Congress

GOP unity cracks with latest Iran war vote

Published

2 months ago

April 30, 2026

GOP unity over the Iran war started to crack Thursday when Sen. Susan Collins of Maine voted with Democrats to halt the conflict, marking the first time a Republican has changed their vote on the military campaign in the Middle East.

While the vote failed, the shift signaled President Donald Trump could soon face far more resistance over the conflict. That’s especially true as he blows past a legal deadline this week for the U.S. to exit the war without congressional authorization.

Just two Republicans — Collins and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky — joined Democrats to support curtailing Trump in a 47-50 vote. Unlike Collins, Paul has supported all attempts to rein in the war. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania continued to be the lone Democrat to oppose the effort.

The measure is the sixth resolution the Senate has rejected since the conflict began in February.

The military campaign against Tehran will hit a 60-day deadline Friday that requires the administration to halt U.S. involvement unless Congress authorizes continued military action. Trump does not seem eager to end the military campaign unilaterally, and no legislation exists yet to green-light its continuation, meaning the war is certain to break the threshold.

Democrats have been counting on that deadline to sway Republicans, several of whom have said they’ll be hard pressed to continue their support beyond the deadline.

“Time’s up,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor. “Republicans, stop sitting out, start speaking up.”

The War Powers Resolution of 1973 limits U.S. involvement in hostilities to 60 days after the president has notified Congress, which the Trump administration provided March 2. The White House can extend military operations for another 30 days in order to wind down U.S. involvement.

Collins flipped her vote a day ahead of the administration’s legal deadline, which she signaled would be a turning point for her. The move by Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, also reflects her tough reelection bid as Democrats count on unseating her to win the majority. The war is largely unpopular, and her challenger, Graham Platner, is running on an anti-war platform.

“I have said from the very beginning that the law is definitive that at 60 days, Congress has to either authorize or block the military hostilities,” Collins said ahead of the vote. “I’ve been pretty clear what I was going to do at that point.”

Collins gave a preview of her vote Tuesday, when she joined with Democrats on a separate measure to block potential military action against Cuba. That measure was also defeated by Republicans.

Other GOP senators who indicated the 60-day mark would be problematic for them held off joining with Democrats on Thursday. One such Republican, Sen. John Curtis of Utah, said in a statement that he was “engaged in thoughtful discussion” on the path forward. But he also warned: “I will not support continued funding for the use of force without Congress weighing in.”

A White House official, granted anonymity to describe the dynamics of the 60-day deadline ahead of the vote, said the administration “is in active conversations with Blue Light News on this topic.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, though, suggested to senators on Thursday that the ceasefire would effectively negate the 60-day clock. War powers advocates contend that’s not how the statute works and note the U.S. military is still blockading Iranian ports.

Congress

Mitch McConnell is still in the hospital after medical episode, his office says

Published

1 day ago

July 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized, his office said in a statement Thursday — without offering details about a recent medical episode that has renewed concern about the health of the former Republican majority leader.

McConnell “continues his recovery in the hospital” and “continues to improve,” his office said.

“Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital,” the statement said. “The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”

The statement did not explain why he was hospitalized last month.

The update comes after multiple outlets reported details of a first responder dispatch call indicating emergency medical personnel responded to McConnell’s home last month to treat an unconscious person who had experienced “cardiac arrest.”

Blue Light News has not independently verified the dispatch call.

The 84-year-old senator, who is retiring at the end of this term, has experienced multiple medical incidents in recent years. On two occasions in 2023, he froze while speaking with reporters. He has also suffered multiple falls and temporarily used a wheelchair, a move his office described at the time as a precautionary measure.

Congress

House Ethics says it doesn’t have information to share on lawmaker sexual misconduct settlements

Published

2 days ago

July 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The House adopted a resolution Tuesday requiring the House Ethics Committee to release information on taxpayer funds used to pay out sexual misconduct settlements with lawmakers — but the committee now says it has no information it can share.

In a statement Thursday, the committee reiterated it does not manage sexual harassment lawsuits or their settlements; taxpayers have not footed the bill for those payments since 2018.

Since that time, according to the statement, “the Committee has not been notified of any awards or settlements relating to allegations of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or other sexual misconduct by a Member.”

Instead, the bipartisan Ethics Committee said it was up to the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to publicly release a list of each member who has received settlements for sexual misconduct allegations, as mandated by the resolution championed by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.).

The committee, in the Thursday statement, said it “fully supports the release of information about sexual misconduct settlements and calls on OCWR to abide by [the resolution] and make publicly available information about Member sexual misconduct matters resulting in payment of taxpayer funds.”

Massie, in a text message Thursday, said “OCWR can release it.”

The OCWR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The bipartisan Ethics Committee has been under pressure in recent months to show it takes allegations of sexual misconduct against colleagues seriously. Two former House members — Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) — were forced to resign earlier this year amid serious accusations against them.

The renewed reckoning has prompted new questions about whether the House is up to the task of policing its own. The resolution earlier this week was adopted nearly unanimously, with just one member, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), voting “present.”

House Ethics Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) said in an interview earlier this week that while he would support Massie’s resolution, the relevant “information was already out in the public domain.”

Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

Congress

AOC endorses El-Sayed in Michigan Senate race

Published

2 days ago

July 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) endorsed Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign for Michigan’s open Senate seat on Thursday, a decision that comes as progressives look to capitalize off a series of recent high-profile primary victories in New York, Colorado and elsewhere.

Her endorsement could provide El-Sayed with a critical boost just over a month before the state’s Aug. 4 primary. The former public health official is locked in a heated contest against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow for the right to take on Republican Mike Rogers in the general election.

It also comes as El-Sayed has risen to the top of the pack in recent public polling.

Virtually any Democratic path to flipping the Senate in this year’s midterms would see the party hold the open Michigan Senate seat, with two-term Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) retiring at the end of his term.

The race has emerged as perhaps the largest battleground over the ideological future of the party. El-Sayed, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2018, has collected endorsements from progressives, while Stevens has the tacit backing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, with AIPAC also boosting her candidacy.

El-Sayed, Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview with The New York Times, is her party’s best chance.

“Despite our ideological differences and whatever disagreements there are in the party, every single one of us sees this moment as existential,” she said. “And I think many people are willing to put aside differences in order to give us the best chance at winning. And I think that Abdul gives us that right now.”