Congress

Capitol agenda: Johnson leans in on GOP holdouts

Published

4 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Speaker Mike Johnson’s legislative sprint hinges on a lot of Republican votes falling into place this week — starting with a tally Tuesday to open the floor for business.

The make-or-break procedural rule vote that eluded Johnson for weeks earlier this summer may again be in flux Tuesday afternoon, as GOP members harbor various frustrations about their party’s packed agenda.

If Republicans open the floor, next up Tuesday will be a vote on a stopgap funding bill through the midterms and the beginning of debate for the must-pass annual defense bill, among other business. Final votes on that package are expected Wednesday along with adoption of the GOP’s reconciliation framework and a stock trading ban for Congress.

House GOP leaders are leaning heavily on a small number of holdouts on different agenda items, and the White House is ramping up pressure across the board. OMB chief Russ Vought will make his pitch on Republicans’ $95 billion Iran war and agriculture reconciliation package Tuesday morning during the House GOP conference meeting.

The good news for Johnson: Key Republicans from opposite sides of the conference told Blue Light News they plan to support the rule Tuesday.

“I think the rule will pass pretty easily,” House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, a holdout earlier this month, said, adding he expected many other conservative hard-liners to support it.

The bad news for Johnson: At least one lawmaker — Rep. Thomas Massie — says he’ll vote ‘no’ on the rule, while Rep. Chip Roy said he’s undecided.

The budget resolution vote is another flashpoint we’ll be watching Roy, who says he’s unsure of his support due to the lack of offsets to new spending.

Meanwhile Rep. Warren Davidson says he’ll vote ‘no’ on the framework for the same reasons.

“I think you gotta find the pay-fors,” Davidson told Blue Light News.

Davidson said he’s also not swayed by GOP leaders’ argument that a post-midterm fourth reconciliation bill will target fraud to offset spending, adding they have “already used that excuse twice.”

Meanwhile, Republicans may not be able to count on widespread support from Democrats for the stopgap measure, as Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries indicated he’s opposed to the CR in a closed-door leadership meeting Monday, according to four people granted anonymity to discuss the private conversation. Senior Democrats want language to prohibit funding for immigration enforcement agencies.

And across the Capitol, senators may not be so eager to pick up the House’s continuing resolution: top appropriators are talking about developing their own version of a stopgap funding bill that would include White House anomalies.

What else we’re watching:

— DEMS LOOK FOR WAYS TO HALT RENEWED IRAN WAR: Democrats are rallying behind several efforts to kill high-profile defense legislation as a way to protest the escalating conflict in the Middle East. The flurry of action presents Democrats with a chance to score real wins against the Trump administration’s war effort, which burst back into public view over the weekend with the killing of three U.S. troops in the region. The largest showdown is set for Wednesday, when House lawmakers are expected to vote on the annual defense policy bill, which Democratic critics have said they will oppose sans oversight mechanisms for the Iran war.

— MCCORMICK EYES ENERGY GAVEL: Sen. David McCormick is in line to take the gavel of Energy and Natural Resources next Congress, a remarkable rise for the freshman who has distinguished himself as a leading booster of natural gas and U.S. artificial intelligence dominance McCormick is interested in leading Republicans on the committee, a person familiar with his plans told Blue Light News, if the spot opens as expected. The sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham has sparked a domino effect that is likely to put the Pennsylvanian in the driver’s seat for the energy role.

Katherine Tully-McManus, Jordain Carney, Leo Shane III and Josh Siegel contributed to this report.

Congress

Raskin seeks documents into Jeffrey Epstein’s foreign contacts

Published

8 minutes ago

July 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, is pushing the federal government to provide all of its records on Jeffrey Epstein’s contacts with foreign governments, pursuant to an inquiry he launched Tuesday into whether the convicted sex offender had acted as an unregistered foreign agent.

It’s perhaps a preview of House Democrats’ plans for next year if they take back the House majority in the November midterm elections. Raskin could assume the House Judiciary Committee gavel as soon as January, giving him the broad subpoena powers necessary to capitalize on an investigation.

“Jeffrey Epstein never registered as a foreign agent,” Raskin wrote in a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence. “Yet numerous recently released documents now show he acted aggressively on behalf of multiple foreign governments, including several with interests adverse to the United States, in order to influence policies of the first Trump Administration.”

Raskin has little power to pull together a full-scale investigation while his party remains in the minority.

But he could yet succeed in dragging Epstein back into the mainstream. Last year, the public backlash after the White House announced it was shelving its investigation on Epstein’s contacts threatened to engulf the administration, leading Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to successfully force a House vote that resulted in a release of the files.

The White House “absolutely screwed up the comms of the Epstein files,” Vice President JD Vance told podcaster Joe Rogan last week.

In his Tuesday letter, Raskin alleged that Epstein had offered to serve as a conduit between Saudi Arabia and members of the Trump administration, consulted with Russian officials on engaging with the president and advised former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“An unrepentant global sex trafficker who described himself as the ‘best friend’ of the President for many years interacted with foreign governments at the highest levels and offered them advice on how to deal with the President and influence his Administration,” Raskin wrote.

It’s not illegal to lobby on behalf of a foreign government, but it’s a violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act not to register as a foreign agent.

Congress

Johnson and Vought pitch House Republicans on latest reconciliation effort

Published

1 hour ago

July 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Speaker Mike Johnson and White House budget chief Russ Vought tried to rally House Republicans Tuesday morning around passing a party-line package containing the administration’s $95 billion supplemental funding request for the Iran war and farm aid — by promising members they’d get another chance to pass a more sweeping partisan policy bill after the midterms.

A group of GOP holdouts, however, has yet to fully fall in line ahead of a critical vote Wednesday on a budget resolution that would pave the way for a filibuster-skirting reconciliation bill containing the war and agriculture funding plus components of the so-called SAVE America Act.

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said the pitch “wasn’t that compelling.”

Johnson and Vought told House Republicans at the closed-door conference meeting Tuesday morning that the vote on the budget resolution Wednesday was simply a first step, according to four people inside the room.

Vought also argued the political realities in the Senate shaped the package the White House and House GOP leaders are currently pushing.

Johnson cannot lose more than a tiny handful of Republicans on the budget resolution, and he’s already lost at least one: Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) said in an interview Monday he planned to oppose the resolution and was not at all moved by the argument for a fourth reconciliation bill.

There’s also a procedural rule vote Tuesday afternoon paving the way for floor consideration not just on the budget blueprint but a stopgap government funding package, the annual defense policy bill and legislation to crack down on congressional stock trading. Republicans could vote down the rule to prevent any one of these measures from advancing.

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said he thought Vought’s pitch could have some resonance given the stakes of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

“I thought Russ did a good job laying out why this approach makes sense,” Jordan said in an interview. When you’ve got a military operation, you’ve got to replenish the bullets. And I don’t think the Democrats are going to vote for that, so I don’t know how else to do it.”

He also said he thought most fiscal hawks did understand and appreciate the argument that approving supplemental funding through reconciliation — even without offsets — will cost less than negotiating a supplemental with Democrats.

“We’re going to know here in a few hours — we’ve got a rule vote coming up,” Jordan added.

Congress

Thune announces Rotunda tribute for Lindsey Graham

Published

2 hours ago

July 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The late Sen. Lindsey Graham will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda next Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced in a statement.

Graham’s funeral, arranged by his sister, Sen. Darline Graham, will include an invite-only ceremony at the Washington National Cathedral to be attended by President Donald Trump.

Darline Graham (R-S.C.) was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster earlier this month to serve out the remainder of her brother’s term. She announced plans to run for a full six-year term in the seat on Monday.

Lindsey Graham died suddenly earlier this month from what his office later said was an “aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.” A wave of tributes — and speculation over who would run to replace the five-term senator — kicked off almost immediately.

“As we say our final goodbyes, it seems fitting for his friends and colleagues to give back to him through this special Capitol honor,” Thune (R-S.D.) said in a statement.

Darline Graham is endorsed by the president in her bid to win a full term in the Senate but will nonetheless face off against a slate of Republicans who have spent far more time in the public eye, including South Carolina GOP Reps. Russell Fry and Ralph Norman.

Lindsey Graham’s remains will be flown back to South Carolina after the National Cathedral service, with a service planned at the First Baptist Church of Columbia for the following day.

“I am grateful to all those who have come together to help honor and remember Lindsey,” Darline Graham said in a statement. “I would like to extend my sincere thanks to President Trump and his team, Washington National Cathedral, Senate leadership, First Baptist Church of Columbia and the Senate Sergeant at Arms for going above and beyond to ensure these will be honorable tributes to Lindsey.”