Congress

Capitol agenda: Where health care talks stand

Published

9 months ago

November 20, 2025

The Senate’s leaving Thursday for Thanksgiving recess without clear bipartisan agreement on how to address expiring Obamacare subsidies. But after a busy week of talks across the Capitol, we’re starting to get some clarity on what will or won’t pass muster in a year-end health care deal.

Here’s what we’ve learned:

— Sen. Bill Cassidy’s (R-La.) plan to redirect funds into health savings accounts isn’t going to fly with Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Wednesday his party only wants an extension of the Affordable Care Act credits that expire next month, and that “Cassidy’s proposal, as I understand it, replaces them.”

“It’s privatizing health insurance, and it looks like it’s really problematic,” Schumer said.

Health experts say Cassidy’s plan, which aligns with a proposal floated by President Donald Trump, also won’t necessarily do much to offset looming premium spikes. Those talking points could bolster Democrats’ opposition as they argue for a clean extension of the subsidies.

— More Republicans are acknowledging it might be too late to enact major new health care policy before Dec. 31.

“It’s a welcome discussion,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told Blue Light News. “But we’re not gonna get that done by Dec. 31.”

When asked about the timeline on Wednesday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said there’s not enough time to make “major changes.”

That could give a boost to Democrats who were promised a standalone vote on an ACA extension bill next month in exchange for reopening the government.

But it could also embolden conservatives who are eager to ditch bipartisan talks and go their own way on a health care-focused, party-line reconciliation package, as White House deputy chief of staff James Blair teased Tuesday.

Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Wednesday he plans to pursue a new budget reconciliation bill. However such a move would likely have to happen next year if at all.

— There’s one area of bipartisan promise on health care. Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) say they’ll soon unveil a proposal to crack down on the health intermediaries known as pharmacy benefit managers — a longtime priority for the panel.

Wyden told Blue Light News he’s hopeful the Senate will advance a bill by the end of the year. When he chaired Senate Finance in 2023, the committee approved a PBM bill in a 26-0 vote.

Committee Republicans are eager for the bill to hitch a ride on a must-pass legislative vehicle. One Senate aide involved in the negotiations tells Blue Light News the package is likely to be in the mix in January as Congress approaches the next government funding deadline.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) told reporters Wednesday there could be a “window” to put it on the floor as a standalone measure.

What else we’re watching:

— More censures?: Look out for whether there’s a move to censure Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) after she was indicted on federal fraud charges Wednesday. This week has been heavy on censure efforts in the House, with Rep. Chuy García (D-Ill.) formally rebuked Tuesday and derailed attempts against Democratic Del. Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands and GOP Rep. Cory Mills of Florida.

— Next steps on permitting talks: Key negotiators regard Thursday morning’s House Natural Resources Committee markup as an important step in reaching a comprehensive permitting reform deal this Congress. Chair Bruce Westerman’s (R-Ark.) bill would ease permitting reviews and limit legal challenges for projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, a bedrock environmental protection law many conservatives believe is mired in too much red tape.

— NDAA down to the wire: The “Big Four” leaders of House and Senate Armed Services are racing to reach a compromise defense bill just a week before their self-imposed deadline. The lawmakers are hoping to drop the bill text the day they return from Thanksgiving break and are targeting an early December vote on the House and Senate floors.

Robert King, Calen Razor, Jordain Carney, Meredith Lee Hill, Josh Siegel and Connor O’Brien contributed to this report.

Congress

White House, hemp lobbyists bet on shutdown politics to delay ‘diet weed’ ban

Published

5 hours ago

August 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump and hemp industry lobbyists are hoping to win a final vote on Capitol Hill next week to skirt a ban on intoxicating products — with shutdown politics as leverage.

Nine months ago, Congress cleared a bill to close a loophole created in 2018 that allowed the sale of some hemp-derived products containing types of THC colloquially known as “diet weed.” That ban is supposed to take effect in mid-November, or roughly 11 weeks, to limit overall THC levels in hemp products that can get people high — including gummies, canned drinks, pills and vapes.

But Trump and industry leaders successfully lobbied Senate leaders to add language to a government funding patch earlier this month to delay the ban until mid-December, with the administration promising instead to finalize regulations cracking down on how the products are made and sold.

Now House Republican leaders are aiming to clear that bill for Trump’s signature early next week, according to three people granted anonymity to disclose private discussions. And many GOP lawmakers are not pleased at the prospect of being rolled.

Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) told reporters last week that he expected House lawmakers would “iron out” some “sticking points” with the Senate-passed funding bill, “particularly the hemp issue,” rather than pass the legislation without changes — which appears to be GOP leadership’s current plan.

Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) was more blunt: “it is morally reprehensible to threaten a shutdown over a loophole Congress agreed to close to less than a year ago,” he said in a statement Thursday.

Yet despite fierce pushback from lawmakers warning that the intoxicating products are harming Americans, hemp industry leaders are preparing for a victory, betting members of Congress ultimately care more about swiftly passing legislation to avert a Sept. 30 government shutdown before the midterms.

“Any effort to try to shut down the government — over a one-month delay on a hemp issue — I don’t think is going to fly well with most members of Congress,” Jonathan Miller, a top lawyer for the U.S. Hemp Roundtable advocacy group, said in an interview this week.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment about its plans for imposing new rules on hemp products in the coming months. But the Trump administration is expected to need more time than mid-December to finalize regulations, so hemp industry representatives are discussing a “regulatory bridge” that would impose temporary rules while continuing to avoid a full ban, according to Miller.

That could include restricting purchase to adults age 21 and older, blocking imports from China, mandating certain manufacturing practices, cracking down on copycat products that look like popular candy or potato chips and requiring transparency in product labeling.

While lawmakers have been back home over their summer break, hemp industry leaders have fanned out across the country to make their case for this plan. “The hemp industry does not have an August recess,” Christopher Lackner, head of the Hemp Beverage Alliance, said in an interview this month of the group’s work to facilitate passage of the Senate-passed funding bill.

Trump administration officials have also been telling reluctant lawmakers they will use the one-month delay to work on regulations. “The White House has committed to me that they’re committed to regulate the industry,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said in an interview this month.

Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), who fought in the Senate to retain the ban as originally intended, said White House officials have said “they don’t want another extension, and I agree with that.”

In a statement, Ricketts said that “manufactured high-THC products like gummies and drinks are putting our kids in the hospital” and need to be taken “off our shelves.”

Some supporters of the ban say the White House and industry are just employing delay tactics to get to December, when lawmakers will face another pressure campaign to delay the ban while they are motivated to avert a shutdown before leaving town for the holidays.

“What they’re really after is to try to jam this on some must-pass, end-of-the-year funding,” Budd told reporters earlier this month. “That’s really what this is about.”

Budd fought to block the delay in the Senate as part of the government funding measure, but his amendment to that end was shot down 61-32 before the chamberpassed the legislation, sending it on for House action.

Trump personally called Budd after the senator filed the amendment and talked about creating federal regulations for hemp products, according to a Senate aide granted anonymity to describe the private discussion.

Days later, Budd demanded a vote on the amendment anyway and continues to slam the hemp industry.

“It is clear that businesses that sell unregulated, intoxicating products will stop at nothing to protect their bottom line, even at the expense of children’s health and safety,” he said in a statement this week.

Besides lawmakers fighting to ban intoxicating hemp products, others are pushing alongside the White House and industry for federal regulations.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-W.Va.) has crafted legislation that would direct the Food and Drug Administration to create federal rules for intoxicating hemp products and wants to see mandates for third-party testing, as well as new THC limits per serving.

Griffith told reporters Thursday the “deadline push” in the Senate-passed government funding measure “is not long enough” to finalize necessary regulations.

Since state limits for THC vary widely throughout the country and the federal government has taken years to step in since the hemp loophole was created in 2018, Griffith argued it makes more sense to regulate the intoxicating products than to enact a federal ban.

“That horse is out of the barn,” he said. “What we need to do is corral it.”

Kelsey Brugger, Amanda Friedman and Rachel Shin contributed to this report.

Congress

Trump’s MAGA Inc. to host first public event in battleground Michigan

Published

16 hours ago

August 27, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump’s $400-million super PAC is taking its first steps into the general election: hosting a public event in battleground Michigan, headlined by Vice President JD Vance.

Battleground Republicans have been clamoring for Trump’s MAGA Inc. to spend in competitive races. The Michigan event is an early indicator of how the massive group might seek to use its funds to help the party keep control of Washington.

Vance will be joined in Sterling, Michigan, on Monday by GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers, 10th District nominee Mike Bouchard Jr. and gubernatorial nominee John James, along with several other Michigan Republicans, according to an event advisory from MAGA Inc.

The GOP sees Michigan’s open seat as its best Senate pickup target this fall as Rogers faces former public health leader and progressive Abdul El-Sayed, who emerged from a grueling primary earlier this month.

“MAGA Inc. will be hosting events throughout the nation to ensure that Republicans retain control of Congress in order to finish cleaning up the mess the Biden-Harris-Pelosi-Schumer Democrats left,” said Alex Pfeiffer, spokesperson for MAGA Inc. “We’re not going back to their record inflation, open borders, and surging crime.”

MAGA Inc. is sitting on more funds than any other super PAC, and Republican donors and battleground candidates have been hoping it will unleash that money to help the party keep control of the House and Senate.

So far, the group has only spent only a few million dollars out of its massive fundraising haul, and its funds have largely gone to competitive Republican primaries. Most recently, it spent $827,000 on phone calls and text messages to boost Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) in the state’s special primary.

Congress

House Democrat moves to reverse Trump’s ‘Lake America’ order

Published

16 hours ago

August 27, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

A House Democrat is already pushing back on President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America.”

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) said in an interview hours after Trump’s announcement that she plans to introduce a bill Monday that would nullify the name change. The one-page bill is titled the “Hands Off Our Great Lakes Act.”

“People do not understand how intertwined our two countries are,” Dingell said “And this is insane, this naming Lake Ontario ‘Lake America.’”

The name change is Trump’s latest escalation in a rapidly spiraling trade war between the U.S. and Canada. The White House imposed 50 percent tariffs on about $20 billion in Canadian imports earlier this week, inviting retaliatory levies from Ottawa.

Trump said in a Truth Social post Canada has been “Ripping Off” the U.S. for decades and that Canada is “easily the most difficult and unreasonable” country he deals with.

Trump’s renaming Lake Ontario throws another controversy into one of the country’s most consequential states ahead of the midterms. Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has already attacked his Republican opponent Mike Rogers over the move.

Dingell said she has been working with Democratic leaders on a response to the tariffs, and separately collecting signatures on a letter to Trump that urges “your Administration to change its diplomatic approach with our closest ally, Canada, and recognize the importance of the United States-Canada relationship.” She said she has about 100 signatures from fellow House Democrats.

“I grew up in a small town called St. Clair, and when I got up and looked out my bedroom window every day, I didn’t see America. I saw Canada,” Dingell said. “We lived that close. Canada was as close to us as [the Cannon House Office Building] is to the Capitol.”