Congress
Democrats dig in their heels on nominees amid spending freeze chaos
A batch of Democrats incensed with President Donald Trump’s latest decision to pause federal spending voted against his otherwise benign nominee for Transportation secretary on Tuesday, the first brick in what some of them promise will be a wall of opposition until funds are uncorked.
An OMB memo stipulating that federal agencies should temporarily halt paying out grants and loans as of 5 p.m. Tuesday threw Washington into chaos amid a scramble to figure out what exactly is being impacted. As the Capitol reeled, many Democratic lawmakers took their frustration out by voting no on Sean Duffy’s nomination to head the Transportation Department — despite having unanimously voted to move his nomination forward less than 24 hours before.
“Until I get clarity from this administration about their plans to continue implementing this order, I’m going to vote against nominees. Until I hear some better path forward on this,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), adding that a federal court injunction would be necessary to ameliorate his concerns. And he questioned whether Duffy would simply be a vessel to implement the order.
“My core question is, well, will he implement this unconstitutional order to freeze all transportation project funding, like I’ve heard from the governor, the mayor, the county executive, the Department of Transportation in Delaware, saying, ‘Wait, what? You’re gonna lay off the construction workers who are rebuilding our highways?'”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) made a similar pledge, saying she will continue to vote no on Trump’s nominees until Senate Republicans “wake up … and tell Donald Trump he doesn’t get to own all of government.”
“We have a process for passing laws, and then those laws are enforced. Donald Trump thinks those laws don’t apply to him? He is wrong,” Warren said.
She added that she’s hearing from mayors in her state “who aren’t sure if they can spend the money that they are entitled to,” as well as from nonprofits “who don’t know if they can go forward with their work.” She mentioned a group in her state that receives some federal funding to help homeless veterans transition into permanent housing.
“They’re not sure if they can run their meal program tonight. That’s the kind of chaos that Donald Trump is creating,” Warren said.
Others didn’t go so far as to say they’ll oppose all future nominees, but made clear they would continue to play spoiler.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, (D-Ill.) said Democrats “would certainly not cooperate with the Republicans” if the plan is to endorse such a “power grab” from Trump.
“He’s trying to do a power grab so that he can become a dictator,” Duckworth said. “I’m not going to be party to us having to go back to him and say, ‘Can you give us money for this? Can you give money to that?’ This has already been appropriated by Congress. If we have the power of the purse, we’re not going to go down the route of where this is Trump’s decision of what gets funded,” she said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said “we’re going to use every tool we have to uphold the law.” He added that he would “oppose, whenever I can, efforts by Republicans to support this illegal power grab.”
Earlier in the day, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and others in Democratic leadership called on Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to delay the nomination of Russell Vought as director of OMB “until he satisfactorily answers questions regarding his advice to the President relating to the illegal impoundment of Congressionally appropriated funds — questions that have taken on greater urgency in light of OMB’s directive.”
The White House has insisted that its spending pause memo is not intended to apply to every program and that it is a temporary and prudent measure to reign in profligate spending.
Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley rescheduled a planned vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general late Friday in a preemptive move as negotiations between the Trump administration and GOP holdouts continue.
The vote, now set for Tuesday after a scheduled Thursday vote was postponed, isn’t an indication that a deal allowing for Blanche’s confirmation is near, so much as it is a nod to Judiciary Committee rules that require three days of notice for a panel meeting.
There is no sign that President Donald Trump is about to acquiesce to the unflinching demands of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who wants a controversial settlement agreement between Trump and the IRS substantially pared back.
Cornyn, who lost his primary to a Trump-endorsed candidate, wants the Justice Department to nullify a $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and limit the scope of a tax audit immunity component of the pact.
Trump told reporters earlier Friday the fund is “dead” but added “I wish it weren’t.”
“I’d like to see them compensated,” he added, referring to people he considers victims of government abuse, including participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
To advance Tuesday, Blanche needs to pick up Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), another senator on the panel with similar concerns. He can’t lose any GOP votes if he wants to be reported favorably out of the Judiciary Committee.
“Chairman Grassley wants Todd Blanche’s nomination to be successful,” said a Judiciary Committee spokesperson, who declined to be named. “Noticing the markup gives more time for the White House to secure the votes for the President’s nominee. Grassley would like to see Blanche confirmed before the August recess as he has an excellent record restoring law and order and keeping Americans safe.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is zeroing in on one of House Republicans’ biggest contests — a purple district in Nebraska — when he starts his recess campaign sprint.
Scalise will travel to Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District in the Omaha area for an event with Republican Brinker Harding in the coming days, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter granted anonymity to share plans not yet made public. Republicans are digging in to defend the seat, which Kamala Harris won in the 2024 presidential race and is among Democrats’ best pick up opportunities this fall as they seek to flip the House.
Harding is running against Democratic consultant Denise Powell to replace retiring GOP Rep. Don Bacon. Bacon, a moderate-leaning Republican, flipped the Omaha district red in 2016.
After Nebraska, Scalise is planning to travel across the country throughout August, including to defend GOP incumbents Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ and Zach Nunn’s key battleground seats in Iowa’s 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts and Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District.
He’ll boost candidates working to flip blue districts like Laurie Buckhout in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, Derek Merrin in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District and Mike LiPetri in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
Scalise also plans to travel to Michigan, Colorado, South Carolina and Texas for campaign events over the August recess.
President Donald Trump goaded John Cornyn on social media Friday morning, accusing the Texas senator of withholding his vote on Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination in retaliation for Trump’s central role in his political demise.
Cornyn, who lost his May primary to Texas’ scandal-ridden attorney general, the Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton, has threatened to block Blanche’s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee until the White House promises to permanently shelve its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” in writing — something Trump appears unwilling to do.
“John Cornyn never had a problem with the so called “Fund,” which will not benefit me, but rather the great American Patriots who were hunted down like dogs and whose lives were unfairly and illegally destroyed by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, until after I decided to Endorse and Support his Republican Primary opponent in Texas, who easily won the Nomination for the United States Senate,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Several Republicans bristled at the fund, which could have been deployed to compensate Americans who faced charges after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and which gives the president and his family audit immunity over taxes. At his July confirmation hearing, Blanche said that the fund, part of a settlement the president reached with the IRS, was defunct. But the administration has been “reluctant to change” the text of the settlement, Cornyn told reporters Thursday.
Trump signaled his continued support for the Jan 6 rioters on Friday.
“I will always feel that these victims of government abuse should be paid back for what they were forced to endure, their lives have been ruined!” he wrote. “Millions of people agree with me, as was proven in my landslide Presidential win, where this was a major subject of debate, and so did John Cornyn, until he lost his Election to an opponent that I Endorsed.”
On Thursday, the president suggested that he could punt a Senate vote on Blanche until after Cornyn — and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — leaves the chamber at the end of the year. Cornyn, however, suggested on social media that there are other Republican senators with concerns about the fund.
“After the midterms, who knows who’s going to be the next United States senator from North Carolina or Texas?” Cornyn told reporters.
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