college kids. Conflicting court decisions have created a fragmented system — one that no one intended. And young men and women are losing opportunities to compete and receive an education.”

But while the 77-22 vote would ordinarily present itself as a welcome glimpse of cross-party unity, it is now being overshadowed by a murky outlook in the House, where Republicans oppose multiple provisions of the Senate package.

Democrats, meanwhile, are smarting from a highly-charged debate over whether the legislation would exploit college athletes of color — and some are questioning why their colleagues would split from the AFL-CIO and the NAACP, two organizations core to the party’s base that oppose the legislation.

That the vote was one of the last actions senators will take before leaving Washington to campaign for the midterms also has also presented unsavory optics for many Republicans, who are desperate to show they are serious about alleviating concerns around rising gas prices and interest rates.

“Is this really what we should be spending our time on?” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), one of the most vocal opponents of the legislation, asked Monday night on the Senate floor. “Our country faces real challenges. Gas is at $5. Diesel costs are a record high. We’re at war abroad. Health care expenses are skyrocketing.”

“And,” Booker continued, “the United States Senate is spending precious time rewriting the rules of college sports while athletes’ groups, survivors of sexual assault, labor, civil rights leaders are all begging Congress to slow down and listen to their voices. What does this say about our priorities?”

In one apparent acknowledgement of the dynamics at play, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) offered an amendment that would have put limits on how much schools and conferences can increase the price of tickets for games — arguing it would help keep costs stable for fans amid a nationwide affordability crisis. Cruz objected to the proposal, arguing it would “harm schools from being able to respond when market factors change.”

Kennedy’s amendment was ultimately rejected, while senators adopted a change to the bill sought by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) to require the disclosure of foreign financing of intercollegiate athletics.

Cruz in a Senate floor speech Monday presented the Protect College Sports Act as a binary choice for his colleagues: Stand by, or turn their backs, on student athletes who are currently being undercut by bidding wars that force schools to scrap programs because they don’t make headlines or big time television contracts.

Cantwell, meanwhile, has insisted the “historic bill” is a victory for the half-million college athletes across the country — particularly women and participants in Olympic sports programs — who are losing out on money and resources as big-ticket departments like football spend big money to attract top talent.

“We need to stop stealing money out of college [and] university institutions for education, for tuition, for professors, and putting it into an arms race on sports,” she said.

These arguments are lost on members of the Congressional Black Caucus, of which Booker is a part — with its chair, Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), saying in an interview last week the bill fails to “center the lives of the athletes.”

“There’s so much that this bill neglects,” she said, pointing specifically to health care provisions.

The all-Democratic CBC has been unanimously opposed to moving forward on any college sports bill since May, following the late April Supreme Court decision that allowed Republican-led states to eliminate majority-minority districts across the South.

In a statement at the time, the CBC said it would not support legislation “benefiting major athletic institutions that continue to remain silent while Black voting rights and Black political power are being systematically dismantled.”

Some Democrats in the Senate also lamented that the bill would set student athletes back after many have benefited from various federal court rulings entitling them to compensation for their name, image and likeness.

“This bill…only caps the money going to the players — does nothing to cap the money going to the coaches,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said on the floor Monday.

On the Republican side of the aisle, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise — who was heavily involved in working on a House version of a college sports overhaul bill that has repeatedly fallen short of support — has consistently raised concerns that the Senate measure would leave the door open to possible unionization efforts by players.

House conservatives are also expected to oppose provisions in the Senate bill that would provide $1 billion for competitive grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities without offsets; could increase litigation related to student unionization efforts; provide no cap on granting international student scholarships; and generally insert Congress into the business of college sports.

GOP Rep. Michael Baumgartner of Washington, who introduced an earlier House version of the bill, posted on social media Monday that the bill will “have a better than 50% chance in the House.” He also said that even with the president’s blessing, the legislation will need Democratic votes, pointing out the “Dem CBC will be a factor.”

But Republicans may ultimately face pressure to fall in line: Trump promoted the Senate bill as recently as this weekend in an interview with Clay Travis, founder of the digital sports column Sport & State.

Trump also suggested Speaker Mike Johnson might bring the House back before the midterms to clear the measure for his signature.

“We have to get it voted on,” he told Travis, “and we’re counting on the House — and I think the House will come through, too.”

Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.