Congress

‘Fighting for an affordable America’: Hakeem Jeffries unveils closing midterm pitch

Published

2 hours ago

July 26, 2026

BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania — Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ closing midterm pitch can be boiled down to a single word: “Affordability.”

“When you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to live a middle-class life, a comfortable life, an affordable life, live a good life,” Jeffries said at a Sunday speech. “You know what that looks like: a good-paying job, good housing, good health care, a good education for your children, and when it’s all said and done, a good retirement.”

“That’s the American dream,” he said.

The slogan “fighting for an affordable American” was plastered throughout a steelworkers’ union hall in Pennsylvania’s swingy Lehigh Valley where Jeffries kicked off the final 100 days until the midterms. He was joined by Pennsylvania’s popular governor, Josh Shapiro, who will appear on the ballot this November along with 7th District House candidate Bob Brooks, a firefighter union leader.

That Jeffries would double down on an affordability message is not a surprise. Democratic leaders have long heralded affordability and accountability as pillars of their midterm strategy. Senior Democrats have been meeting for months about how to sell an affirmative vision to voters.

Yet Jeffries’ latest commitment to a platform centered on lowering costs gives a clearer preview of how Democrats would govern in the majority and the type of legislation he would attempt to shepherd through his chamber as speaker.

“America cannot afford two more years of a MAGA Republican Congress,” Jeffries said. “As House Democrats, we will build an economy that works for everyday Americans and drive down the high cost of living in every possible area because life is too expensive.”

Speaking to reporters after the speech, Jeffries offered some more specifics about how he would seek to lower costs as speaker. He listed ending the Trump administration’s tariffs, extending Affordable Care Act tax credits, repealing the Republican’s co-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and ending the war in Iran.

Of course, House Democrats still have to hammer out the policies behind their promises to cut costs. Centrist and progressive caucuses have already pitched their own visions that seek to tackle the same goals via different legislative means. And Jeffries’ boldest ambitions would be curbed if Democrats can’t take back the Senate.

Brooks also shared his own vision to — as he said it in his speech — put “out the dumpster fire that we’re seeing in D.C. right now.” He named banning corporate PAC money, blocking congressional stock trading, raising the minimum wage, passing the union friendly PRO Act, setting term limits for lawmakers, cutting health care costs and ending overseas wars.

The Lehigh Valley venue was located in precisely the type of divided district that Democrats are banking on painting blue this cycle, one that will test both Shapiro and Jeffries’ political clout. Both are directing significant campaign resources to boost Brooks as Democrats try to take back control of the House.

Republican Rep. Ryan MacKenzie won the seat in 2024 by a single percentage point and the stakes of his victory loomed especially large with his predecessor Rep. Susan Wild in the room Sunday.

“It shows exactly how important PA-07 is, right?” Brooks said in an interview after the event. “They chose us out of all the races, and … to have now the support of Leader Jeffries coming in and getting behind me, like it just shows the emphasis on the race itself and what Pennsylvania can do for the national agenda.”

Brooks, Shapiro and Jeffries often framed their criticism of the Trump administration through the lens of rising costs brought on by alleged corruption, the war in Iran and Republicans’ 2025 party-line megabill that cut over $1 trillion in health spending.

But Jeffries also wants to ban stock trading for the president, vice president and Congress, release the Jeffrey Epstein files, “clean up” the Supreme Court and pass a sweeping voting protection bill.

“So the day the American people put Democrats back in charge of Congress, here is our promise to you: We are going to hold the crooks accountable,” Jeffries said. “Anyone who is stealing from the American people, screwing over the American people, or shortchanging the American people is going to be held accountable.”

If Jeffries has his druthers, the next 100 days will be almost all about affordability, how President Donald Trump and House Republicans are upping costs and how he and House Democrats would lower them for health care, groceries, child care, gas, utilities and more.

It might not be so simple, as insurgent left wing candidates attempt to commandeer that message with far less unifying issues for the Democratic party — U.S. support for Israel chief among them. In August, Democrat-on-Democrat infighting is taking place in primary contests involving Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Florida, Ed Case in Hawaii, Shri Thanedar in Michigan and John Larson in Connecticut.

But on Sunday, Jeffries wasn’t concerned with litigating intraparty bickering. He was laser focused on championing a message he believes every Democrat can run on and win.

“The Democratic party is not a cult of personality. We’re a coalition of public servants,” Jeffries said. “Our diversity of thought, perspective and life experience, like what Bob brings to the table, is a strength, not a weakness. We are one big tent united by a shared commitment to fighting for an affordable America.”

Congress

Comer: 1 NDA produced by Leon Black to House Oversight ‘unacceptable’

Published

2 days ago

July 24, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The House Oversight Committee on Friday received one non-disclosure agreement involving billionaire founder of Apollo Global Management Leon Black, an associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but the panel deemed it insufficient and promised to follow up with his attorney.

The panel had provided extra time for Black to produce the non-disclosure agreements, but his attorneys only turned over one.

“Leon Black isn’t acting in good faith,” a spokesperson for Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said. “The Committee agreed to extend the deadline two weeks for full production of all NDAs and his attorney has deliberately chosen to only produce one. This is unacceptable and the Committee will follow up with his attorney.”

Susan Estrich, Black’s lawyer, said she sent the committee one NDA between Black and Guzel Ganieva, an agreement she said Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019, was aware of. Ganieva and Black had an intimate relationship that resulted in Black making a payment to Ganieva for approximately $9.5 million. Ganieva filed a lawsuit against Black alleging sexual misconduct and defamation, which was dismissed by a judge in 2023.

“The responsive information includes the only confidentiality agreement that predated Epstein’s death and the only one of which Epstein was aware. Epstein was not involved with drafting this agreement,” Estrich said in a statement. “This confidentiality agreement with Guzel Ganieva resolved her attempts to extort Mr. Black.”

“The New York State Supreme Court dismissed Ms. Ganieva’s baseless lawsuit against Mr. Black with prejudice and that decision was affirmed by an appellate court,” the statement continued. “Ms. Ganieva expressly acknowledged that she never met Epstein.”

The House Oversight Committee’s subpoena demanded all NDAs for which Black is a party to, or that relate to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell — a convicted sex offender and Epstein accomplice — that Black may have in his possession.

That information “is vital” to the panel’s inquiry, Comer said when he issued the subpoena after Black refused to answer questions about the agreements. “We need the NDAs to be able to move forward with the investigation,” Comer said at the time.

Black told the committee in June that he paid Epstein $158 million between 2013 and 2017 for “highly valuable and legitimate tax and estate planning services for my family office.”

Estrich said, “to imply misconduct because of the existence of a confidentiality agreement is entirely unjustified” and argued the agreements “are routinely used in business.” She also noted that “to the extent that Mr. Black may have executed confidentiality agreements in his business and private endeavors, they are not relevant to the legitimate purpose of the Committee’s work.”

Estrich added that Black “had no awareness of the criminal activities that led to Epstein’s arrest in 2019” and that Black “never abused a woman.”

Congress

Inside Trump officials’ quiet maneuvering in Louisiana’s redistricting shakeup

Published

2 days ago

July 24, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The White House is quietly trying to discourage a candidate previously endorsed by the president from switching congressional districts in Louisiana, as the GOP looks to pick up an additional seat in the state following a freshly drawn gerrymander.

White House officials relayed in calls earlier this week that state Sen. Blake Miguez — whom President Donald Trump backed in February to run in Louisiana’s 5th District, which is being vacated by Rep. Julia Letlow — was making moves to run in the newly redrawn 6th District, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Republicans are seeking to flip the 6th District after the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down major parts of the Voting Rights Act allowed the state Legislature to lock in a new 5-to-1 GOP majority map. In May, state lawmakers erased Rep. Cleo Fields’ (D-La.) sprawling, majority-Black and majority-Democratic district in favor of a safely Republican one.

Miguez is facing allegations of sexually assaulting a woman in 2007. Miguez has denied the claims of sexual assault, which resurfaced in March media reports and blindsided many Trump officials, according to three other people with knowledge of the conversations.

Jon George, the White House Southeast regional political director, said in the calls this week that Trump officials told Miguez in a recent meeting he would not immediately have the president’s endorsement to enter the race for the 6th District. White House officials would continue to assess the race.

George said Trump’s endorsement of Miguez in the 5th District would not be rescinded. He said on the calls that Miguez then indicated he would still push ahead to run in the 6th District.

His campaign website is now locked and password protected.

The people with knowledge of the calls and the president’s political operations were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. When reached for comment, a White House official — similarly granted anonymity — reiterated Trump has not pulled his backing.

“President Trump has not rescinded his endorsement of Blake Miguez. He will look at the candidate field after candidate filing if necessary, but at this point he has not made any changes nor does [he] have an intent to,” the official said. “If new information changes things, [we] will cross that bridge when we get to it.”

Miguez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Louisiana’s redistricting transformed Fields’ district from one then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried by about 15 points in 2024 to one Trump would have won by over 30 points, according to calculations from The Downballot.

Fields announced earlier this week he will not seek reelection, instead running for the state Senate.

Trump endorsed Miguez in February to run in the 5th District, after he ended his Senate bid to help clear the field for Letlow, who was Trump’s pick to primary GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy.

The 5th District was deep red before the Legislature redrew the lines earlier this year, and remains safe Republican territory even as the boundaries shifted a bit. A slew of GOP candidates are already in the race to replace Letlow, including state Rep. Michael Echols, the majority leader of the Louisiana House of Representatives.

State. Sen. Rick Edmonds, Speaker Mike Johnson’s former pastor, and several other Republicans are either already in or taking steps to run in the 6th District. The state’s filing deadline is Aug. 7.

Liz Crampton contributed to this report.

Congress

Trump to Senate GOP: Adopt budget blueprint before August break

Published

2 days ago

July 24, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump is ramping up pressure on Senate Republicans to quickly advance a $95 billion budget blueprint — even as the mood on Capitol Hill signals GOP senators are inclined to wait until later this year, if ever.

“I am asking that the Senate adopt a Budget Resolution, which can pass with a simple Majority, before leaving for the August recess,” Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social. “We are ready to work side-by-side with the Senate to get this done for the American People!”

House Republicans approved the budget resolution before leaving town for weeks. It’s the first step in a two-part plan to use the reconciliation process to bypass the Senate filibuster and pass billions in funding for the Iran war, farm assistance and election-related grants.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune hasn’t directly ruled out taking up the budget blueprint but warned Thursday that he doesn’t believe it currently has the votes to succeed.

“I can’t count to 50 right now on a budget resolution, but we’ll see. … The priority is funding the government, and so to me, that’s the thing we’ve got to keep our eyes on,” Thune said.

Most Senate Republicans don’t expect Thune to put the measure on the floor before the Senate leaves town in early August for its extended summer break given the deep concerns surrounding the House’s blueprint inside the GOP conference: Deficit hawks want offsets, defense and farm-state Republicans want more money for their priorities and some GOP senators aren’t convinced they should pursue a third reconciliation bill to begin with.

Even if Thune was able to overcome all of those hurdles, the Senate will need to change the resolution to add instructions for its committees to draft portions of the reconciliation measure itself — meaning the House would need to vote on the budget resolution a second time later this year to kick off the reconciliation process in earnest.

But Trump is still attempting to twist Thune’s arm. Earlier this week he urged supporters to call the senate majority leader to tell him to pass the GOP election overhaul bill known as the SAVE America Act, noting parts of it could be included under a third reconciliation bill.

Some GOP senators have pointed out, however, that the SAVE America Act would need to be ruled germane to the reconciliation process by the Senate parliamentarian, and there’s no guarantee the proposal would withstand her scrutiny. A few GOP senators have also previously voted against versions of the bill.

Senate Republicans have also tried to explain to the president for months that the bill doesn’t have the 60 votes needed to advance and that there isn’t enough support to blow up the filibuster to ram it through that way, either.

Trump’s allies expect the president to keep hammering Thune in any case — though how hard Trump pushes could depend on the outcome of the midterms.