Congress

Democrats make a right turn on immigration

Published

2 years ago

January 7, 2025

A rightward national shift on border-related concerns helped give Republicans control of the White House and Senate — and the consequences are playing out on Capitol Hill this week with Democrats showing a new willingness to follow the GOP’s lead on illegal immigration.

It’s an unmistakable sign that some in the Democratic ranks are moving in step with the electorate, abandoning their party’s old pieties on those issues and embracing tough new enforcement measures.

Forty-eight House Democrats voted Tuesday to advance an illegal immigration crackdown known as the Laken Riley Act, a bill named for a Georgia nursing student murdered last year by an undocumented immigrant. That’s up from the 37 Democrats who backed the bill last March.

The Senate is set to take up the bill Friday, and already three Democrats, including Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Gary Peters of Michigan, are planning to advance it — raising the likelihood that it will be able to vault a filibuster and eventually be signed into law by President-elect Donald Trump.

Republican leaders are eager to put Democrats on their heels, forcing them to quickly choose whether it’s a moment to resist or side with the GOP. This week’s votes will offer early clues on how both sides will chart their path forward on Trump’s top priority.

“We need to take a different approach with immigration,” said Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), who voted for the bill Tuesday. “What shouldn’t be lost is that we have to fix this system and do more than just one piece of this.”

Democrats previously denigrated measures like the Laken Riley Act, which would require the detention of any undocumented immigrant charged with theft or burglary, as “messaging bills” meant to stir up political passions, not to solve complex policy problems.

Ahead of the election, some Democrats raised alarms about how voters were repulsed by a seemingly out-of-control southern border. And now, with more ascribing the party’s setbacks to those issues, some lawmakers said they felt doubly compelled to back the GOP-led legislation.

“What happened in South Texas tells you a lot,” said Trump-district Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), referring to massive GOP gains on the presidential ticket in areas along the Rio Grande. “We don’t want the folks to shift downballot, too.”

Fetterman and Peters signaled they will vote for the measure when it’s taken up by the Senate on Friday; Peters, a former national campaign committee chair, is up for reelection next year, while Fetterman is up in 2028 and hasn’t ruled out a presidential bid. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) is also expected to vote to advance the bill, according to a person familiar with his plans.

Newly elected Sens. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) both voted for the bill last year when they were House members. If they vote the same way this time, the measure would only need three more Democratic votes to break a filibuster.

Most of the House Democrats who broke ranks to vote for the legislation Tuesday were purple-district members and newly elected swing district lawmakers like Reps. George Whitesides and Dave Min — who were among seven Californians backing the bill. But safe-seat lawmakers backed the legislation, too — such as Reps. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.).

Even Democrats who remained opposed have undergone their own subtle rhetorical shift. Few in the party openly disputed a need to crack down on border-related crime or to enforce immigration laws. Instead, they cited process-related issues like concerns the bill could lead to more immigration detentions or would sweep up DACA recipients.

“I think violence in this country is unacceptable no matter who commits any act of violence, and we also have to have a strong foundation for the rule of law,” said purple-district Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), who voted against the bill Tuesday.

Republicans are using the Laken Riley bill to make clear their intent to prioritize immigration as Trump prepares his return to Washington. They also view it as an early opportunity to put Democrats on record as they come to terms with voters’ apparent rejection of their party’s approach to immigration.

“People are going to have to make a decision, and, you know, it’s now a bipartisan bill,” said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) after Fetterman voiced support on Monday. “You have a couple of Democrats who have now just joined the Senate, who were members of the House and voted for it, Gallego and Slotkin. So we would hope that they would vote for it as well. And we’re going to see what the Georgia senators do, too. This happened in Georgia.”

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) declined to say Tuesday how he would vote.

The GOP still faces momentous challenges as it tries to pass the remainder of its border policy agenda. For much of it, they are counting on using the budget reconciliation process, which would not require Democratic help.

As Republicans hash out their overall reconciliation strategy — including whether to try and pass a smaller border-focused bill first — Trump will move quickly to crack down on immigration in the days after he takes office, rolling out executive actions, moving to undo Biden administration policies and beginning the process of deporting hundreds of thousands of people.

Legal setbacks are inevitable, even as his team works to craft executive orders that can withstand court challenges, and Trump will be looking to Congress for additional funding and resources to build upon his agenda.

“We’re all belts and suspenders,” said Michael Hough, director of federal relations at NumbersUSA, an immigration restrictionist group. “Executive actions are great, because it’s the immediate fix, immediate cure, but it’s not a permanent one. We still want to see legislative changes go through.”

But the rules governing reconciliation likely preclude the inclusion of sweeping immigration restrictions. Enacting law, in other words, will require Democrats’ participation.

“I think immigration policy is going to be impossible for them in reconciliation,” said Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas). “We found that out when we had the majority, and they are counting on incoming President Trump and his executive orders, but they frankly need us.”

Congress

Trump needles Cornyn as Blanche remains blocked

Published

58 minutes ago

July 31, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

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.

Congress

Capitol agenda: The Senate’s fly-out agenda takes shape

Published

2 hours ago

July 31, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Republicans are prepping a jam-packed — if somewhat optimistic — agenda for their final week before summer recess.

Majority Leader John Thune wants to move stopgap funding through Dec. 11, bipartisan Russia sanctions legislation and a bloc of nominees — perhaps including attorney general pick Todd Blanche.

He’s also under pressure from President Donald Trump, administration officials and many of his GOP colleagues to adopt a budget resolution — the first step in unlocking another party-line spending bill.

Leaders are prioritizing the stopgap, though. Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) expects continuing resolution text to be unveiled later today, she told reporters Thursday, and an initial vote is expected Monday evening.

Still TBD: Collins wants to use the funding patch to block the Trump administration from putting political appointees in charge of approving grants — a demand Democratic senators are also making.

The decision is in Thune’s hands. He acknowledged a “handful of issues” are still under consideration with the CR, and said he’s “hoping both sides can come together and figure” them out.

As for the sanctions bill, leaders of both parties are still trying to work out a deal to fast-track the legislation amid concerns from some Democrats and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that it gives Trump too much tariff power.

In addition to the nominees package, Thune also hasn’t ruled out an initial vote on the landmark cryptocurrency bill both parties have spent months negotiating or teeing up a bipartisan college sports overhaul now in final stages of talks.

But the big question is whether Republicans can take a major step toward another reconciliation bill by advancing a budget resolution.

Thune met Thursday with Budget Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who said he was “optimistic in terms of how things are kind of coming together.”

Republicans anticipate giving a number of Senate committees instructions for the bill, setting up a lengthy and politically painful process ahead of adoption despite pushes for urgency from the White House.

Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was the latest official to head to Capitol Hill to try and light a fire under top Republicans. But GOP senators don’t necessarily see the urgency.

“The hard part is the president wants to be able to move fast, like an executive can move, and we’re a legislative branch,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). “It doesn’t move that fast.”

What else we’re watching:

— BLANCHE TEETERING: Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general isn’t dead yet. But it’s certainly on life support. The acting AG met with Cornyn and Tillis Thursday at NRSC headquarters, and one person familiar with the discussion said the group was “working collaboratively now.” But it would now be difficult to confirm him before August recess under Senate rules.

— FARM BILL TEXT: Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman said his farm bill legislative text — originally expected Thursday — could come Friday or Saturday. The bill, which is expected to include language allowing year-round E15 sales and a potential compromise on postponing GOP-led cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is set to be marked up Thursday.

Jordain Carney and Grace Yarrow contributed to this report.

Congress

Former MLB star Mark Teixeira to hit campaign trail with GOP leaders

Published

5 hours ago

July 31, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House GOP leaders are planning to bring former MLB star Mark Teixeira, one of their top candidate recruits this cycle, out on the trail in battleground districts over the summer recess sprint.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise will host a fundraiser with Teixeira in New York City on Aug. 20 with Speaker Mike Johnson as a special guest, according to three people with direct knowledge of the event, granted anonymity to discuss plans that have not yet been made public.

It’s part of a New York swing where Teixeira and Johnson will also hit nearby stops in GOP Rep. Mike Lawler’s 17th Congressional District and for Mike LiPetri, who is trying to unseat Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

Teixeira is running to replace GOP Rep. Chip Roy in Texas’ 21st Congressional District. He won a World Series title with the Yankees in 2009 and also played for the Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels before retiring from professional baseball in 2016 after 14 seasons.

Because Teixeira has little chance of losing in the deep-red seat, Republican leaders are hoping to harness his star power to boost their candidates in the most competitive races. They’re planning for Teixeira to help campaign in a wider swath of battleground districts in August and through November, including likely stops in Pennsylvania and Georgia.