Congress

Eleanor Holmes Norton keeps a low profile as Trump takes aim at DC

Published

1 year ago

August 13, 2025

Washington’s locally elected government is under attack from President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans. But the capital city’s self-proclaimed “warrior on Blue Light News” is nowhere to be seen on the front lines.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s nonvoting House delegate, issued a written statement Monday after Trump seized control of the city’s police force and moved to send in National Guard troops, calling it “counterproductive,” a “historic assault on D.C. home rule” and “more evidence of the urgent need to pass my D.C. statehood bill.”

But Norton — who has represented the city in the House since 1991 — has not been seen in public or otherwise interacted with the media since, even as other elected Democrats stepped forward to defend D.C.’s autonomy against Trump’s aggressive new actions.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser held an hourlong news conference Monday afternoon where she was flanked by city public safety officials, but not Norton. Her name was also missing from a joint statement released by members of Congress representing D.C.’s suburbs that slammed the police takeover as a “soft launch of authoritarianism.” Several of those lawmakers have since given interviews to Blue Light News and other outlets.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday afternoon he had yet to speak to Norton about a response to Trump’s moves, which were announced Monday morning. The New York Democrat said he hoped to have that conversation later in the day.

Norton did not accept an interview request made through a spokesperson, who declined to identify any other interviews or public appearances she has made since Trump escalated his threats against the city late last week.

The spokesperson, Sharon Eliza Nichols, said in a statement that Norton has been “working diligently with Mayor Bowser, city officials and her colleagues discussing how to support the District’s response and prevent further federal incursions against D.C.’s right to handle its own affairs.”

“Congresswoman Norton has proven her dedication to the people of D.C.,” the statement continued. “She understands the unprecedented circumstances the District is in, and her top priority is to ensure that home rule and D.C. residents are protected.”

Norton’s back-seat response to the most serious federal threat to the city’s government in 30 years is out of step with her one-time reputation as a fierce defender of local prerogatives in the face of meddling by federal authorities. Her campaign website still promotes the “warrior” moniker she has used for decades to reflect her often fiery battles with Republicans.

But she is facing mounting questions about her plans to seek a 19th term next year as fellow Democrats privately voice concerns about her fading presence in the House. She has twice told reporters she intends to run again in 2026, but in both instances her staff subsequently said she is undecided.

A campaign spokesperson did not respond to a request for an update on her reelection plans.

A person granted anonymity to describe Norton’s thinking said her low-key approach to the joint statement was in keeping with the more conciliatory approach Bowser and other city officials have taken with Trump in his second term. Norton, the person said, does not want to provoke Trump into escalating his attacks on the D.C. government.

Bowser, however, has appeared on camera multiple times since Trump’s announcement to take questions and defend the city’s public safety efforts, as have some D.C. Council members.

The person said Norton wasn’t invited or notified by the mayor’s office about Bowser’s news conference. Another person granted anonymity to comment on the sensitive situation said it was not standard practice to invite federal officials such as Norton to mayoral news conferences. The mayor’s office declined to comment.

Norton was invited to join the joint statement from the Washington-area House delegation but ultimately did not sign on for strategic reasons, the person said.

Behind the scenes, Norton has been involved in marshalling a response to Trump’s actions beyond her Monday statement. Nichols said she has been “actively reaching out to civic associations and other groups of D.C. residents” and helped organize a Monday evening conference call with Bowser and members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Norton helped open the conversation, according to four people granted anonymity to discuss the private call, where the lawmakers discussed recent steps taken by the city to address crime.

The CBC occupies a special place in the fight for D.C. voting rights and political autonomy. The group played a key role in securing passage of the Home Rule Act in 1973 creating the city’s locally elected government — one of the caucus’s first major legislative victories following its founding in 1969.

CBC Chair Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) said in a Tuesday statement that the group will “continue fighting to protect D.C.’s right to self-governance and we urge all Americans to recognize this for what it is: a test run for broader authoritarian overreach.”

“The stakes are high not just for Washington, D.C., but for the future of democracy in every corner of this country,” Clarke continued.

Most elected Democrats are loath to publicly criticize Norton given her long record of fighting for the city — including during the mid-1990s, when Congress imposed a financial control board to manage most city affairs. Norton was instrumental in pushing through legislation that recalibrated the city’s relationship with Congress and is widely seen as setting the stage for its economic rebirth and population growth over the following two decades.

Many also believe that Trump would have gone after the District regardless of what its elected officials said or did in the lead-up to his announcements Monday. But others contend that, without an actual vote in Congress, the D.C. delegate’s foremost responsibility is to rally support for the city and make the case for its autonomy to the American public.

Kinney Zalesne, a former DNC official who is running against Norton, said in a Tuesday interview that “there’s an opportunity here for the D.C. delegate to be a loud and consistent and powerful and unrelenting voice for D.C. to Congress, to the administration and to the rest of the nation.”

“One or two statements” did not meet that standard, she said: “We need to tell the truth about this federal overreach — that it’s unnecessary, inappropriate and potentially illegal.”

Norton’s Democratic colleagues on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, voiced support — even as some said they had not spoken to her amid this moment of crisis.

“I’m going to continue to support her and D.C., because many of my constituents work in D.C.,” said Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, who represents a district in the Virginia suburbs. “I know people have brought up the issue of her ability to serve. … I haven’t had a problem serving with her.”

Jeffries, speaking to reporters Tuesday in Illinois, said “I have not had a conversation with Delegate Norton as of yet, but have been in communication with Mayor Bowser [and] indicated that we are going to strongly support her efforts to defend the sovereignty and integrity of the District of Columbia.”

“I look forward to connecting with her at some point later on today,” he added later.

Shia Kapos contributed to this report from Springfield, Illinois.

Congress

Trump apparently shares Tom Cotton’s phone number in push to make Daylight Saving Time permanent

Published

19 hours ago

October 3, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump appeared to share Sen. Tom Cotton’s phone number in a Saturday morning social media post imploring the Arkansas Republican to get behind a bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.

“Almost everybody wants “The Sunshine Protection Act” to pass, except for Tom Cotton,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “To the Great People of Arkansas, please let your Senator know it would be a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate, and for America, itself.”

The president has spent months personally pushing Senate Republicans to end the practice that sees Americans change their clocks twice a year, cementing more sunlight hours in the evening for all twelve months of the calendar. Cotton, whom Trump called “a friend of mine” in the Saturday post, has long argued that making daylight saving time permanent would leave children, farmers and other early risers in the dark for hours on winter mornings.

One of Trump’s key selling points on Saturday: the PGA tour.

“The PGA TOUR, as an example, needs more Daylight in the afternoon in order to finish their Tournaments,” he said, attaching a letter from PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp endorsing the bill. ”Likewise, regular Golfers, Tennis Players, Hunters and, perhaps most importantly, Farmers who want more Daylight to play or work.

A Blue Light News call to the cellphone number went to voicemail. A spokesperson for Cotton did not respond to a request for comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The current version of the bill was introduced in the House in January 2025 by Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), with Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) leading the Senate version. The legislation would make daylight saving time permanent across most of the country, ending the twice-yearly clock changes. The legislation has been stalled in the Senate since July.

The president encouraged supporters of the bill, dubbed the “The Sunshine Protection Act,” to call Cotton to “let your Senator know it would be a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate, and for America, itself.”

During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, he publicly gave out the personal cellphone number of then-rival Sen. Lindsey Graham after the South Carolina Republican criticized him. Trump, who came to count on Graham as a reliable Senate ally after he won the presidency, revisited the moment during Graham’s funeral in July, acknowledging that sharing the number was something he “shouldn’t have done.”

Kelsey Brugger contributed to this report.

Congress

Sanders to rally for Troy Jackson in Maine

Published

2 days ago

October 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Bernie Sanders will hit the road for Troy Jackson in Maine starting Oct. 10, the first time the progressive leader will stump for the candidate this cycle.

The Vermont independent plans to hold three rallies with Jackson, according to an itinerary shared first with Blue Light News: first in Bangor on Oct. 10th followed by Lewiston and Biddeford on Oct. 11.

The Maine swing will kick off Sanders’ travel for the final stretch of the midterms, covering ground throughout October for House and Senate candidates, POLITICO reported.

“Bernie and Troy know that working people built this country and deserve a government that fights for them,” Jackson spokesperson Dan Gottlieb told Blue Light News. “Susan Collins has had nearly 30 years to deliver, and working Mainers are still getting squeezed while she serves the billionaires and corporate interests who bankroll her campaigns. Mainers don’t need another six years of excuses.”

Sanders campaigned ahead of major wins for progressives in the primary season, speaking at more than 60 rallies since last year’s Fight the Oligarchy tour and endorsing more than 90 candidates up and down the ballot.

He’s also opening his substantial $23 million campaign war chest, POLITICO reported, and contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars toMinnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan’s Senate campaign and others including Angie Nixon in Florida and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison,

Sanders will return to Maine after initially backing Graham Platner’s campaign for Senate. Allegations reported by POLITICO ultimately led him to call on the Democratic nominee to drop out of the race.

Sanders had not formally endorsed Jackson since he clinched the nomination from Platner, though he previously backed Jackson’s initial run for governor.

Congress

Hill: Trump’s ‘lack of favorability’ creating challenging politics

Published

2 days ago

October 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Financial Services Chair French Hill said he has “no concerns” about winning back his Arkansas seat in the upcoming midterm elections, but the six-term House member acknowledged the political headwinds for his party.

“I consider the atmosphere a very tough political environment right now because of President [Donald] Trump’s lack of favorability at the top, and you know people are concerned about, as I say, what it’s like to live under an inflated economy the last four years,” Hill said in an interview.

Hill is in a solidly red district, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, and said he is up against a “weaker candidate this time than I’ve had in past races.” Polling in the district, however, has shown a tighter race. The two polls done this year placed Democratic challenger Chris Jones ahead of Hill by a few percentage points. Any perceived polling victory for Jones is still well within the margin of error, and one of the polls had a Democratic sponsor.

Stephannie Lane Baker, a spokesperson for Jones, said that “of all the Republicans in Congress, the chairman of the Financial Services Committee doesn’t get to dodge responsibility for this economy. He’s in trouble, and he knows it.”

Additionally, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s PAC, Ready for the Fight, committed more than $1 million in television ads through the next five weeks for Jones’ race in Arkansas’s 2nd District, Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for the PAC confirmed. Overall Democratic spending on advertising for the race was just over $1 million, primarily made up by contributions from the Ready for the Fight PAC, with Republicans spending almost $2.7 million on ad buys, according to AdImpact, an advertising tracking service.

Hill said he has addressed affordability concerns “head on” this Congress.

“My work on housing, my work on the Price Stability Act, my work to try to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse, and drop the federal budget deficit as a percentage of GDP,” Hill said. “All these things can contribute to a more affordable environment for people. So I’ve tried to make that a forefront of my campaign this year.”

Hill was a key architect of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bipartisan housing affordability bill that became law in July. The Price Stability Act, which is unlikely to become law this year, would narrow the Federal Reserve’s current dual mandate of pursuing maximum employment and price stability to focus exclusively on containing inflation.