Congress
Capitol agenda: Spending heats up, Hegseth up in the Senate, House GOP retreat
Democrats are widely opposed to pairing the debt limit and wildfire aid — two key parts of a spending proposal GOP leaders are circling behind closed doors. But unless Democrats are willing to flirt with a government shutdown or a potential debt default, they’re likely stuck with the deal, or one similar to it.
One House Democrat says his party isn’t willing to make those threats.
“The one thing that has united Democrats, in my entire career here, is a commitment to do what’s necessary to govern, to keep the government open and to work to improve the lives of the people we all represent, whether that’s lowering costs or helping them in a time of crisis,” said Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois, chair of the centrist New Democrat Coalition. “So that’s what we’re always going to do.”
And in more than a dozen interviews with House Democrats, none were willing to suggest that their party would allow a government shutdown or debt default if Republicans don’t play ball on spending negotiations before a mid-March deadline. House Democratic leaders have called themselves the “adults in the room” as the GOP majority has struggled with must-pass legislation.
As Blue Light News scooped this week, House and Senate Republicans are weighing a government funding pitch to Democrats that would boost border security, lift the debt limit and provide California wildfire aid. Democratic leaders haven’t been presented with a deal yet, but they’re sounding defiant — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reiterated Thursday that trading disaster aid for raising the debt ceiling was a “nonstarter.”
Here’s what else we’re watching:
- Fun Friday for the Senate: The Senate will vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as secretary of Defense and end debate on confirming Kristi Noem as secretary of Homeland Security around 9 p.m. The Senate is set to work through the weekend on confirming nominees, including Noem. Thune has also moved to end debate on Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary and Sean Duffy for Transportation secretary.
- GOP heads to Doral: Speaker Mike Johnson is gearing up for next week’s GOP retreat, where he’s aiming to finalize a “blueprint” on House Republicans’ budget reconciliation plans. That’s a lofty goal — Republicans have been arguing over this for weeks, and several centrists spent a Thursday meeting with GOP leaders shooting down proposals for ways to pay for the bill, including cuts to Obamacare and social safety net programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
- Other nom news: Two of Trump’s most controversial nominees are slated for confirmation hearings on Jan. 30. FBI director pick Kash Patel will head before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s choice for national intelligence director, will go before Senate Intelligence.
Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley rescheduled a planned vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general late Friday in a preemptive move as negotiations between the Trump administration and GOP holdouts continue.
The vote, now set for Tuesday after a scheduled Thursday vote was postponed, isn’t an indication that a deal allowing for Blanche’s confirmation is near, so much as it is a nod to Judiciary Committee rules that require three days of notice for a panel meeting.
There is no sign that President Donald Trump is about to acquiesce to the unflinching demands of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who wants a controversial settlement agreement between Trump and the IRS substantially pared back.
Cornyn, who lost his primary to a Trump-endorsed candidate, wants the Justice Department to nullify a $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and limit the scope of a tax audit immunity component of the pact.
Trump told reporters earlier Friday the fund is “dead” but added “I wish it weren’t.”
“I’d like to see them compensated,” he added, referring to people he considers victims of government abuse, including participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
To advance Tuesday, Blanche needs to pick up Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), another senator on the panel with similar concerns. He can’t lose any GOP votes if he wants to be reported favorably out of the Judiciary Committee.
“Chairman Grassley wants Todd Blanche’s nomination to be successful,” said a Judiciary Committee spokesperson, who declined to be named. “Noticing the markup gives more time for the White House to secure the votes for the President’s nominee. Grassley would like to see Blanche confirmed before the August recess as he has an excellent record restoring law and order and keeping Americans safe.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is zeroing in on one of House Republicans’ biggest contests — a purple district in Nebraska — when he starts his recess campaign sprint.
Scalise will travel to Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District in the Omaha area for an event with Republican Brinker Harding in the coming days, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter granted anonymity to share plans not yet made public. Republicans are digging in to defend the seat, which Kamala Harris won in the 2024 presidential race and is among Democrats’ best pick up opportunities this fall as they seek to flip the House.
Harding is running against Democratic consultant Denise Powell to replace retiring GOP Rep. Don Bacon. Bacon, a moderate-leaning Republican, flipped the Omaha district red in 2016.
After Nebraska, Scalise is planning to travel across the country throughout August, including to defend GOP incumbents Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ and Zach Nunn’s key battleground seats in Iowa’s 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts and Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District.
He’ll boost candidates working to flip blue districts like Laurie Buckhout in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, Derek Merrin in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District and Mike LiPetri in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
Scalise also plans to travel to Michigan, Colorado, South Carolina and Texas for campaign events over the August recess.
President Donald Trump goaded John Cornyn on social media Friday morning, accusing the Texas senator of withholding his vote on Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination in retaliation for Trump’s central role in his political demise.
Cornyn, who lost his May primary to Texas’ scandal-ridden attorney general, the Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton, has threatened to block Blanche’s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee until the White House promises to permanently shelve its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” in writing — something Trump appears unwilling to do.
“John Cornyn never had a problem with the so called “Fund,” which will not benefit me, but rather the great American Patriots who were hunted down like dogs and whose lives were unfairly and illegally destroyed by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, until after I decided to Endorse and Support his Republican Primary opponent in Texas, who easily won the Nomination for the United States Senate,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Several Republicans bristled at the fund, which could have been deployed to compensate Americans who faced charges after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and which gives the president and his family audit immunity over taxes. At his July confirmation hearing, Blanche said that the fund, part of a settlement the president reached with the IRS, was defunct. But the administration has been “reluctant to change” the text of the settlement, Cornyn told reporters Thursday.
Trump signaled his continued support for the Jan 6 rioters on Friday.
“I will always feel that these victims of government abuse should be paid back for what they were forced to endure, their lives have been ruined!” he wrote. “Millions of people agree with me, as was proven in my landslide Presidential win, where this was a major subject of debate, and so did John Cornyn, until he lost his Election to an opponent that I Endorsed.”
On Thursday, the president suggested that he could punt a Senate vote on Blanche until after Cornyn — and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — leaves the chamber at the end of the year. Cornyn, however, suggested on social media that there are other Republican senators with concerns about the fund.
“After the midterms, who knows who’s going to be the next United States senator from North Carolina or Texas?” Cornyn told reporters.
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