Congress

Capitol agenda: House floor freezes over

Published

4 months ago

July 1, 2026

Last July 4 recess, House Republicans were triumphantly celebrating the massive victory of clearing the party’s tax and spending bill.

Fast forward a year and Speaker Mike Johnson can’t even get enough votes to open his chamber’s floor for debate.

“Who needs Democrats when you have your own party derailing the Trump agenda,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said Tuesday.

A rebellion by a small band of conservatives now jeopardizes members’ top priorities as the legislative calendar ahead of the midterms rapidly shrinks. Progress on the annual Pentagon policy bill, fiscal 2027 government funding bills, Iran war funding measure, third party-line reconciliation bill and more is frozen in the party’s paralysis.

Frustration at the roughly dozen Republicans who refused to support a procedural vote to unlock floor business exploded Tuesday afternoon as members watched their legislation become collateral damage. The hard-liners want Johnson to do more to force the Senate to pass an election security bill.

“We’ve got knuckleheads taking down the rules, that’s frustrating,” Rep. John Rutherford said in an interview. “They think they’re putting some kind of pressure on the Senate, but you don’t put pressure on the Senate by shutting down the House floor.”

Anger from the hard-liners had been simmering for days even as Johnson tried to appease the group by effectively attaching the SAVE America Act to the must-pass defense policy bill.

Several hard-liners who voted against the procedural rule, like Reps. Chip Roy and Andy Harris, also cited what they said was a broken promise from Johnson to hold a vote on an immigration bill before the July 4 recess, among other concerns.

Now lawmakers will return July 13 to a chaotic mess of a to-do list.

They’ll need to use valuable floor time to pass the defense policy bill, including votes on more than 300 amendments. A stack of fiscal 2027 spending bills GOP appropriators wanted to pass before recess awaits them, as does an $88 billion emergency funding request from Trump for the Iran war and farm aid.

And hanging from a thread: the GOP’s hope to clear another party-line bill to help members campaign before the midterms.

A meeting initially set for today between House Budget Republicans and GOP leaders to discuss the next steps on a third reconciliation bill was canceled in light of the schedule change.

Another casualty of the frozen floor: Republicans left town unable to vote on a ceremonial resolution commemorating the one-year anniversary of the tax-cut legislation that remains the GOP’s major legislative victory in Trump’s second term.

To pull off that final vote, Johnson had to muscle near complete unity from his members and plow through months of lawmaker angst and discord to meet Trump’s self-imposed deadline of Independence Day.

Johnson tried to project optimism amid his conference’s meltdown Tuesday.

“We don’t have time to waste because we’re coming up on an election and the end of Congress,” Johnson told reporters. “It’s frustrating, but we’ll get everybody together and then do it again. This is life in a small majority.”

With just eight legislative days on the calendar between now and Congress’ August recess, and 16 days more between then and the November elections, Johnson’s optimism faces the brutal reality of a short timeline.

What else we’re watching:

— BENNET, DEGETTE LOSE PRIMARIES: Stunning losses for two of Colorado’s most prominent Democrats Tuesday were the latest sign of boiling anti-establishment rage among the electorate. Sen. Michael Bennet will return to the Senate to finish out the last two years of his term after losing the Democratic primary for Colorado governor. And in the 1st District, Democratic socialist Melat Kiros defeated 15-term Rep. Diana DeGette.

— NYC SOCIALIST SWEEP COMPLICATES REDISTRICTING PLAN: It’s no secret Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is spearheading a mid-decade redistricting drive to win control of the House. But the results of last week’s primaries in New York City add a new wrinkle to that project: How will he handle foes from within his own party?

William Steakin and Joe Anuta contributed to this report.

Congress

NRSC takes on $20M in loans

Published

1 hour ago

October 20, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Republicans’ campaign arm took out $20 million in loans in September, a significant cash infusion as the party looks to fight an increasingly challenging map ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee incurred a $17 million loan on Sep. 1 and another $3 million on Sep. 22, according to a filing submitted to the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday.

The need for cash comes after months of the NRSC and other GOP groups boasting about their large cash advantage over Democrats, as the party floods the airwaves in an effort to win core battlegrounds in an unfavorable environment.

The organization framed the loan as part of continuing that cash advantage.

“The NRSC has raised record-breaking resources, consistently maintained one of the lowest burn rates across all committees, and furthered the efficacy of every dollar by immediately acting on the fall of unlimited coordinated spending with our candidates,” NRSC communications director Joanna Rodriguez said in a statement. “We’re going to throw everything we can at protecting our Republican Senate Majority, and we’re going to win.”

It’s not unusual for campaign arms to take out loans late in an election cycle. In 2024, the NRSC took out $17 million in loans, and it borrowed $20 million during the 2022 cycle as well, according to FEC reports.

The NRSC has raised $228 million this cycle compared to $188 million for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, but Democratic Senate candidates have far outraised Republican ones.

The NRSC had $28 million in the bank, including the loan, at the end of September after raising $31 million and spending $41 million in the month, although a slight majority of the funds raised — $18 million — came via transfers from the Republican National Committee.

The DSCC, by comparison, ended September with just under $25 million in the bank. It had not taken out any loans this cycle as of that point.

Unlike past cycles, political parties can now more freely pay for advertising in coordination with candidates — and at a much cheaper rate. That will allow the party to stretch the $20 million further than in past election cycles.

In September, the NRSC put just under $34 million into coordinated spending, all of it on advertising, according to the Tuesday FEC filing.

Congress

Senate Democrats start spending in Mississippi

Published

6 hours ago

October 20, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Democrats’ money machine is on its way to Mississippi.

Senate Majority PAC is putting an initial $1.2 million on television statewide through Election Day to boost Scott Colom, the group announced Tuesday — another plunge into deep-red territory for Democrats as they take advantage of a dismal environment for Republicans.

Colom, a local prosecutor, has gained on GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in recent public polling, and has started to gain the attention of national Democrats. Some Senators, including Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock and Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, have pushed for more party investment in the race, which they believe in the right environment could flip a traditionally red seat.

But until now, Democrats said their resources were stretched too thin across a widening map that would allow them to play in the Magnolia State.

SMP is launching its first ad Wednesday attacking Hyde-Smith as a “do-nothing” senator and is planning a digital program as well. Lauren French, a spokesperson for SMP, said in a statement that “it is clear Colom is running a competitive race that has put Hyde-Smith on her heels.”

Hyde-Smith’s campaign downplayed the race’s competitiveness while tying Colom to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“It took Chuck Schumer and his Super PACs thirteen months to run a single ad for Scott Colom,” Hyde-Smith campaign spokesperson Nathan Calvert said in a statement. “Chuck knows what Mississippians know, Scott Colom is too liberal, supports transgender surgeries for children, men in women’s restrooms and locker rooms, open borders, and higher taxes. Team Cindy is confident that voters will reject this radical agenda at the ballot box on November 3rd.”

Colom’s campaign didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

Other national Democrats have started paying attention to the race too, with several set to descend on Mississippi ahead of Election Day. Former Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign alongside Colom later this week, and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg will hit the trail next week.

The state has the highest proportion of Black people in the nation, giving Democrats a high base of support in most elections — and has long left Democrats dreaming they could win statewide, having invested some resources in recent Senate and governor’s races over the past decade. Hyde-Smith did not top 55% of the vote in either of her previous elections, and Colom has seized on an interview clip when she was asked about the high price of beef: “You know, you have so many proteins to choose from.”.

Still, despite the overall positive environment for the party, flipping the seat remains a steep uphill battle. Republicans control all levers of state government, and Trump handily won by 24 points in 2024. The last time Mississippians elected a Democrat statewide was 2015, and the last time the state sent a Democrat to the Senate was 1982.

SMP’s investment in Mississippi follows multimillion-dollar dives into Kansas and Texas that collectively show how far the Senate map has shifted onto red turf in the midterm’s closing weeks. The Chuck Schumer-aligned group has also cut back on spending on television in North Carolina and Georgia in recent weeks amid increasingly bullish outlooks for Democrats Roy Cooper and Sen. Jon Ossoff, respectively.

Congress

DCCC launches ads against Mike Turner in red Ohio district

Published

15 hours ago

October 20, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Democrats’ campaign arm is launching its first ad buy against seven-term GOP Rep. Mike Turner in his western Ohio district as they seek to turn up the pressure on Republicans in once-safe red seats.

The DCCC is dropping separate six-figure buys on two coordinated television ads boosting challenger Kristina Knickerbocker, spokesperson Riya Vashi said — a remarkable investment considering Turner won in 2024 by over 18 percentage points, overperforming President Donald Trump.

Ohio adopted a new redistricted congressional map last year that was expected to favor Republicans. Turner’s 10th District voted for Trump by 6 points in 2024; under the new lines it would have been closer to 8 points.

The first ad airing this week opens with a woman saying, “It’s time we had someone in Congress who actually stands up for us” as Knickerbocker jogs through a neighborhood.

Democrats are eyeing Turner’s Dayton-area seat as a reach opportunity. A new internal DCCC poll of 535 likely general election voters reviewed by Blue Light News shows Knickerbocker running three percentage points ahead of Turner. Polling from this summer showed Turner leading the race.

Another Democratic group, House Majority PAC, has already poured more than a million dollars into the race against Turner and has reservations planned through Nov. 3. Knickerbocker is not on the DCCC’s “Red to Blue” roster of candidates who get the bulk of its resources.

“Alarm bells should be ringing for Mike Turner,” Vashi said in a statement. “Kristina Knickerbocker has the momentum in this race, and the DCCC will make sure every voter in this district knows exactly how Turner has betrayed them.”

But the NRCC has been spending in the district for several weeks to boost Turner. House Republican campaign operatives are so far dismissing efforts to flip the seat.

NRCC spokesperson Zach Bannon called Turner “a life-long Ohioan who has a record of cutting taxes, lowering costs, and making Ohio streets safer.”

“While Congressman Turner delivers commonsense conservative wins, out of touch Democrat Kristina Knickerbocker supports a radical far-left agenda,” Bannon said. “This November, Ohioans will reject liberal Knickerbocker and send Congressman Mike Turner back to Congress.”