Congress

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

Published

8 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

Appeals court’s Capitol steps ruling may signal trouble for Trump on media ban

Published

1 hour ago

September 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

A federal appeals court ruling Tuesday on demonstrators’ access to the steps of the Capitol could bode poorly for President Donald Trump’s attempt to ban three media organizations from the White House.

The majority opinion, written by Trump appointee Neomi Rao, concluded that the East Steps of the Capitol are a “nonpublic forum” — just like most areas of the White House grounds, including the press facilities. While the government may impose restrictions on access to those nonpublic areas, the limits must be “viewpoint neutral,” apply “objective, workable standards” and not permit officials to exercise “unbridled discretion over a forum’s use,” the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel concluded.

“A regulation that grants the government arbitrary control over who may speak invites the suppression of disfavored viewpoints and undermines the First Amendment’s core protections,” wrote Rao, who was joined in the majority by Judge Karen Henderson, a George H.W. Bush appointee.

The ruling, on the eve of a hearing over restoring White House accessfor Blue Light News, BLN and MS NOW, reaffirms the D.C. Circuit’s longstanding First Amendment precedents at an inopportune time for Trump. The president has explicitly described his ban on the three outlets as a punishment for publishing what he calls “fake news.”

“Fake News people and publications that only write negatively, and who violate our National Security by writing false and defamatory stories with unknown ‘sources,’ shouldn’t be allowed access to the most important Office anywhere in the World,” Trump said on social media Monday.

The outlets have said their access was revoked because the White House objected to their reporting and that the ban “threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”

The D.C. Circuit would hear any appeals in the litigation over Trump’s media ban, and Trump has in fact already said he anticipates filing an appeal, presuming that he will be dealt a defeat in district court.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The D.C. Circuit’s Tuesday ruling stemmed from a lawsuit brought by Patrick Mahoney, a clergyman who sought to hold prayer vigils and demonstrations on the East Steps of the Capitol several months after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack, which resulted in new access restrictions. His permit was denied in part based on Capitol Police regulations that prohibit public demonstrations on the steps unless they are sponsored by a member of Congress.

Though the case has inched through the courts for years, Tuesday’s ruling resolves a key question, labeling the Capitol’s East Steps a “nonpublic forum” for which congressional authorities may restrict public access — in part because lawmakers use those steps to enter and exit the building.

But allowing members of Congress to sponsor gatherings on the steps creates an arbitrary system, the majority concluded.

“Because the protection of unpopular speech and advocacy is central to the First Amendment, we cannot leave it to the selective enforcement of members,” Rao wrote.

Notably, Rao’s opinion cites a D.C. Circuit ruling last year that concluded “it would be unreasonable to control access to White House press facilities through standardless discretion.”

The third judge on the panel, Clinton appointee Judith Rogers, dissented, but her opinion was even more protective of free-speech rights.

Rogers said she agreed with her colleagues that the “selective exception” for demonstrations sponsored by lawmakers was unconstitutional. However, she said she would have held that the lower portion of the Capitol steps was a public forum where the government was obligated to permit protest activity.

Congress

Ohio stations ignore Max Miller’s legal threat, run Democratic challenger’s ad

Published

3 hours ago

September 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Ohio television stations are so far choosing to ignore a legal threat from GOP Rep. Max Miller and broadcast an ad from his Democratic challenger centered on the allegations of domestic abuse Miller faces from his ex-wife.

A lawyer for Miller demanded that Cleveland-area television station WKYC not publish “false, malicious, and defamatory statements” in a Thursday cease-and-desist letter first reported by Blue Light News.

WKYC ran the ad Tuesday morning, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact, as did two other Cleveland stations, WEWS and WOIO.

The 30-second ad from the Poindexter campaign and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee depicts a local sheriff listing the accusations levied against Miller levied by Emily Moreno, his ex-wife and the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio). Miller has repeatedly denied the abuse allegations.

“The ad mentioned is filled with lies,” Miller spokesperson Abigail Angelos said in a statement. “Each of the statements in the advertisement are entirely unsubstantiated and contradicted by evidence.”

Representatives for the three TV stations did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Poindexter responded to the legal threat by tearing up the cease-and-desist letter in a campaign video.

Before the ad, Poindexter had focused his campaign on his working-class background and cost-of-living issues. Now the campaign has gotten intensely personal: The Democrat is on air publicizing Miller’s family dispute, while Miller’s campaign is lobbing accusations about Poindexter’s past run-ins with law enforcement in an ad paid for by the NRCC.

NRCC spokesperson Zach Bannon said in a statement that Poindexter is “completely out of touch with Northeast Ohio” and is a “life-long criminal” who is “fully embracing the radical far-left socialist agenda.”

Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.

Congress

GOP Senator wants to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. over Russian-funded wedding

Published

6 hours ago

September 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

A Senate Republican from Utah is asking the Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. following reports that the president’s son had parts of his wedding paid for by a Russian oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Sen. John Curtis’ request, which comes following a news story by ProPublica, marks a significant break with President Donald Trump from a member of his own party.

“Questions have arisen about the relationships of President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., with foreign business figures and the acceptance of significant gifts. These include a lavish wedding afterparty, on a private island, provided by Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, who reportedly traveled to China as part of a delegation accompanying Vladimir Putin shortly before giving the gift,” Curtis wrote in a letter dated Sept. 21 to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.

“These concerns are compounded by Donald Trump Jr.’s active promotion of family-backed cryptocurrency ventures, his continued pursuit of international real estate deals involving direct meetings with foreign heads of state, and his reported investments in defense contracting,” Curtis added.

Curtis, also noting the profits the Trump family has made through cryptocurrency deals, indicated this incident is part of a broader pattern where the relatives of U.S. presidents can improperly leverage their proximity to power.

In addition to probing Trump Jr., Curtis asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who over the years found himself enveloped in numerous self-dealing scandals. Both men, he said, should testify “regarding their past business dealings, relationships with foreign individuals and entities, gifts, or other benefits they have received, and any instances in which their relationship to the President was invoked or understood to provide value.”

“The country should not have to accept one standard for the family of a Republican president and another for the family of a Democratic president. Nor should congressional oversight begin and end when control of the White House changes hands,” Curtis said.

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday, but it’s unlikely that Trump, who demands loyalty from the GOP, will consider the bipartisan nature of Curtis’ request to be anything other than a personal affront.

Trump said in a statement he has “no idea who Umar is” and that he has “never heard of him, and he didn’t pay for Don and Bettina’s wedding, which took place at a totally different location, and on a different day from the wedding.”

Kremlev is president of the International Boxing Association and received an Order of Friendship medal from Putin for his “contribution to international sport and his commitment to the global boxing family.” He’s also been sanctioned by the Ukrainian government for his ties to Putin.

A spokesperson for Judiciary Committee Republicans confirmed Grassley was in receipt of the letter but could not commit to investigating the matter. The spokesperson noted that hearing dates are extremely limited through the end of 2026 and investigative hearings usually take months of background work before they can be scheduled.

It’s sure to be an issue Democrats pursue if they win the majority in either chamber next year. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrote to the White House and Donald Trump Jr. last week demanding information about the president’s son’s ties to Kremlev.

Cheyanne M. Daniels contributed to this report.