Congress

Chuck Grassley pushed for more transparency into Kash Patel’s FBI spending in May, Democrats reveal

Published

3 months ago

July 9, 2026

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asked FBI Director Kash Patel to provide more details on his use of taxpayer resources in May, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Mid.) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) revealed in a letter this week, as questions continue to swirl over Patel’s financial stewardship of the agency.

The embattled FBI director has long faced allegations that he is using the perks of his office for personal gain, after news outlets reported last year he used government jets for personal travel and surrounded his girlfriend, country music singer Alexis Wilkins, with SWAT team protection at public events.

Patel’s trip via agency jet to the Winter Olympics in Milan this February, in which he partied with the American men’s ice hockey team after they won gold, led to yet more questions.

Patel has repeatedly publicly denied that his use of government resources is inappropriate.

“This abuse obviously comes at the expense of the American taxpayer and ongoing Bureau operations as it ties up Bureau aircraft, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams, and agents in ways so outrageous that even congressional Republicans can no longer ignore them,” Durbin and Raskin wrote in their letter.

In a letter from Grassley sent in May, which was viewed by Blue Light News, he asked Patel to “provide a list of each flight you took on an FBI aircraft, including the departure and destination,” as well as the cost of each. He also asked Patel to explain why the bureau purchased BMWs rather than Chevy Suburbans for personal transport — and to provide a full cost breakdown of the financial impacts of the maneuver.

Raskin and Durbin — the ranking members on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees — are seeking answers to many of the same questions highlighted by Grassley, they wrote in their letter.

The eight-term Iowa senator, who turns 93 in September, emphasized he’d previously held FBI directors under Democratic administrations to similar scrutiny.

“For decades, regardless of which political party is in the White House, I have worked to ensure that taxpayer dollars are protected from waste, fraud, and abuse,” Grassley wrote.

Grassley’s office and the FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“The American people deserve an FBI Director focused on keeping us all safe rather than jet-setting to check off personal bucket list items,” Durbin and Raskin wrote. “Congress requires a transparent accounting of how you are using Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars.”

Congress

Sanders, Casar introduce ‘superintelligence’ ban

Published

39 minutes ago

September 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Two top congressional progressives unveiled their bill Wednesday to ban artificial “superintelligence” and establish a Cabinet-level agency to regulate AI, fleshing out their plans for a crackdown on the industry.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) have advocated for heavy regulation of the rapidly evolving technology, particularly following a string of high-profile cyberattacks and doomsday warnings from industry insiders. Sanders and Casar teased the proposal earlier this month but only officially rolled out their “Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act” on Wednesday.

Casar said the bill would ban “recursive self-improvement,” meaning AI’s ability to build improved and more capable versions of itself. The bill also bars AI models from designing nuclear or biological weapons and would ban models that try to “escape human oversight or deceive humans,” Casar told reporters.

Sanders and Casar had previously outlined their plans to draft legislation banning “superintelligence” and to pause advanced AI development until a “Department of Artificial Intelligence” with a Senate-confirmed secretary is capable of monitoring model capabilities and identifying risks.

The legislation would set penalties for any entity that attempts to circumvent federal oversight, including the “corporate death penalty” for companies and up to 20 years in prison for individuals — on par with the punishment for illegally developing nuclear weapons.

The duo is bullish about both chambers swiftly taking up their legislation, even as Democratic leaders entertain much smaller-bore regulatory actions and some Republican leaders reject the need to advance AI safety legislation entirely. Casar said he believed the bill “will be considered the commonsense proposal in the coming weeks” as public pressure on Congress to enact AI guardrails mounts.

“In my view, we cannot simply sit by idly and wait for advanced AI to cause the next 9/11 or Chernobyl or a global pandemic or a financial crisis before we take action to protect the American people and, of course, the people of the world,” Sanders told reporters.

Congress

Troy Carter launches bid to run Congressional Black Caucus

Published

1 hour ago

September 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.) launched a run to head the Congressional Black Caucus, making official his long-anticipated and heavily favored bid to take over the powerful group.

Carter announced his plans in a letter to colleagues sent Tuesday and obtained by Blue Light News, saying, “I will listen carefully. I will work hard. I will act when action is needed.”

Carter has support from much of the CBC and has positioned himself as a fierce ally of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Next term, the CBC is anticipating an influx of prospective ultraprogressive members. In his letter, Carter signaled he welcomes ideological diversity in the caucus.

“As Chair, I will respect the tremendous diversity of talent, experience, geography, ideology, and perspective within our Caucus,” Carter said in the letter. “Every Member should know that their voice matters, that they have a seat at the table, and that when they need their Caucus, their Caucus will be there.”

In a July interview with POLITICO, Carter previewed how he would lead the caucus, whose membership has been threatened by Republican-led redistricting in the South in the wake of an April Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais that limited the Voting Rights Act .

“If those who are out there banking on us being quieted, going away, not fighting for the rights of individuals, and providing resources to those that have been historically left behind, they are sadly mistaken,” he said at the time.

On other matters that the CBC will have to consider next term, he said he’s not keen on carving up majority-minority districts in blue states to create new Democratic seats, but he struck a softer note on seniority rights for committee assignments, saying: “I have never believed that a person that comes in with superior expertise in a subject matter should be told to wait.”

Congress

Senate Republican seeks to fast-track AI whistleblower bill

Published

2 hours ago

September 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley is trying to pass a bill before the midterms that would protect whistleblowers who disclose information about the risks involved in artificial intelligence development, according to two people granted anonymity to disclose nonpublic information.

The Iowa Republican is seeking to move it through unanimous consent — a way to expedite passage on the Senate floor that hinges on an agreement from all 100 senators to let the measure through.

Only one senator has to object in order to doom the effort. Grassley is in the process of privately checking with colleagues to see if someone will register opposition, according to the two people with knowledge of his efforts. He likely has until the end of this week to seal the deal, as senators are eager to begin their lengthy recess to campaign ahead of the November elections.

Even if someone indicates privately they oppose the bill, Grassley may go to the Senate floor and try to pass the bill anyways, one of the people said — a way to force a colleague to go on the record publicly blocking the measure and defend their position.

A longtime champion of whistleblower protections, Grassley introduced this specific legislation in May 2025. Original cosponsors included Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Democratic Sens. Chris Coons of Delaware, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Brian Schatz of Hawaii. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, as well as Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), have more recently signed onto the bill.

The push for passage now comes as a flurry of current and former employees of leading AI labs have emerged to share alarm over the rapid pace of AI advancements and its potential for catastrophic consequences if left unchecked.

And while it wouldn’t come close to the kind of AI regulatory framework some lawmakers are clamoring for Congress to enact, it would represent a step toward bringing some accountability to AI development practices that some critics worry lacks necessary transparency.