Congress

Capitol agenda: Mitch McConnell returns to the Senate Appropriations table to cement his legacy

Published

12 months ago

July 10, 2025

Former GOP leader Mitch McConnell is back at the Senate Appropriations table for the first time in roughly two decades Thursday as the full panel begins marking up three key spending bills.

McConnell’s already proving he’s ready to make a mark on one of his final appropriations cycles. The Kentucky Republican is behind a key provision dealing with industrial hemp — a home-state industry — in the Agriculture-FDA bill. The provision would close a regulatory loophole that has led to a growing market for intoxicating hemp products.

It’s one of many ways McConnell could cement his legacy in the appropriations process before his retirement. As chair of the Defense subcommittee, McConnell is expected to push for a strong American presence on the global stage in a possible markup later this month.

Consistent with his career-long approach, McConnell laid out his vision for American power in a budget hearing last month with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In a hearing this month with White House Budget Director Russ Vought, McConnell argued to maintain “soft power” alongside guns and bombs, arguing that targeted investments in foreign aid “prevent conflict, preserve American influence and save countless lives at the same time.”

He reaffirmed that belief on the Senate floor a few weeks ago, in a speech after the Trump administration’s strike on Iran.

“Like Ukraine, Israel needed precious time, space to maneuver, and material support to defeat a shared enemy,” McConnell said. “And yet, as in Ukraine, America’s commitment has indeed wavered. Our support has not been ironclad.”

Soon McConnell will be in position to act on his words — working in tandem with Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), who shares his desire to increase Pentagon spending.

Watch in particular what McConnell does on Ukraine. Given the sensitivities in MAGA circles, House appropriators did not include new Ukraine funding in their recently marked-up Defense bill. And McConnell could find it hard to make the case in the Senate.

But McConnell is likely to shepherd several related initiatives through, including increasing missile production to both supply Ukraine and prepare for a potential China-Taiwan war.

You can also expect the former leader to call for continued funding to arm and train the Ukrainians. It won’t be anything like the tens of billions of dollars in funding McConnell shepherded through the Senate under President Joe Biden. But even a few select provisions would be a reminder that McConnell is still a force on Capitol Hill.

What else we’re watching:

Russia sanctions bill: Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune said they’re both ready to move forward on a bipartisan bill to impose additional sanctions on Russia — but the president wants even more control in the bill. While Trump has an “openness” to the bill from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a senior administration official granted anonymity to discuss the president’s view said the legislation needs to reflect what the White House sees as the president’s supreme authority to oversee foreign policy.

Michigan primary heats up: Democrat Josh Cowen, an education policy professor at Michigan State University, has thrown his name into an already crowded primary for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District. Cowen is highlighting education and affordability issues in his campaign, citing school choice and voucher programs pushed by Michigan Republicans, including former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, as part of his inspiration to run.

Grace Yarrow, Connor O’Brien, Katherine Tully-McManus, Jordain Carney, Rachael Bade, Eli Stokols and Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.

Congress

Bill Gates denied association with Epstein’s crimes in closed-door Hill interview

Published

2 hours ago

June 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Tech mogul Bill Gates told the House Oversight Committee he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein’s prior sex crime conviction but that he did not know Epstein was continuing to engage in misconduct at the time of their acquaintance, according to a transcript of his testimony.

In his transcribed interview with the panel earlier this month as part of its ongoing Epstein investigation, Gates recounted details of his dealings with Epstein over the years — which extended from 2011, when he was first introduced to Epstein, to 2014, when he realized Epstein would not make good on his promise to steer donors towards Gates’ philanthropic work.

“I was aware that he had a criminal conviction,” Gates said, according to the transcript. “I knew that it was of a sexual nature, but, no, I don’t think I … dug into the specifics, although I probably should have.”

Gates’ decision to shrug off the conviction from 2008 underscored the extent to which many of those who chose to associate with the disgraced financier opted to ignore potential warning signs of impropriety. It was not until more than a decade after his first brush with law enforcement that Epstein was arrested on federal sex crimes charges; he died by suicide in jail in 2019 while his case was pending.

Gates’ relationship with Epstein has drawn new scrutiny since materials released by the Justice Department revealed new details about their relationship. In one draft correspondence contained in the so-called Epstein files, Epstein appears to have written and sent to himself a letter to Gates, where he alleged that Gates asked Epstein to “delete the emails regarding [his] std” and give him antibiotics to “surreptitiously give to Melinda [French Gates].”

Gates has denied that allegation and, during his interview with the Oversight Committee, Gates questioned whether Epstein was attempting to blackmail him.

“Now that I see the January release of documents, it appears that in many cases he, at least in emails to himself, was sort of rehearsing how either he or he coaching someone else might choose to blackmail me, but none of those messages were ever sent to me,” Gates said. “You know, I never paid Jeffrey Epstein anything.”

He also said that Epstein “certainly wasn’t a friend,” and insisted he never engaged in sexual conduct or received massages from individuals introduced to him by Epstein. And despite knowledge of his 2008 conviction, Gates said he was unaware at the time of their relationship that Epstein was a registered sex offender. He also said he never visited Epstein’s island.

The Oversight Committee also on Tuesday released a transcript of its June interview with Lesley Groff, one of Epstein’s former assistants who was among those named as a potential co-conspirator as part of Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement in 2007. She was never charged with any wrongdoing and, according to the transcript, recalled that law enforcement’s decision came as a surprise.

“I am not a conspirator, and I never would have agreed to this language,” she said, according to the transcript. “Their unilateral decision to label me as a potential conspirator remains my scarlet letter.”

Like others who have come before the panel, Groff claimed she was unaware of his crimes during the time of her employment and that Epstein, following his 2008 conviction, said that he was “set up.” Groff said she believed him, so she continued to work for him.

“I also saw the same VIPs continue to surround Epstein after his conviction,” she explained as a rationale for maintaining her own ties.

For instance, Groff told the Oversight Committee she “would connect phone calls” between President Donald Trump and Epstein multiple times a year.

Trump has not been charged with any wrongdoing tied to Epstein, but his relationship with the financier has raised eyebrows while fueling speculation that the administration has been working to cover up its connections — including by pushing back against making the Epstein files public last year and then slow-walking their release.

The Justice Department has defended its handling of the files’ release, and Trump has maintained he broke off his relationship with Epstein years before his death.

Congress

Senate votes to halt Iran war despite Trump’s push for peace deal

Published

5 hours ago

June 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Senate on Tuesday voted to cut off the U.S. military campaign against Iran, handing a fresh loss to President Donald Trump despite his attempts to convince lawmakers and the public that a deal to end the war is at hand.

Four Republicans broke ranks to help approve a resolution to block further military action unless it is green-lighted by Congress.

The war powers measure is largely symbolic — the resolution cleared Tuesday doesn’t go to the president to sign or veto. But the bipartisan 50-48 vote is a damaging milestone for the Trump administration: Both the Senate and House have now weighed in against the Middle East conflict that’s stretched on for more than 100 days. The same measure passed the House in early June after months of close calls.

Congress

Housing bill threatened in GOP elections-bill spat

Published

5 hours ago

June 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The long-anticipated bipartisan housing bill is under threat from a Florida Republican who threatened to “shut the floor down” if House GOP leaders move forward with passing it Tuesday.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said Republicans instead need to prioritize passage of the SAVE America Act, the GOP elections bill that has been stuck in the Senate for months. Speaker Mike Johnson has scheduled a Tuesday evening vote on the housing bill in hopes of sending it to President Donald Trump for a planned Wednesday signing at the White House.

Luna posted her threat on social media Tuesday afternoon and later specified in an interview that she would oppose procedural measures teeing up GOP-backed legislation going forward if party leaders didn’t abandon their plans to hold the housing bill vote via special fast-track procedures that would effectively sideline Republican hard-liners.

Luna cannot single-handedly block those procedural votes, but she said there is “a group” of lawmakers who would join her. She separately called on Trump to veto the housing bill in a bid to force the SAVE America Act to be added to it.

Johnson plans for now to proceed with the Tuesday evening vote on the housing bill, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. If Luna and her unnamed allies follow through with their threats, they could derail a pair of appropriations bills set for House consideration this week and potentially freeze the floor indefinitely given the GOP’s razor-thin majority.

“I have been telling them,” Luna said of her complaints to GOP leaders.