Congress

Capitol agenda: Senate Republicans get a summer hotseat

Published

1 month ago

August 19, 2026

Senate Republicans are facing unexpected waves of online vitriol after — essentially — standing in front of their empty chamber during recess and hitting the gavel.

MAGA social media circles have seized on what was once a little-noticed, low-drama procedural affair as the newest opportunity to eviscerate Republicans for what they see as being insufficiently loyal to President Donald Trump.

Some GOP senators have even told colleagues in recent weeks they don’t want to be included in the conference’s rotation for presiding over what’s known as the chamber’s pro forma sessions because it will result in being flamed on the internet, according to two people granted anonymity to disclose private conversations.

“I think people just do it to get clicks, right? And they are also misinformed,” Sen. Ron Johnson said in an interview about the online furor, adding that Republicans “broke the logjam” by confirming most of Trump’s nominees before recess.

The purpose of such sessions is to prevent any president from temporarily installing a Cabinet pick or filling other vacancies without securing Senate confirmation. A 2014 Supreme Court decision laid out restrictions on recess appointments that have limited presidents’ use of the maneuver, and the House would need to agree to terms that would allow them.

But those restrictions are lost on hard-line online activists who are now willing to publicly skewer even typical Trump allies they see as undermining the president’s ability to leapfrog the Senate’s confirmation process and make unilateral recess appointments on nominations.

The outcry also overlooks the fact that Senate Republicans have confirmed more of Trump’s civilian nominees in his second term so far as compared to this point in his first term, thanks to a rule change they made last fall allowing most executive branch picks to be confirmed as a bloc rather than individually.

Sen. Jim Justice on Monday was the latest of the 11 Republican lawmakers who will make the trek to Washington to preside over a pro forma session this summer — and he’s already being branded in corners of the internet as a “traitor” who is “BLOCKING the America First Agenda.”

He followed Sens. John Boozman and Jim Banks, who got an earful from conservatives themselves.

When Johnson presided over the chamber briefly in early July as part of Independence Day recess, he said he got flack online for it. And while he said he wasn’t bothered by the criticism, which included being called one of the “five filthy failures” who oversaw a session during the chamber’s two-week break, his Trump-supporting bona fides also didn’t spare him from the trolling.

What else we’re watching:

— PROGRESSIVES NOTCH FLORIDA WIN AS MILLS EXITS: Democratic Socialist member and state Rep. Angie Nixon pulled off a stunning upset for progressives in the Democratic Florida Senate primaries last night, defeating her better-funded opponent, retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman. It marks one of the progressive movement’s biggest breakthroughs yet this primary season, in part because other successes have been in blue and purple states. In GOP upsets: scandal-plagued Rep. Cory Mills lost his four-way primary battle for Florida’s 7th District to Ryan Elijah, a former local television news reporte.

— MILLER WARNS OF BLEEDING UNION SUPPORT: GOP leaders have not stood in the way of Rep. Max Miller’s reelection bid amid allegations of domestic abuse against his ex-wife and young child. But the Ohio lawmaker is fretting the loss of support from a key constituency — unions — could damage his reelection prospects. Miller wrote in a July 8 court filing that multiple unions are turning their backs on him as a result of allegations raised by his ex-wife Emily Moreno. “Based on those organizations’ typical levels of support, I estimate the withdrawn organizational support at approximately $30,000, in addition to lost personal contributions from individual donors who have told me or my campaign that they will not contribute because of these allegations,” Miller wrote.

Jordain Carney, Kimberly Leonard, Gary Fineout and Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.

Congress

Mike Rogers says Iran war needs to “end quickly” amid rising prices

Published

21 minutes ago

September 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers said Monday that the war with Iran “needs to end” to bring prices down, making him the second Republican to break with the White House on the issue that day.

“The war with Iran needs to end, and end quickly,” Rogers said in a video published Monday to social media.

“Michigan families can’t afford to wait,” he added. “Here’s what we can do now: place a temporary embargo on Diesel exports. American energy should provide relief to American families first.”

Earlier Monday, Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican Senate candidate in Iowa, expressed similar frustrations about the war’s impact on Iowans’ pocketbooks. Both Rogers and Hinson called for a suspension of the state and federal gas tax in their statements.

Ahead of the midterms, GOP candidates have expressed concern about the war in the Middle East, saying it has made it difficult for them to run on affordability. The war with Iran, which began in February, has led to marked increases in gas and diesel prices. On Monday, regular gas was just over $4.45 per gallon, according to AAA; diesel prices hit a record of $6.50 per gallon.

Rogers, a former representative, is facing Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the race for a Senate seat in battleground Michigan.

Congress

Collins slams Trump plan to ‘politicize’ grants as defying Congress

Published

3 hours ago

September 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins warned Monday that President Donald Trump would be defying Congress if he moves forward with empowering top political appointees to decide who gets grant funding for health research.

“Any attempt to politicize grantmaking … is contrary to congressional intent,” the Maine Republican said in a statement.

Trump wants to issue an executive order to seat White House budget director Russ Vought and National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya on a board that would decide which grants the NIH should fund, according to two administration officials granted anonymity to describe a private meeting in the Oval Office last Friday.

Following reports of that meeting, Collins noted Monday that the stopgap funding patch Congress cleared this summer bars the White House from finalizing a separate proposed rule to put political appointees in charge of approving federal grants, or “any substantially similar” plan.

The Office of Management and Budget “should not be involved in agency decisions on the awards of grants,” Collins said, adding that “imposing a political review … undermines the long-standing principle that the government funds awards based on scientific need and merit, rather than political ideology.”

Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the House’s top Democratic appropriator, called the White House’s latest idea an attempt to “take control over federal funding, so they can use it to punish their perceived enemies and reward their friends.”

Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the Senate’s top Democratic appropriator, warned that the move would mean “a single political appointee could kill a cancer study or an Alzheimer’s trial with no scientific reason at all.”

A spokesperson for House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole did not return a request for comment regarding the Oklahoma Republican’s position.

Congress

Hinson calls for end to Iran war amid soaring diesel costs

Published

5 hours ago

September 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) on Monday expressed frustration over the ongoing war in Iran and its impact on Iowans’ pocketbooks, publicly distancing herself from President Donald Trump ahead of November’s rapidly approaching midterm elections.

“Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran,” Hinson said in a post to social media on Monday. “We need to use every option at our disposal to provide some relief from high prices.”

It’s the second time Hinson, the GOP candidate in Iowa’s critical Senate race and a loyal ally of Trump’s, has expressed concerns over the war. In June, Blue Light News obtained audio of Hinson warning the war could become a “political liability” if it continued much longer. Hinson did not mention Trump by name in her Monday statement.

Hinson called for suspending the gas tax, pausing diesel exports and creating a diesel relief program to help farmers and truckers “being crushed by the high costs,” among several other possible solutions.

“These actions to lower costs are needed ASAP, and the war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end,” she added.

Gas and diesel prices have soared over the duration of the war with Iran, which began in February. Regular gas was just over $4.45 per gallon on Monday, according to AAA, and diesel prices hit a record high of $6.50 per gallon.

Trump and members of his administration have dismissed concerns over the costs.

“You have a little higher. It’s a very inexpensive price to pay for what we’ve done,” Trump said during a campaign stop in North Carolina last week. “Remember that. It’s a little more. Frankly, even if it was a lot more.”

Hinston on Monday said she will “work with anyone who is ready to tackle this challenge immediately.”