Congress
Capitol agenda: Thune dishes on his 2026 midterms strategy
John Thune’s approach to the midterms is a shaping up to be a mix of Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell.
In an interview previewing his 2026 strategy, the South Dakota Republican told Blue Light News that he’s already “coordinating closely” with Trump, including giving recommendations on potential candidates.
The majority leader’s goal is to make sure that the Senate GOP campaign wing is “rolling in the same direction” as Trump and Trump’s political arm.
But Thune said he’s willing to intervene in contested GOP primaries where he thinks a candidate would be doomed in the general election – an old McConnell tactic that sometimes annoyed others in the party.
“We’re all about preserving and protecting and expanding our majority,” Thune said. “So we want the best candidates on the field.”
Thune has three states so far where GOP senators are retiring: Alabama, Kentucky and North Carolina. Each is likely to have a competitive primary that pits factions of the party against each other.
In North Carolina, Thune said in Wednesday’s interview that he had spoken with Lara Trump about the seat being vacated by GOP Sen. Thom Tillis. Thune said the president’s daughter-in-law “would be great” before dropping the caveat, “if she were to decide to do it.” Thune hinted we could hear more soon. Four GOP senators granted anonymity to speak candidly said Wednesday evening they didn’t expect her to jump in. On Thursday, Blue Light News broke the news that Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley was entering the race and that Lara Trump had opted out.
Thune’s potential primary problems aren’t limited to seats where Republicans are retiring. They’re facing a likely jam-packed primary field in Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp passed on challenging Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, whose own party is bullish about keeping his seat. Thune said he believes the state is a “real pick-up opportunity” but that Republicans “need a good candidate.”
Thune also has work to do in Iowa, with some of his members concerned that GOP Sen. Joni Ernst might retire. Thune believes she’ll run, and in the meantime has “encouraged her to, and told her we’ll do everything we can to help her” if she does.
Then there’s Texas. Thune said it “remains to be seen” if Trump will get behind Sen. John Cornyn, who is facing off against MAGA favorite Ken Paxton. Thune said Trump “wants to see how the race plays out.”
The majority leader said he believes Cornyn would be “by far the best general election candidate.”
Asked about Paxton’s recently-announced divorce – with his wife citing “biblical” reasons for the breakup – Thune said voters will realize “there’s a real contrast between these candidates, both in terms of experience and accomplishment, but also I think that those character issues are always a factor.”
That’s not all Thune told us. He made news on Mike Johnson and Jeffrey Epstein, his CR strategy and more that Blue Light News Pro readers got in an exclusive Q&A.
What else we’re watching:
— About that shutdown deadline: Thune said Congress will need to pass a short-term funding bill to prevent a shutdown in October. His plan is to get signed into law as many of the 12 appropriations bills as possible, then use the patch to fund the rest of the government.
— Epstein issue poised to resurface: Speaker Mike Johnson has been putting out fires in his conference related to the Jeffrey Epstein files and sent the House home early for recess. Some of his members have warned that they’ll try to force votes upon their return if the administration doesn’t deliver more documents.
— Cooper watch: Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to announce a campaign for Senate as soon as Monday, according to two people familiar with his decision. The announcement would be enthusiastically welcomed by state and national Democrats as North Carolina represents one of the few offensive opportunities for the party.
Meredith Lee Hill and Elena Schneider contributed to this report.
Congress
Trump apparently shares Tom Cotton’s phone number in push to make Daylight Saving Time permanent
President Donald Trump appeared to share Sen. Tom Cotton’s phone number in a Saturday morning social media post imploring the Arkansas Republican to get behind a bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.
“Almost everybody wants “The Sunshine Protection Act” to pass, except for Tom Cotton,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “To the Great People of Arkansas, please let your Senator know it would be a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate, and for America, itself.”
The president has spent months personally pushing Senate Republicans to end the practice that sees Americans change their clocks twice a year, cementing more sunlight hours in the evening for all twelve months of the calendar. Cotton, whom Trump called “a friend of mine” in the Saturday post, has long argued that making daylight saving time permanent would leave children, farmers and other early risers in the dark for hours on winter mornings.
One of Trump’s key selling points on Saturday: the PGA tour.
“The PGA TOUR, as an example, needs more Daylight in the afternoon in order to finish their Tournaments,” he said, attaching a letter from PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp endorsing the bill. ”Likewise, regular Golfers, Tennis Players, Hunters and, perhaps most importantly, Farmers who want more Daylight to play or work.
A Blue Light News call to the cellphone number went to voicemail. A spokesperson for Cotton did not respond to a request for comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The current version of the bill was introduced in the House in January 2025 by Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), with Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) leading the Senate version. The legislation would make daylight saving time permanent across most of the country, ending the twice-yearly clock changes. The legislation has been stalled in the Senate since July.
The president encouraged supporters of the bill, dubbed the “The Sunshine Protection Act,” to call Cotton to “let your Senator know it would be a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate, and for America, itself.”
During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, he publicly gave out the personal cellphone number of then-rival Sen. Lindsey Graham after the South Carolina Republican criticized him. Trump, who came to count on Graham as a reliable Senate ally after he won the presidency, revisited the moment during Graham’s funeral in July, acknowledging that sharing the number was something he “shouldn’t have done.”
Kelsey Brugger contributed to this report.
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.
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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