Congress

Democrats gird for a longer shutdown fight after election romp

Published

11 months ago

November 5, 2025

Senate Democrats ended their workday Tuesday agonizing over what to do about the record-setting government shutdown. Many of those same lawmakers woke up Wednesday morning ready to fight on.

The sweeping Democratic gains in this week’s elections bolstered the faction in the party insisting that senators dig in and force Republicans to accede to their demand for an extension of key health insurance subsidies used by more than 20 million Americans.

While a group of Democratic senators continued to negotiate with Republicans, the pressure that mounted on and off Capitol Hill Wednesday threatened to push the 36-day shutdown even further into record-setting territory.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said ending the shutdown without a commitment from President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson would “be a betrayal of all we’ve been fighting to uphold.”

“We are winning the hearts and minds of the American people,” Blumenthal said. “We’ve come this far and the American people seem to be with us.”

Blumenthal was part of a group of progressive senators, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who had a lengthy huddle on the floor Wednesday.

Sanders said that accepting a “meaningless vote” would be a “horrible policy decision” — an implicit critique of the deal some more moderate Senate Democrats are now discussing with Republicans. That agreement would not itself extend Obamacare insurance subsidies but instead guarantee a future vote on them

“Some of you may have heard the expression, when we fight, we win. You ever hear that? Well, when you cave, you lose,” added Sanders, who crashed a news conference called by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to make his case again to reporters while they waited for Schumer’s arrival.

The bipartisan talks among rank-and-file senators continued, however. Several Democrats involved said they continued to make progress with their talks Wednesday, even as their party colleagues stiffened their spines for a longer fight.

Some believe they could finalize an agreement in a matter of days that would reopen the government through at least December and tee up votes on full-year funding for veterans, agriculture and nutrition programs and for Congress itself.

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who is part of the negotiating group, said the results of the election didn’t affect the talks. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), a key negotiator, called the results of the election “great” but added that discussions were moving forward.

But while those senators and their Republican negotiating partners might be moving closer together, they are moving farther apart from many of their own Democratic colleagues.

One Senate Democratic aide granted anonymity to discuss caucus deliberations said there is “enormous” pressure on the group to hold the line after Tuesday: “It’s hard for anyone to argue the message from voters is ‘Please cave ASAP to Trump.’”

The Democrats involved in the talks received no cover from senior leaders of their party Wednesday.

Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries demanded a new meeting Wednesday with Trump to discuss ending the shutdown and addressing health care, which has emerged as the centerpiece of the weeks-long spending brawl.

Schumer made no secret Wednesday that he believes his party now has the political winds at its back. He declared from the floor that a Senate Democratic majority is closer than people think and then hammered Trump and Republicans for not coming to the negotiating table.

“Maybe this election is a wake up call — to them,” he told reporters.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who is in line to become the No. 2 Democratic leader starting in 2027, echoed Schumer’s message that the election shows Republicans need to negotiate. Schatz, like Schumer, was among the small group of Democrats who helped advance a GOP-written funding stopgap to avoid a shutdown in March, sparking fierce criticism from the party’s base.

“I look forward to the moment that he realizes that the only way [to end the shutdown] is to talk to Democrats,” Schatz said of Trump. “If he wants out, is he willing to do what every president has done for decades, which is talk to the other party?”

Jeffries indirectly urged senators not to fold by complimenting his counterpart across the Capitol at a news conference.

“Senate Democrats have shown great leadership — led by Chuck Schumer — that we will not support a partisan spending bill that continues to gut the health care of the American people,” Jeffries said.

Later, on a call with his members, he said he would “continue to urge the Senate to stay the course and hold the line,” according to three people granted anonymity to describe the private conversation.

Off Capitol Hill, progressive advocacy groups and Democratic Senate candidates on Wednesday ratcheted up pressure on senators to keep holding the line after the ballot-box blowout.

Republicans “got their asses kicked last night,” said Brad Woodhouse, the executive director of the liberal health care advocacy group Protect Our Care. “Democrats should not turn around on one of the predominant issues that animated last night’s election and compromise with Republicans. It’s just anathema to political thinking.”

Democrats who made lowering health care costs a centerpiece of their campaigns demolished their opponents in Virginia and New Jersey’s gubernatorial contests by double digits. Trump, in response to Democrats’ overperformance, said the shutdown was partly to blame and urged Republican senators to change Senate rules and reopen the government on party lines.

Democratic Senate candidates — including several House members — also urged Schumer and his caucus not to settle. Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who’s running to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, said voters “have given Democrats a mandate to stand firm.

“Absolutely this is not a time to cave,” Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat who’s running to succeed Peters in Michigan, said in an interview. “It’s so obvious that Trump is losing in the court of public opinion.”

Congress

Democrats keep pressure on Hakeem Jeffries to punish rogue members

Published

3 hours ago

September 17, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Democrats aren’t letting rogue members off the hook for bucking their party. They hope Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries won’t either.

“Obviously, there’s got to be” punishment for the two Democrats who twice this month bucked their party to advance a slate of Republican priorities, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) said in an interview.

“Otherwise, then,” he said, “it’s open season.”

Democrats are watching closely how — and if — Jeffries doles out consequences for Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington who have twice provided the decisive votes for GOP procedural measures this month. Jeffries and his leadership team condemned the two members when they first defected two weeks ago, slamming a “breach of trust” warranting a “serious response” but have yet to inflict any public consequences.

On Tuesday, they defied leadership a second time, infuriating House Democrats and resurrecting questions about how leadership plans to keep its caucus in line — especially if they have a slim majority next term.

“We have to all be united, and I think it’s pretty simple,” said one House Democrat who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “If there’s not [a punishment], I find it hard to see a path forward in the majority, which we’re all pushing for.”

Asked if leadership should punish the two aisle-crossers, Rep. Troy Carter pointed to his time as minority leader of the Louisiana state Senate: “When I had members that did not work within the confines of the philosophical views of our party, I took them off our caucus.”

“I don’t want to second-guess anybody’s timing, but I will tell you that these things cannot allow to fester,” he added. “We have to have a strict message: Either you’re with the team on those fundamental issues of governance or you aren’t.”

Multiple members, including Carter, said that removing Gluesenkamp Perez from the Appropriations Committee should be considered. (While members are just as angry at Golden, they acknowledge he’s beyond punishment given he is retiring at the end of this term.)

“I suspect that there are a number of appropriate consequences that [leaders] could implement,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) said in an interview. “And, ultimately, it’s their decision. I certainly don’t want that to be a caucus decision. That should be a leadership decision.”

One leader, Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, suggested she is open to removing Gluesenkamp Perez from Appropriations, telling reporters Wednesday morning that “team players get to sit on exclusive committees.”

After the first instance where the two Democrats defected on Sept. 1, Jeffries kicked the matter to a caucus rules panel, saying afterward he wanted to pursue action against the two members “sooner rather than later.” The panel continues to deliberate on what should happen if members vote with Republicans on procedural measures.

Jeffries said that week that he’d had a “productive” and “forward-looking” conversation with Gluesenkamp Perez, but he has said much less after Tuesday’s floor drama.

“I’ll have more to say about the issue when I have more to say about the issue,” he told Blue Light News shortly after the vote.

Congress

House passes Russia sanctions bill, handing Trump more leverage against Moscow

Published

5 hours ago

September 16, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The House passed the sweeping Russia sanctions bill long championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday, sending the legislation to the White House for President Donald Trump’s signature after more than a year of congressional maneuvering.

The 262 to 159 vote ends a nearly two-year lull in Ukraine assistance from Congress, which had not passed any major Ukraine efforts since a 2024 emergency aid package. The bill faced a number of obstacles on the path to the Resolute Desk, including significant opposition from some House Democrats who argued that the bill would give the White House too much tariff power.

After weathering a number of storms to make it out of Capitol Hill, the legislation is all but guaranteed to get Trump’s signature.

The long-anticipated legislation issues mandatory sanctions on Russia’s leadership and energy sector — as well as new sanctions on collaborators in Moscow’s defense industry and its so-called shadow fleet. Advocates of the bill, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have argued it would give the White House necessary tools to squeeze Russia economically, curbing the flow of funds to Moscow’s war machine.

But, to many Democrats’ dismay, the legislation also includes a 100% tariff on top buyers of Russian energy. Opponents of the bill have cautioned that the tariff provision would hand another cudgel for Trump to use against not only U.S. foes but also global allies — an action the White House has repeatedly taken since Trump returned to office.

“We cannot grant more tariff power that we know he will abuse,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said in comments on the House floor Wednesday.

Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, argued that the tariffs would worsen the economic pain already felt by everyday Americans and that without a security assistance package or more air defense, they would not do enough to concretely help Ukraine.

In comments on the House floor earlier Wednesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries outlined why he planned to withhold support for the measure.

“The manner in which this bill has been written doesn’t require the president of the United States to impose sanctions on Russia,” Jeffries said. “In fact, there are so many loopholes written into the bill, I believe, that it’s very unlikely that the sanctions relief contemplated in the legislation will ever see the light of day.”

That disagreement has caused a growing rift among Democrats in recent days. Fifty-eight House Democrats broke with Jeffries to vote yes on the measure.

In a letter addressed to House Democrats, Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) urged her colleagues to pass the legislation, warning that failing to do so would send a dangerous message to both Russian leader Vladimir Putin and other international foes.

“Congress’s failure to impose additional costs would send a dangerous signal,” Shaheen wrote. “The Kremlin is watching. Kyiv is watching. Our NATO allies are watching. So are Beijing, Tehran and Pyongyang.”

Congress

Rand Paul kills Kennedy’s AI ‘kill switch’ bill

Published

6 hours ago

September 16, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Rand Paul blocked an attempt by fellow Republican Sen. John Kennedy to quickly pass legislation that would require companies to build a “kill switch” into their artificial intelligence model.

Kennedy, of Louisiana, went to the Senate floor Wednesday to try to pass his bill without holding a formal vote — a step that can be prevented by any one of his 99 colleagues. He argued that the measure was effectively a short-term step, with Congress unlikely to pass more sweeping AI legislation in the immediate future even amid fears that technological advancements could spiral out of human control.

“We are not going to get up off our ice-cold lazy butts and address this anytime soon,” Kennedy said about Congress’ inability to pass a more comprehensive bill. “But still we’ve got this risk out there that we know is real of one of these models becoming the Terminator.”

Paul, however, blocked Kennedy’s request to pass the bill through a unanimous consent agreement, saying from the Senate floor, “I think we should have as many facts as possible before we dictate rules for the whole economy.”

“I don’t oppose the spirit of this bill but I do ask that we make sure that we have all the information,” the Kentucky lawmaker added.

Paul tried to amend Kennedy’s bill to establish a group that could make recommendations on AI guardrail policies to the Senate Commerce Committee. Kennedy rejected that suggestion.

“My mama didn’t raise a fool,” he said, adding, “a committee is a way to kill this.”

Kennedy’s push for a vote comes after he told reporters Monday that he intended to roll out legislation and attempt to pass it this week, even while he acknowledged that he didn’t yet have any formal buy-in from his colleagues. He also appeared to know by earlier in the day Wednesday that he was running into a roadblock, saying in an interview that he expected Paul to offer a counterproposal.