Congress

Capitol agenda: What you missed in the overnight vote-a-rama

Published

2 years ago

February 21, 2025

Senate Republicans just approved their budget resolution after a more than 10-hour vote-a-rama. For now, it’s the GOP’s “Plan B,” as Trump’s preferred budget may not have the support to move ahead next week in the House.

Senators slogged through 25 roll-call votes on amendments as Democrats tried to squeeze the opposing party and lay the groundwork for 2026 attack ads.

Some Republicans grumbled about having to go through the exercise. Sen. Josh Hawley told reporters he spoke to Trump on Thursday evening, relaying that while the president did give a “little nod” towards the Senate budget in a Truth Social post, “He made clear to me … he wants one big, beautiful bill. He said that two or three times on the phone.”

Senators have insisted their resolution is just a back-up plan if Speaker Mike Johnson can’t get his one-bill version approved in the House. Still, Hawley wasn’t convinced — and neither, apparently, is Trump. Asked Thursday night why the Senate was still moving ahead on a strategy Trump doesn’t support, Hawley replied: “Great question. That’s sort of what he said to me.”

Four Republican senators sided several times with Democrats on amendment votes: Hawley and Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan. Hawley ended up voting for the budget resolution, making Sen. Rand Paul the only GOP holdout, along with all Democrats.

Some amendment fights you missed overnight:

The Senate voted 49-51 to reject an amendment from Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth that would protect the right to fertility care and require insurers to cover in vitro fertilization. Duckworth called a recent IVF executive order from Trump “toothless, overly vague.” GOP Sen. Katie Britt called the amendment “nothing more than a Trojan horse” proposal that could allow for human cloning and “gene-edited designer babies.”
Rand offered an amendment to add $1.5 trillion in spending cuts under the Senate plan, to mirror the slashing required under the House Republican budget. Senate Republicans were mostly a no, tanking the amendment 24-76.
One of the only amendments adopted was a largely symbolic change offered by Sullivan to protect Medicare and Medicaid, though some Democrats argued that it would effectively raise the age of Medicare eligibility and cut benefits.

The battle is just getting started. The House and Senate need to adopt identical budget resolutions to move onto the next step: committees getting to work on recommendations for additional spending and funding cuts. And the House intends to take up a vastly different blueprint next week that would pave the way for one mammoth package on border, energy and tax policies rather than splitting off taxes into separate legislation.
Johnson is bullish he’ll find the support for his budget resolution next week, even as some of his members face constituent anger back in their districts over potential cuts. We’ll see if he’s able to muscle it through his narrow majority — and if senators will agree to throw out their budget if he does.

What else we’re watching:

DOGE flak: A few Republicans are starting to take their concerns public. Ohio Rep. Troy Balderson lamented to a business group in his district that Trump’s executive orders are “getting out of control” and eroding Congress’ power (he later posted on X that he fully supports Trump’s agenda and wants Congress to make his executive actions permanent). Meanwhile, Georgia Rep. Rich McCormick was met with anger over DOGE’s cuts in a town hall, as well as possible cuts to Social Security and Medicaid. Reps. Cliff Bentz and Stephanie Bice also appeared to take some heat.
Cue the stopgap: The chance that negotiators reach a funding deal before the March 14 shutdown deadline is diminishing. Appropriations Chair Susan Collins said negotiators “appear to be at an impasse,” while top Democratic appropriator Patty Murray said even if they do get a deal on toplines soon, they may need more time to assemble the 12 funding bills.
Donalds for governor: Rep. Byron Donalds is signaling he might run for Florida governor in 2026, after Trump said in a Truth Social post that the congressman would have his “total endorsement.” Donalds teased there was an “announcement coming soon.”

Congress

Chris Murphy plans midterm travel blitz, fundraising for Nixon in Florida

Published

3 hours ago

October 9, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Chris Murphy wants Democrats to go big for Angie Nixon in Florida’s Senate race — and he’s pushing to raise some “serious money” to help.

“I do believe that we’d make a big mistake if we slept on Florida,” the Connecticut Democrat told Blue Light News on Friday. “I know it feels like a longer shot, but I just think this year is looking exceptional.”

Murphy plans to hit the trail with Nixon as part of a campaign swing for Senate candidates over the next three weeks that will take him through North Carolina and Florida, as well as events with Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota and Chris Pappas in New Hampshire. Murphy will serve as a surrogate for El-Sayed in the spin room at his next debate, and said he’s “just a big believer” in the Michigan Senate nominee.

Murphy’s bullishness about a blue wave comes as Senate Democrats are pushing the boundaries of a midterm battle map that is shifting further into red territory. The Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC has dropped roughly $5 million apiece into Texas and Kansas over recent days, and the minority leader has included Kansas and Mississippi in his pitches to donors.

“If I were in charge, I would definitely put some resources in Florida,” Murphy said. “When you have an exciting candidate like this, it’s a good long-term investment” in growing Democrats’ activist base.

Still, Murphy stressed he’s “not making any formal recommendations” on where Schumer or top Democratic campaign groups should move their money.

“They’ve got so many mouths to feed,” Murphy said. “That’s why I’m going to try to step up and do some work on my own.”

Murphy, who is considered a potential 2028 presidential contender, has spread roughly $2.5 million across candidates, campaign arms and other organizations this cycle. That includes transferring more than $500,000 to Democrats’ three top campaign arms and 25 state parties.

Prominent Democrats have been ramping up their attention on Florida. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has funneled $250,000 toward Nixon’s campaign, along with other resources. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) also told Blue Light News he hopes to campaign with Nixon.

But Democrats across suddenly competitive red states are clamoring for more cash and Florida is an expensive state, complicating the chances of a significant investment from national groups.

Nixon also faces an uphill battle against GOP Sen. Ashley Moody in the Sunshine State. A progressive state lawmaker, Nixon aligned herself with the Democratic Socialists of America over the summer in a state where many voters, especially those with ties to Cuba, reject such an ideology. Also, Republicans in Florida have a 1.5 million voter registration advantage over Democrats.

Congress

Democrats drop $5M into Kansas Senate race

Published

7 hours ago

October 9, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Democrats’ top super PAC is pushing into Kansas.

The Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC is launching a $5 million statewide television ad blitz starting Saturday through Election Day — the latest sign that Democrats believe the Senate map is shifting onto red turf.

SMP had signaled in recent days it could get involved in the race, telling Blue Light News late last month it was “actively thinking” about whether to wade into the state where Democrats haven’t won a Senate seat in nearly a century but where Adam Hamilton narrowly leads GOP Sen. Roger Marshall in recent polls. Internal SMP polling that found an increasingly competitive race factored into the group’s decision to spend. It will also run digital ads.

“The gap is closing in Kansas,” SMP spokesperson Lauren French said in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring families understand Marshall’s real record of making health care and basic goods more expensive for working Kansans.”

Republicans are scrambling to shore up Marshall. Senate Leadership Fund, a top GOP super PAC aligned with Republican leadership, has booked over $10 million in ads through Election Day in the state, per ad tracking firm AdImpact.

SMP’s first ad attacks Marshall for joining Senate Republicans in voting to table a Democratic-led amendment last year to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. The Senate later approved legislation to release the files by unanimous consent. It’s the latest in a slate of ads from Democrats hitting their Republican rivals over the late, disgraced financier and convicted sex offender. Marshall’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Senate Democrats’ plunge into the state comes as the midterm battle map is undergoing a major realignment. Georgia and North Carolina — primed to be two of the cycle’s premiere battlegrounds — are tilting left to the point where national Republicans are retracting spending in both states and Democrats are starting to follow suit, freeing funds on both sides to shift elsewhere.

Republicans are racing to reinforce incumbents across what was once safer red turf. SLF has also pledged $5 million to bolster Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina.

Democrats, meanwhile, are starting to spend more in red states. SMP has dropped over $2 million on digital ads in Texas. Schumer, the Senate minority leader, has included Kansas and Mississippi in his pitches to donors.

Congress

House Democratic campaign arm says it needs $17 million, and fast

Published

7 hours ago

October 9, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is begging for resources, and setting a hard deadline for donors to give $17 million in order to compete in a handful of districts that Republicans carried easily in 2024.

DCCC Executive Director Julie Merz said the committee needs the cash influx by Oct. 22 in order to “to take advantage of the opportunities we have” outside of the core battlefield, according to a memo shared with donors on Friday and obtained by POLITICO.

If they don’t pony up, Merz warns, the party “could be leaving winnable races on the table.”

Democrats have been clear that they have a fundraising disadvantage this cycle, but they have so far been reluctant to place a specific dollar amount on their needs, making the DCCC’s memo Friday a particularly surprising outlier.

“Here’s the tough reality though: the Republican ecosystem has amassed a massive war chest that is significantly greater than ours and is spending it,” Merz says in the memo after arguing that the members of the committee “remain confident that we will win back the majority in 25 days.”

Specifically, Merz dedicates significant portions of the memo to four districts where the committee is desperate for more money in order to compete — all of which President Donald Trump won by double-digit margins in 2024:

— Florida’s 27th District (Trump +14.6)

— Nevada’s 2nd District (Trump +13.9)

— South Carolina’s 1st District (Trump +13)

— New York’s 21st District (Trump +20.7)

The fundraising disadvantage has created headaches for both House and Senate Democrats over where, exactly, to deploy the resources they do have.

The committee tells donors that their internal polling shows all of those races within reach, but that Republicans’ big cash advantages — especially in the Trump-aligned super PAC MAGA Inc. — will make it harder to win those and other reach seats.

Merz also name drops a handful of other deep-red districts that are “worthy of additional investment in this environment,” including seats held by GOP Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.) and Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the chair of the Republican National Congressional Committee.

The NRCC was quick to mock the DCCC’s memo.

“No amount of money fixes candidates voters don’t want. These seats are staying red, and Republicans are on offense across the map,” NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella said in a statement.