Congress

Capitol agenda: GOP mum on returning Miller’s campaign cash

Published

1 day ago

August 12, 2026

Rep. Max Miller gave more than $70,000 in campaign cash to over a dozen congressional Republicans in the cycle’s most competitive races.

So far, most of those members aren’t saying whether or not they will return it.

The Dependable Conservative Leadership PAC kicked money to 16 vulnerable GOP candidates for Congress, according to FEC filings. The PAC is aligned with Miller, who has continued his reelection bid while denying allegations of domestic abuse.

The donations put these members in a politically delicate position as they have welcomed the cash in their fights to hold onto their seats this November — and help the party protect its fragile majorities in both chambers.

Spokespeople in the congressional and campaign offices for 13 of the 16 candidates who took the Miller-aligned money did not respond to requests for comment on if they planned to return the funding.

Only the campaign for Rep. Brad Finstad said it had already returned its contribution.

Meanwhile, a campaign spokesperson for Rep. Mike Lawler said the incumbent Republican had no plans to relinquish the money. He instead slammed Democratic challenger Cait Conley for attending a fundraiser hosted by former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned in 2008 after allegations of involvement in a prostitution ring.

And Derrick Van Orden, asked Tuesday night about the contribution he received from Miller during about an interview about the results of his state’s primary elections, refused to discuss the matter, calling the accusations against Miller “allegations” he had heard about “the day before yesterday.”

The recipients of Miller’s campaign cash who didn’t respond to inquiries include: Reps. Rob Bresnahan, Ryan Mackenzie, Brian Fitzpatrick, Zach Nunn, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Nick Begich III, Tom Barrett, Juan Ciscomani, Gabe Evans, Tom Kean Jr., Jen Kiggans, and David Valadao.

Sen. Jon Husted is also staying quiet about whether he’ll return the cash. He previously said Miller should not run for reelection after Emily Miller — Max Miller’s ex-wife and Ohio GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno‘s daughter — accused her former husband of assaulting herself and their young child.

Democrats are already seizing on the matter, with a campaign spokesperson for Mackenzie’s opponent, Bob Brooks, saying in a statement the GOP incumbent is “open for business for whoever’s willing to pay up, no questions asked.”

Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Tuesday Democrats are “shameless hypocrites who conveniently look the other way when their vulnerable members are bankrolled by scandal-plagued Democrats like [former Rep.] Eric Swalwell.”

The NRCC also claimed that some of the Democrats who said they’d give away Swalwell campaign contributions have, in fact, not returned the money as promised.

Unlike Miller, Swalwell resigned in April and ended his gubernatorial bid in California amid intense pressure from inside his own party over sexual assault allegations he denies.

What else we’re watching:

— NANCY PELOSI CORRECTS THE RECORD ON BIDEN: For the first time, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi disclosed what she told President Joe Biden before he withdrew his 2024 presidential reelection bid. “I only said to President Biden, ‘I’ve come to question the polling that you have and how your campaign is being conducted. I think there has to be a better campaign to win the White House,’” she shared Tuesday. Pelosi’s comments — shared on stage with Jonathan Martin at Blue Light News’s The California Agenda: Sacramento Summit — shed new light on the scramble that led to Biden dropping his campaign. But she pushed back on the narrative that she puppeteered the president’s withdrawal. She added she advised Biden to hear from outside pollsters and told him, “I think the public would like to hear that you’ve had testing that demonstrates that you can serve.”

— JEFFRIES VAGUE ON IMMIGRATION AGENDA: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Tuesday said Democrats are “committed to an accountability agenda” on immigration should they take the majority. But the New Yorker offered few specifics on what immigration policies a future House Democratic majority might pursue. “We’ll have a conversation about what dramatic change looks like” after November, Jeffries said, adding that what “unites the entirety of the House Democratic caucus family” is that “immigration enforcement should be fair, just and humane in this country.”

Riley Rogerson and Joey Fox contributed to this report.

Congress

Senate-passed government funding bill gets warm House reception

Published

2 hours ago

August 13, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

In a sign of momentum for efforts to punt government funding talks beyond the midterms, House Rules Chair Virginia Foxx predicted Thursday that a Senate-approved stopgap spending measure could pass in the House.

“I think it will pass on suspension,” the North Carolina Republican told reporters as she presided over a pro forma session of the House.

She was referring to an expedited procedure typically reserved for noncontroversial bills that require a two-thirds majority vote to secure passage — a workaround for House GOP leaders who might not be able to bring the measure up under a party-line procedural rule.

Before leaving for their extended recess this past weekend, senators passed a bill with overwhelming bipartisan support that would extend current government funding levels until Dec. 11, with some exceptions. It also included a provision that would block the Trump administration from finalizing — for the length of the stopgap — a controversial plan to put political appointees in charge of approving federal grants.

In contrast, the House passed a short-term funding measure before its own summer break that would put off larger government funding decisions until Dec. 4. Democrats largely opposed that bill, angry at Republicans for shutting them out of negotiations and not including legislative language to ensure funding would not go to certain immigration enforcement activities.

Foxx’s suggestion that House Republicans could ultimately eschew their original plan for the Senate’s offering could be foreshadowing an inevitable compromise between the two chambers as members of both parties are eager to spend as much time as possible in their districts leading up to the November elections — rather than being stuck in Washington at loggerheads.

The Senate measure, which incorporated the funding increases and authorizations the Trump administration requested, also has the White House’s explicit support.

But it’s not clear whether Speaker Mike Johnson would agree to put the Senate bill on the floor, under suspension or otherwise. A Johnson spokesperson did not say Thursday whether the speaker would advance the measure.

One top House Democrat signaled she would likely help get the Senate spending bill over the finish line: Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, called the measure “a welcome improvement” from the House’s product.

Congress

Capitol agenda: ‘No tax’ fever hits Congress

Published

5 hours ago

August 13, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Special tax carve-outs for everyday Americans are suddenly all the rage in Congress.

What began with President Donald Trump’s signature tax cuts has sprung copycats, with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle proposing breaks on virtually everything — from boat loan interest to selling New Jersey swag.

“Must be an election year,” Rep. David Schweikert, a retiring tax writer.

It’s all part of lawmakers’ push to show they’re responding to voters’ affordability concerns ahead of the midterms, despite the mixed reviews for last year’s GOP tax cuts — even from Trump supporters.

The slew of targeted tax break proposals are modeled and named after some of the best known provisions of Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with titles like “No Taxes on Utility Bills” and “No Tax on Health Care.”

Still, they’ve spurred frustrations from some conservatives over clogging the tax code with smaller, specific changes, while progressives worry the breaks eat into funding dollars they’d like to see go elsewhere. And fiscal hawks have sounded off on concerns over shrinking the tax base while the U.S. has a sky-high deficit.

None of this is set to go away anytime soon, tax experts say, as provisions from the megabill are poised to expire in 2028. That leaves lawmakers with an opportunity to extend and create more special exemptions in addition to the tax breaks on tips, overtime, seniors and car-loan interest.

“These policies elicited eye rolls with Republicans while they were crafting the tax bill — these were just Trumpist favors they had to include before getting to the real tax cuts,” said Jessica Riedl, a former Republican tax aide now at Brookings Institution. “Over time, Republicans have increasingly embraced this kind of stuff. I don’t think this is a temporary trend.”

Plus, for Democrats, there’s the exemptions that possible 2028 hopefuls have been looking to enact, from Sen. Jon Ossoff’s proposal to temporarily allow farmers to shield crop payments from taxes to Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s plan to strike everyone earning less than $46,000 from paying federal income taxes.

And both parties recognize that allowing the breaks to lapse during a presidential election year could be a risky gambit.

“I don’t know what they think is going to happen,” said Bob Lord, a vice president at Patriotic Millionaires, a group of wealthy individuals who support higher taxes, who helped devise Van Hollen’s plan. “If they do away with no tax on tips, well, they can kiss the state of Nevada goodbye.”

What else we’re watching:

— FIRST IN IC: FLANAGAN TALKS SCHUMER, PANELS: Democratic Senate hopeful Peggy Flanagan — fresh off her primary victory in Minnesota Tuesday —said she’d pursue many of the same committee assignments as predecessor Sen. Tina Smith if elected. “This particular seat has a long track record of serving on the Indian Affairs Committee,” Flanagan, who would be the first Native American woman elected to the chamber, said, adding she “would look forward to serving on that committee and bringing my lived experience and work in strengthening tribal government relations to that table.” Flanagan also flagged Agriculture, Banking and Health, adding “there are a lot of priorities for Minnesotans that go right through that committee.” Flanagan also declined to back Chuck Schumer as the party’s leader should Democrats retake the chamber, saying she was “grateful” for his work but, “I think it’s time for us to have a new voice in that role.”

— REPUBLICANS TRY TO KEEP THEIR FRAUD FIGHTING DREAMS ALIVE: House Republicans are hoping Vice President JD Vance’s personal appeal to the conference to tackle alleged abuse of safety-net programs will push the issue back to the forefront of the GOP’s already-long priority list. But many are skeptical any such legislation will ultimately reach the president’s desk. Finding ways to cut government waste and fraud across Medicare, Medicaid and federal food assistance programs was a top priority for House Republicans, who set out earlier this year to pass another party-line reconciliation package centralizing the effort. Many believed the fraud issue would speak to voters’ larger concerns about affordability, since it would ostensibly involve returning lost funds to government programs.

Brian Faler, Mia McCarthy and Robert King contributed to this report.

Congress

Cory Mills hopes Trump boost will overcome Ethics headlines in Florida primary

Published

9 hours ago

August 13, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Rep. Cory Mills, under investigation by the House and shunned by some of his GOP colleagues in Congress, heads into a primary next week hoping a months-old endorsement from President Donald Trump will outweigh negative headlines and weak fundraising

Mills has remained adamant that he has done nothing wrong amid a long line of incidents — including a restraining order placed on him at the request of a former girlfriend — and has defied calls from other Republicans to step down from his central Florida congressional seat. He has compared his own legal woes to Trump’s, even as some media outlets have reported he has come under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

“I’m the only person who sits on this stage today who has been endorsed three times by President Donald J. Trump,” Mills said last week at a primary debate in New Smyrna Beach. “I’m going to continue to fight for the American people, and that’s not what the swamp wants. But I can tell you right now, I’ve never cared about what the swamp wants or what the swamp needs.”

Mills’ bid to hang onto the state’s 7th District is just the latest race in a summer replete with members’ Ethics concerns hanging over their campaigns. The House Ethics panel derailed GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards’ reelection campaign last week after recommending censure for inappropriate behavior with female staffers. And Rep. Max Miller, an Ohio Republican, is officially on the ballot this fall after pressure campaigns failed to push him out amid domestic abuse allegations that he denies.

But if Mills fends off his three Republican primary challengers, his seat will likely become the top target for Florida Democrats. He has seen his fundraising efforts stagger, and his latest federal campaign reports show that he has less than $70,000 in his campaign account.

Republicans are trying to pick up as many as four seats in the state following a mid-decade redistricting push by Gov. Ron DeSantis that reshaped districts held by Democratic incumbents. Mills’ district did not change under that new map; Trump carried it by more than 12 points in 2024, but only won it by about 5.5 points four years earlier.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has already targeted the seat and has lined up behind Bale Dalton, a military veteran who also worked as chief of staff for Bill Nelson when Nelson led NASA.

Mills, who is seeking a third term in Congress, is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee into whether he benefited from contracts from the federal government. In February, Washington police investigated whether he assaulted a former girlfriend. Lindsey Langston, a former Miss United States and Republican state committee member from north Florida, accused him of threatening to release sexually explicit videos when asked for a restraining order. There have been calls to censure or even expel Mills from other members of Congress.

Trump gave Mills his “complete and total endorsement” last February, and Mills has leaned into that endorsement in his campaign messaging to voters, including a new television ad the campaign has cut. (It’s not clear when that ad will air. Mills does not have any pending ad buys, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact.)

Trump last week and on Tuesday evening posted repeated endorsements on his Truth Social account in several other Florida contests including governor. But he did not include one for Mills.

The three GOP challengers seeking to oust Mills have contended that he has lost trust among Republican voters and other GOP elected officials.

Ryan Elijah, a former local television anchor who has led primary opponents in fundraising, has warned GOP voters that backing Mills will result in Democrats flipping the seat in November.

“We have a member of Congress who is on the verge of getting kicked out, and that’s what you need to understand,” Elijah said at last week’s debate. “We’re all conservatives here. But if you look the other way, we are going to get a huge surprise in November.”

Elijah, who waved a copy of the since-expired restraining order at Mills during last week’s debate, told Blue Light News that he got into the race because of Mills and his “reputation” that has alienated other Republicans.

“We’re not running against the president, we’re not running against the party,” he said this week.

Elijah’s bid to knock off Mills has picked up support from central Florida sheriffs as well as GOP Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Mike Haridopolos. Luna previously told POLITICO she thought Mills should have resigned from Congress.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, a law enforcement officer well-known in the region who routinely gets statewide attention, ripped into Mills this past week as a “liar” even though Florida’s 7th does not include that county. Judd was upset Mills listed him as a supporter on his website because the sheriff endorsed him in a previous run.

Others challenging Mills have leaned into other allegations against him as well. Michael Don Johnson, an Army veteran who also worked for the Pentagon and ran against Mills two years ago, has criticized Mills over his personal life as well as reports alleging inconsistencies regarding his military record. Mills has sharply denied that he has misrepresented his service in order to receive awards he didn’t deserve.

At last week’s debate, Johnson pushed back against Republicans upset with his criticisms of Mills and said they had “warped minds.”

“I’m sorry that you folks like lies and falsehoods, you need to go to talk to your preacher,” Johnson said. “I’m telling the truth, and I’ve been doing it all my life. And defending this man for all the things he’s lied about over his years in Congress is despicable. It’s disgusting.”