Congress
Capitol agenda: GOP faces megabill angst and a ‘time problem’
Republicans return to Capitol Hill Monday facing a dwindling calendar and rising pressure to beef up their midterm message with legislation.
But their efforts to pass a new party-line bill are sputtering, and the political benefits of the last one are, a year later, looking modest at best.
“I think the complication is that … you did so much work in one legislative exercise that it’s tough to go back and really tell that story,” Rep. Nick Langworthy said in an interview about the July 4 anniversary of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
In the last week, certain megabill provisions celebrated by Republicans — such as the launching of President Donald Trump-branded child investment accounts and the sunsetting of clean energy tax credits — have gone into effect.
But Republicans have had trouble selling the bill to the American public. Some provisions don’t come into effect until 2028, and the GOP has tried to rebrand it as the “Working Families Tax Cuts Act” after Trump acknowledged its original name was “not good for explaining to people what it’s all about.”
That’s adding to the pressure Republicans will feel next week as they try to jumpstart the party’s efforts on another party-line policy bill.
“We’ve got a time problem, but we want to get a win for this country,” Rep. August Pfluger said.
But with only eight House legislative days before August recess and ongoing intraparty fights holding up the floor, many are acknowledging the time strain.
“There was a lot of pressure and political support behind trying to get the first bill done and that took us eight months to do,” Rep. Greg Steube said in an interview. “The timing of another one is challenging, and these days we can’t even pass a rule.”
What else we’re watching:
— WHY JOHN KENNEDY IS SUDDENLY EVERYWHERE: Sen. John Kennedy is the Senate GOP’s new unlikely campaign trail star. The 74-year-old Louisianan has long been known as the master of the folksy one-liner in interviews. But his profile has recently exploded thanks to an increasing tempo of Fox News hits, a bestselling book and a growing TikTok following.
— TRUMP OUSTS ALL ELECTION COMMISSIONERS: Trump has ousted the remaining commissioners from a bipartisan federal agency charged with helping state and local officials conduct elections in an apparent move to assert control over voting ahead of the midterms. The president removed the two Democratic members of the Election Assistance Commission on Thursday while a Republican was allowed to resign, according to a White House official and three other people familiar with the dismissals.
Jordan Carney, Aaron Pellish and Zach Montellaro contributed to this report.
In the halls of Congress, Sen. John Kennedy has long been known as the master of the excruciatingly folksy one-liner. His profile off Capitol Hill, however, has recently exploded — thanks to an increasing tempo of Fox News hits, a bestselling book and a growing TikTok following.
The 74-year-old Louisianan is putting his burgeoning notoriety to work for his Senate Republican colleagues, criss-crossing the country for a series of surprisingly successful events where he’s dropping his trademark bons mots, fielding questions about a future presidential bid and discussing “Margaret” — the exercise machine sitting in his carport that is named after Margaret Thatcher and is a guest star in his viral videos.
“When I go into a state and headline a fundraiser for one of my colleagues, it seems to attract people,” Kennedy said in an interview. “I think I’m like the new animal in the zoo. They don’t know what it is, but they like to poke to see what will happen.”
A trip to Ohio for Sen. Jon Husted helped raise more than $2 million, Kennedy said, and he appeared in New Hampshire with former Sen. John Sununu, who is looking to regain the seat he lost in 2008 to outgoing Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
Kennedy also recently headlined state-party events in Indiana and Tennessee, the latter of which broke fundraising records, according to attendees. Kennedy said he’s also planning stops in Michigan, Georgia and other battleground Senate states.
“Some of them I have to tell, no, because you can’t be everywhere,” he said. “And frankly some of my colleagues don’t need it — you know they’re going to win anyways.”
Husted praised Kennedy during one of their campaign stops as having a “common-sense approach to governing.” Kennedy, in typical fashion, described Husted more colorfully — as “what cool looks like.”
When Kennedy, at a Politics & Eggs event also attended by Sununu, said that he loved New Hampshire, an audience member yelled back: “Well, we love you!”
Kennedy previously traveled in 2024 to help support key Senate races. But this campaign swing comes as Kennedy’s social and political cachet is on the rise — and it’s especially notable because he has no declared leadership ambitions, which is what tends to put sitting senators on the fundraising circuit.
His appearances on Fox News have earned him fans among Republican voters well beyond the borders of his home state. But his notoriety spread further after publishing “How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will,” which spent months on The New York Times bestseller list.
Kennedy discussed his book full of mostly tongue-in-cheek insider observations at the New Hampshire event, saying it would make readers “think” but also “may make you day-drink.”
He is planning to run for reelection to his Senate seat in 2028. Kennedy, however, has acknowledged that efforts have been made to recruit him into the presidential race by people with “a lot of money.” Kennedy didn’t rule out a possible White House bid, summing up his feelings as “never say never.”
Kennedy’s breakout comes as he’s carved out a lane on Capitol Hill as a deliverer of folksy aphorisms who is typically a reliable vote for leadership and Trump but is occasionally willing to throw an elbow.
He put up a stink for days last year over a government funding package — but ultimately accepted a deal that let the bills move forward. He sank a judicial nominee during Trump’s first term and warned in an interview last month that he was willing to vote against a key appeals court pick if Trump nominates someone he can’t support.
Kennedy said he doesn’t go to the White House just to hang out, like some colleagues. And while Kennedy has acknowledged that Trump has sometimes gotten angry with him, he believes he has a good and candid relationship with Trump.
He was part of a group of GOP lawmakers who went to 1600 Pennsylvania in May to press the president on a stalled housing bill. Trump also called him to consult on potential replacements for Kristi Noem shortly before the president removed her from her post as Department of Homeland Security secretary.
His quotemongering can sometimes be hokey — especially for someone with degrees from Vanderbilt, Virginia Law and Oxford — but his colleagues view him as a serious legislator who is willing to use his leverage to advance his conservative policy agenda and isn’t afraid to ruffle fellow Republicans’ feathers.
Those colleagues still take note of his way with words. As Kennedy was talking to a Blue Light News reporter recently, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) crashed the conversation to note, “Damn, he’s got good quotes.”
He now has a much broader audience for his down-home wit courtesy of short-form video. One TikTok about the driveway elliptical machine has more than 5 million views — meaning Margaret might now rival “Beth,” the vintage Hoover vacuum wielded by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) ahead of family gatherings, for social-media fame.
Kennedy said his staff gave him some general advice for how to approach the vertical videos to be “normal” and to not be “serious” or make videos about “policy stuff.”
“They said, ‘Just be yourself,’ which is frankly a dangerous instruction, that’s what I tried to do, and they sent me home one weekend with instructions to film the video … and I decided to do one with Margaret,” Kennedy said.
More recently he posted about his dog Charlie with one viewer comparing him to “America’s uncle.” He praised his wife’s chicken salad — using the same words of praise he’s used for omelets and the states of Ohio and New Hampshire — as being “better than sex.” And he filmed a video talking about his backyard being filled with his dogs’ poop, acknowledging in an interview that his wife “goes ballistic” when he uses kitchen knives to clean it out of his tennis shoes.
And while Kennedy says he has “no idea” if any of his colleagues are watching his TikTok videos, they appear to have caught on both in Washington and outside of it.
“I don’t understand it, really don’t,” Kennedy said. “But people stop me all the time and ask how Margaret is.”
One of Graham Platner’s top political advisers said he and others suggested Platner drop out of the Maine Senate race when they “became aware of the rape allegations.”
“As soon as the team became aware of the rape allegations against Graham Platner we advised he suspend his candidacy, and in the following days worked to wind down the campaign,” Democratic strategist Morris Katz wrote on X on Thursday. “Like so many of his supporters, I’m deeply disappointed.”
The social media post is Katz’s first public comment since POLITICO’s report Monday that a woman said Platner forced her to have sex with him, which he denies.
Katz also confirmed in a follow-up post that Platner plans to file the paperwork to officially terminate his campaign. The Maine Secretary of State’s office has not yet received the paperwork, according to a spokesperson. Platner has until 5 p.m. Monday to formally withdraw.
The 27-year-old Democratic strategist — who also advises New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other progressive candidates — helped recruit Platner for his Senate bid last summer and helped produce the viral launch video that supercharged the oysterman’s campaign.
In recent days, Katz has faced scrutiny over the campaign vetting process for Platner.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows officially launched her Senate bid to replace Graham Platner on Thursday afternoon.
“After serious consideration, I am announcing my campaign for United States Senate, because I believe that together we can unify Democrats in Maine at this difficult time, and forge ahead with a campaign that fights for working people, stands up to a broken system that’s working against us, and defeats Susan Collins,” Bellows wrote in a post on X.
Bellows, who recently lost in the Democratic primary for governor, had been widely expected to enter the race after Platner suspended his campaign. She was fielding calls about a possible bid in the days after POLITICO reported an allegation of sexual assault against him, according to one person familiar with her campaign, granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. Platner denied the allegation.
A progressive Democrat, Bellows has built a national profile as Maine’s secretary of state, often clashing with President Donald Trump over election administration. She joins several other former gubernatorial hopefuls, including former public health official Nirav Shah and former Platner ally Troy Jackson, as official contenders for the Democratic nomination.
But the race marks Bellows’ second bid for the Senate. She challenged Collins, the Republican incumbent, in 2014 and lost — a defeat that is likely to draw fresh scrutiny as she makes her case to Maine voters this time around.
- Capitol agenda: GOP faces megabill angst and a ‘time problem’
- ‘We’re fighting this by ourselves’: Southern Black leaders feel abandoned by Democratic Party
- John Kennedy is the Senate GOP’s unlikely campaign-trail star
- ‘They got their rear end kicked,’ DeSantis says of U.S. team
- Emmanuel Macron cheers Les Bleus. So does Jordan Bardella.
- Morris Katz: ‘I’m deeply disappointed’
- Macron’s sports protectionism
- Dream lives for Moroccans in Brussels
- Morocco has its eye on the 2030 final
- Trump’s renewed Iran strikes put Republicans in a bind
-
Politics1 year agoFormer ‘Squad’ members launching ‘Bowman and Bush’ YouTube show
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoLuigi Mangione acknowledges public support in first official statement since arrest
-
The Josh Fourrier Show2 years agoDOOMSDAY: Trump won, now what?
-
Politics1 year agoFormer Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron launches Senate bid
-
Uncategorized2 years ago
Bob Good to step down as Freedom Caucus chair this week
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoPete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse
-
Politics1 year agoBlue Light News’s Editorial Director Ryan Hutchins speaks at Blue Light News’s 2025 Governors Summit
-
The Dictatorship10 months agoMike Johnson sums up the GOP’s arrogant position on military occupation with two words