Congress
Capitol agenda: Trump fund angst keeps GOP agenda in limbo
Welcome back to the bad place.
After leaving town late last month for a one-week recess, House and Senate GOP leaders are returning to a slew of familiar problems threatening to leave their midterm-year agenda stalled in perennial limbo.
Republicans’ party-line immigration enforcement bill is stuck because of President Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and there’s a mini-rebellion brewing over an Iran war powers resolution that, if adopted, would be politically embarrassing for the president (more on that below).
That’s to say nothing of the full-time task of managing internal GOP frustrations after a trio of incumbents fell to Trump-blessed challengers in the last two weeks.
And while there’s optimism about getting a deal to reauthorize a government spy authority before it expires June 12, there’s lingering cross-chamber divisions over a bipartisan housing bill, with the Senate eyeing changes to the latest House offer.
The biggest challenge for GOP leaders: The fate of their $72 billion immigration enforcement spending package. Senate Republicans delayed passage last month as a critical mass of their members were prepared to support Senate Democrats’ amendments to narrow or nix the Justice Department’s fund, which officials have said could be used to pay out individuals who attacked the Capitol Jan. 6, 2021.
That could have threatened the entire bill, either on Capitol Hill or with Trump, who has defended the pot of money to help those “badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration.”
Instead, Senate Republicans expect the administration to unveil modifications to the fund, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss the matter — if not announce they are nixing the account altogether. If the administration can quickly resolve the situation, Senate Republicans are prepared to kick off vote-a-rama as soon as Wednesday, according to a person with knowledge of the schedule.
And while it’s not impossible that Senate Republicans could propose their own guardrails if the administration refuses to play ball, that would come with its own political complications for GOP leaders. Another possible idea under discussion, according to two people with knowledge of the talks, is removing all of the Justice Department funding from the bill.
Moreover, Friday’s court ruling to temporarily block the fund from being tapped doesn’t change the calculus within the Senate GOP Conference, according to two people granted anonymity to describe internal party dynamics.
But so far, the White House and DOJ have been largely mum. A White House official told us late last week the administration “appreciated” last month’s conversation between GOP senators and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and all the “feedback.”
“We look forward to additional conversations as needed,” the official added.
The Justice Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, is showing no signs of backing down, telling his caucus in a “Dear Colleague” letter this morning that they are launching “a coordinated effort to kill the slush fund before one cent goes out the door. And no matter what Republicans do, we will force them to vote.”
It’s also causing drama in the House, where a group of bipartisan lawmakers are vowing to “kill” the fund as others want a commitment that payouts won’t be made to people who assaulted police officers during the Capitol attack.
What else we’re watching:
— GOP HARD-LINERS WANT URGENCY ON TRANS BILLS: GOP hard-liners who promised voters they’d use their new majority in Washington to enact anti-trans legislation are increasingly frustrated their leaders don’t seem to share the same commitment. A record number of bills that would roll back access to health care, sports participation and military service for transgender individuals have been introduced over the last year and a half after Republicans spent tens of millions of dollars campaigning on the issue in 2024.
— PEACE PLAN LOOMS OVER WAR POWERS VOTES: Congress is set to weigh in on the Iran war again this week. The question is whether a developing peace plan to end the conflict will sway enough Republicans against handing Trump a political loss.
Connor O’Brien and Paul McLeary 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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