Congress

Capitol agenda: GOP losing patience over Warsh fight

Published

6 months ago

April 16, 2026

Republicans who want Kevin Warsh confirmed as the country’s next top economic official are growing more exasperated at a Trump administration probe standing in the way.

For months, outgoing GOP Sen. Thom Tillis has said he’d blockade President Donald Trump’s pick until the Justice Department drops an investigation into current Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Now a growing chorus of Republicans, eager to install Warsh as Powell’s term as chair comes to a conclusion next month, are joining the call for the administration to end the probe.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday he believed the administration should wrap up its investigation, and acknowledged that Warsh is basically stuck until then.

“I think at some point they’re going to have to deal with the committee, and they’re going to have to deal with Tillis,” Thune said of the administration.

Tillis holds a deciding vote on the Senate Banking panel, which scheduled a hearing on Warsh’s confirmation Tuesday. His GOP colleagues on the committee haven’t committed to blocking Warsh with him, but some are taking his side in calling for an end to the investigation into whether Powell lied to Congress during testimony last year about cost overruns at the Fed’s Washington headquarters.

Sen. Mike Rounds, who has previously declined to weigh in on the probe, told reporters Wednesday he wants to see it dropped so that Warsh can be confirmed.

“The president wants a different Fed chair. And we want to help him get there,” Rounds said. “But that requires right now that they resolve the issue surrounding this prosecution that is still taking place.”

Another Banking Republican granted anonymity to speak candidly predicted the administration and Tillis would ultimately find an off-ramp but told Jordain Carney the DOJ “should drop the investigation.”

And over in the House — which holds no sway over nominations — Financial Services Chair French Hill said Wednesday “it’s time for the administration to draw that investigation to a conclusion,” as “we want to make sure that we’ve got a new confirmed head of the Fed that we can work with in conducting oversight.”

Trump, meanwhile, is digging in and ratcheting up his conflict with Powell. He threatened Wednesday to fire Powell if he stays on as chair once his term ends — a growing possibility amid the Warsh stalemate. That follows a visit that officials from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office made to the Fed’s headquarters this week.

Asked about the prospect of getting Tillis’ vote to help secure his Fed nominee, Trump said on Fox Business that the North Carolinian is “no longer a senator,” given that Tillis is retiring at the end of his term.

But Tillis is standing his ground, Jordain and Jasper Goodman report, and he’s leaving the door open to exercising his power even more.

Tillis also sits on Senate Judiciary, where he will have a vote in the event the panel considers a successor to outgoing Attorney General Pam Bondi. He’s already warned he will block any attorney general nominee who has dismissed the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. And he’s not completely ruling out making the Fed probe a litmus test for AG nominees if it continues.

“If we keep letting this go on, I have to consider other options for really amplifying my concern,” Tillis said of his Fed fight.

What else we’re watching:

— Johnson tries again on FISA: Speaker Mike Johnson is expecting to put a procedural vote on the House floor Thursday to renew key government spy powers after his attempt Wednesday failed. GOP leaders canceled a planned vote Wednesday amid disagreements over whether to allow members to amend the legislation reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

— RFK Jr. hearing palooza kicks off: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Thursday starts a stretch of seven congressional hearings in less than a week. The series serves as the first high-profile public forum to test the White House’s theory that Kennedy will help Republicans in the midterms.

— Selig likely to talk prediction markets: House Agriculture lawmakers Thursday are all but certain to press CFTC Chair Michael Selig on the surge in popularity — and controversy — surrounding prediction markets. Selig has emerged as the markets’ most prominent backer in Washington, but he’s also planning to make one thing clear to the lawmakers up front: He’s still the markets’ top cop.

Jordain Carney, Jasper Goodman, Mia McCarthy, Declan Harty, Carmen Paun, Simon Levien, Robert King and Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.

Congress

Elon Musk pours another $76 million into boosting Republicans

Published

10 hours ago

October 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave another $76 million to boost Republicans in the first two weeks of October, bringing his total giving this cycle to more than $442 million.

The additional funds, which Musk gave to his super PAC, America PAC, make the group one of the biggest super PACs this cycle. America PAC has already spent tens of millions of dollars on digital advertising, mailers and text messages as it targets competitive House and Senate races across the country.

Musk — the world’s wealthiest man — is by far the biggest single donor this cycle, with his political giving this year far exceeding even the roughly $290 million he spent in 2024. There is no precedent in modern American history for any donor spending as much as he has.

While the Tesla CEO and former DOGE lead has spent significantly to help Republicans, he has not been joining GOP candidates on the campaign trail this fall like he had in the past. Republicans privately acknowledged Musk could be politically toxic after the party lost a major Wisconsin judicial race in the spring of 2025 where Musk had become both the biggest funder and a campaign issue.

Still, Musk’s money has been instrumental for Republicans this fall. His earlier giving this cycle includes $158 million for Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, which was transferred to a super PAC boosting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is locked in a tight Senate race against Democrat James Talarico. Democrats have looked to make his money a campaign issue: Talarico recently responded to an attack from Musk on the Musk-owned X social media site by saying that there was “deeply wrong with a political system that allows one trillionaire to buy his own personal U.S. Senator.”

Musk has also given to House Republicans’ super PAC arm, President Donald Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC, and a group seeking to repeal Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system, along with a smattering of GOP candidates.

Congress

Senate Democrats’ campaign arm takes out $15M loan

Published

10 hours ago

October 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Democrats have taken out a $15 million loan as they hope to expand their map in the final days before the midterms.

The party’s campaign arm took out the loan earlier this month, according to a report submitted Thursday to the Federal Election Commission.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spent $32 million in the first two weeks of October, with half of those funds going toward coordinated expenditures in 10 states. That includes: $4.7 million Ohio; more than $1 million in each of Iowa, Michigan, Kansas, Alaska and Maine; and additional funds in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and New Hampshire.

The committee reported just over $20 million cash on hand as of Oct. 14, according to its FEC report.

Its GOP counterpart, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, previously took out $20 million in loans in September, according to an FEC report filed earlier this week. The DSCC has slightly trailed the NRSC in fundraising for most of the cycle, but Democratic candidates have largely outraised GOP ones across the map — in some cases, several times over.

Democrats’ candidate fundraising advantage has helped offset the GOP’s massive super PAC cash advantage since candidates, and parties working with them, get better rates for broadcast ads.

It’s not unusual for party committees to take out loans late in an election cycle to power last-minute spending. In 2024, the DSCC took out $20 million in loans.

“In the face of being outspent by GOP megadonors, Senate Democrats remain in the best position yet to win the majority, after we strategically and effectively expanded the map and sent Republicans scrambling to play defense in red states everywhere,” DSCC spokesperson Maeve Coyle said in a statement. “We will continue to use every tool at our disposal and we will win in November.”

Congress

Kevin McCarthy predicts GOP will lose House majority

Published

16 hours ago

October 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy predicted Republicans will lose the House in two weeks, citing historical midterm trends while also criticizing the sitting GOP leadership for how they’ve managed the chamber.

“In the last 100 years, all off-year elections, whoever is the party in power has the White House, has lost seats, and it’s only a few seats for the majority,” McCarthy said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Thursday.

Democrats, he added, will “get a majority” in the House: “I’m not quite sure how big it is, but they will probably win the majority.”

The former speaker, who ushered in the current GOP House majority in 2022 but only led the conference for less than a year before being booted from the speakership, went on to fault his own party for giving the election away.

“It’s not that the Democrats are going to win this election,” he said. “Republicans are going to lose it.”

He pointed to the skimpy House legislative calendar as a factor. Speaker Mike Johnson and his deputies have routinely canceled scheduled session days amid member revolts that have undermined his grip on the razor-thin majority.

“You’re only given 24 months in a majority to manage it. They were in the fewest amount of days. They let the Democrats dictate,” McCarthy said. “You have to give a reason why to win. What are the three things Republicans will do if they win the majority? I can’t tell you what that is.”

Still, McCarthy cautioned that if Democrats win the House, it won’t be because they have laid out their own agenda and warned that he believes that Democrats will face their own hurdles.

“Democrats are not popular. They haven’t laid out an agenda on what they’ll do,” McCarthy said. “So they’ll have a really hard time governing in the next Congress.”