Congress

GOP inaction stymies Trump’s bid to reshape Civil Rights Commission

Published

6 months ago

January 12, 2026

Inaction by Republican lawmakers has stymied the Trump administration’s efforts to wrest control of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, allowing the panel to slip back into Democratic hands for the time being.

That could have significant implications for the commission’s ongoing investigation into antisemitism on college campuses — making it more likely that the probe will scrutinize the Trump administration’s unprecedented pressure campaign against universities and dismantling of federal civil rights offices.

The commission lapsed into a 4-3 Democratic majority in December, after Senate Majority Leader John Thune failed to appoint a member to the 8-seat commission after a GOP appointee’s term expired.

A spokesperson for Thune told Blue Light News that the senator’s staff is “working on a number of appointments right now and look forward to filling this slot.”

Until then, the commission’s work will continue under a Democratic majority and Democrat-appointed Chair Rochelle Garza, who has maintained her role despite a purported demotion by the White House — and more recent threats that she would be detained by federal authorities and forcibly removed from her position.

“A lot of this is about intimidation and it’s about bullying and … taking over the commission,” she told Blue Light News. “If we are here to champion civil rights we have to do it above board and we cannot let anybody push us around, it doesn’t matter if you’re the president of the United States, there are rules.”

The White House did not respond to requests for comment for this story. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Blue Light News in April that Trump “reserves the right to fire anyone he wants” within the executive branch, shortly after Garza declined to comply with the administration’s decision to replace her as chair.

There’s an open seat on the panel after commissioner Gail Heriot’s term expired on Dec. 12. Heriot, an affirmative action critic who is formally listed as an independent, has been appointed by Republicans to multiple terms, most recently in 2019.

She stunned commission members and staffers last year by alleging a campaign of threats against Democratic members during an unusually contentious business meeting, according to four people who attended the meeting and spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive circumstances.

The alleged threats also include freezing the pay of staffers who work for Democrat appointees and terminating others if their bosses do not accede to the White House’s moves to demote Garza and the Democratic vice chair, Heriot said during the September meeting.

“I would love to be able to move full speed ahead on all of this and vote in favor of the President’s” nominees to replace the panel’s leadership, the former commissioner said. “But there is a much deeper problem … and that is that threats have been made to get the four Democratic Commissioners to vote ‘yes.’ I cannot be a party to that.”

Three other commission staff members familiar with the developments confirmed that employees heard about vague threats to their jobs and to physically remove the Democratic chair. The White House said last spring that it was “de-designating” Garza from her post, and elevating a Republican member instead. But the commission has not put the White House’s directive to a vote.

“I have no reason to believe that these threats are coming from President Trump himself or from his top advisors … but it does seem to be coming from somewhere in the administration,” Heriot said at the meeting, adding that she could not offer further details.

Heriot, whose term expired Dec. 12, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

A spokesperson for the commission told Blue Light News that its campus antisemitism investigation is ongoing and a final report is expected in September.

Colleges and universities “are cooperating with the investigation” and have sent back some interrogatories and data, the commission said. “Relevant agencies such as the Department of Education, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Health and Human Services, have been in communication with the Commission [and we are] currently awaiting responses and information from these federal agencies.”

Garza told Blue Light News she would continue to resist the moves to oust her, which she views as unlawful. “I’m not going to let anyone threaten or intimidate me into doing something I know is wrong,” she said.

Congress

Johnson says he will send housing bill to Trump on Monday

Published

11 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Speaker Mike Johsnon said he plans to send President Donald Trump a bipartisan housing bill Monday, just days after the president abruptly canceled a signing ceremony for the legislation after Congress failed to pass his elections security act.

Speaking with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Johnson said the 21st Century ROAD To Housing Act is a Republican priority for lowering costs for Americans.

“I’m going to send the bill over to him on Monday, and it will become law,” the Louisiana Republican told host Maria Bartiromo. “I certainly want him to take the biggest, boldest marker that he has and do that big Trump signature proudly on that legislation because we’re delivering for the people, and that’s what he wants to do.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Johnson’s remarks.

The bill is the product of almost a year of back-and-forth between all four congressional corners and aims to increase affordability by boosting housing supply and home ownership. It passed both chambers of Congress with wide bipartisan support.

Trump was scheduled to sign the bill into law last week but canceled the ceremony “until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency.”

Trump’s SAVE America Act would require voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box and effectively end mail-in voting. Trump has also said he would like the bill to include prohibitions on transgender athletes competing. But Republican leaders have repeatedly indicated the legislation does not have enough votes to pass.

Congressional leaders appeared taken aback by Trump’s signing cancellation, but Johnson on Sunday said he and the president have since met in the Oval Office to discuss the housing bill “in great detail.”

“We made a lot of promises to the voters, and we’re fulfilling those every single day of this Congress,” Johnson said. “This is a big part of that because this will increase the availability, the access to more housing, bring down cost, cut regulations, do the things we know are very important for that market. The president and I talked about that at length. Of course he wants to do those things.”

But if Trump does not sign the housing bill into law within the next few days, it would still become law unless he were to veto it. Congress also has the power to override a presidential veto.

Congress

Sen. Thom Tillis rails against Trump’s fixation on voting legislation

Published

11 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Thom Tillis on Sunday expressed frustration with President Donald Trump’s continued fixation on passing the SAVE America Act.

In an interview with BLN’s “Face the Nation,” the retiring North Carolina Republican lamented “the impossible task” of implementing the requirements of the legislation ahead of November’s crucial midterms.

“Why are we doing more things to undermine our confidence in elections, rather than getting the strong message out that will win for Republicans this year?” Tillis said.

Rather than promoting the bill — which would require voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box and effectively end widespread mail-in voting — Tillis said Republicans should tell voters about “the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America” while accepting the current voting laws.

“Win by the good results that Republicans have produced and stop undermining the confidence in the elections,” said Tillis. “This is a bedrock of our 250-year history of success as the democracy that changed the world. Let’s not mess with that between now and November.”

Trump has said the SAVE America Act is his “No. 1 priority” ahead of midterms, going so far as to abruptly cancel a bill signing for major bipartisan legislation on housing affordability until Congress passes his elections bill. But many Democrats are staunchly against the bill, arguing it could disenfranchise millions of voters, and Republican leaders in Congress have repeatedly indicated it does not have the votes to pass.

Tillis co-sponsored the original SAVE America Act but has objected to Trump’s version of the legislation, which would also bar transgender athletes from women’s sports.

It’s not the first time Tillis has clashed with Trump.

Earlier this year, Tillis blocked Trump’s Fed chair nominee, Kevin Warsh, until the Justice Department dropped an investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He has also spoken out against the Justice Department’s $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” calling it a “payout for punks.” And he has emerged as a fierce critic of Bill Pulte, Trump’s interim director of national intelligence.

“Let’s try and figure out a way to completely and finally end these distractions so that we can focus on the damage Democrats could do if they take the House, if they beat incumbent Republicans in the Senate. That’s what Republicans need to be talking about between now and November,” Tillis said Sunday.

Congress

Sen. Bill Cassidy on Trump: ‘Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage’

Published

12 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Bill Cassidy appeared to question President Donald Trump’s view of Congress, saying in an interview that he is not sure Trump grasps that Congress “is a separate body, separate from the presidency.”

“Sometimes he acts as if Congress is merely an appendage, and, frankly, sometimes Congress acts like it’s an appendage,” the Louisiana Republican said in a pre-taped interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” that aired Sunday.

The latest criticism in a public clash between the two leaders, Cassidy also told host Margaret Brennan that he would be focused on affordability, including the cost of health care and groceries, if he were president.

“If I were president, I would be focused on those people that they have, my people, our people, us at the kitchen table. How do you make their life better? And that’s what I think the president should be focused on,” Cassidy said.

The relationship between Cassidy and Trump has been rocky for some time. Cassidy was one of only a handful of Republican leaders who voted to convict Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Trump and Cassidy recently clashed in a closed-door meeting between GOP leaders, with Cassidy admitting he raised his voice to “match” the president’s.

“The president said something negative about me. I received it as attempting to bully me from asking a question that I think the American people need to know, and I’m not going to be bullied,” Cassidy said at the time.

However, after receiving a special briefing from Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff, Cassidy changed his vote on a resolution designed to rein in Trump’s power to wage war against Iran.

“They said right now the negotiations are delicate, and they could collapse if they’re not nursed along in the appropriate way. I can accept that,” Cassidy said.

“That’s the reason they said for their kind of lack of being forthcoming. I can accept that, but my goal was to be briefed, to have the truth in order to make a decision for the benefit of my country, and that was satisfied.”

Still, Cassidy’s stance against Trump has cost him: After serving more than a decade in the Senate, Cassidy lost his campaign for renomination after Trump endorsed against him. Rep. Julia Letlow will be the Louisiana Republican Senate candidate this fall.