Congress

Graham vows to plow ahead with reconciliation for defense, homeland funding

Published

3 months ago

March 25, 2026

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday that his panel is moving “expeditiously” to unlock Senate Republicans’ ability to fund defense and homeland security priorities without Democrats’ help.

“The purpose of the second reconciliation bill is to make sure there is adequate funding to secure our homeland and to support our men and women in the military who are fighting so bravely,” Graham said in a statement. “More funding will mean they can complete the task assigned and keep America safe – which is money well spent.”

Graham added that a second reconciliation bill could also be used to “improve voter integrity,” a nod to Republicans’ plan to try to get parts of their election bill, known as the SAVE America Act, included to appease Trump.

The announcement came as some Republicans proposed this week using the budget reconciliation process, which allows a united majority to avoid the 60-vote filibuster threshold, to pass immigration enforcement funding Democrats oppose. It also comes as GOP leaders strategize over how to potentially pass a new slug of Pentagon funding as the war in Iran nears the one-month mark.

Graham’s comments Wednesday morning come after he met with Budget Committee Republicans Tuesday on what senators said afterward was a preliminary meeting to “touch gloves” about pursuing another reconciliation bill. Graham subsequently met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune to brief him on the closed-door discussion.

“Lindsey is moving down that path. And my expectation is if he does end up drafting a budget resolution it would be with a lot of input from members of the conference and something that I think we would be confident we could support on the floor,” Thune said.

The Senate needs to adopt a budget resolution before Senate Republicans can bring a filibuster-skirting policy bill to the floor. The budget resolution outlines which committees will have the drafting pen for the eventual bill and lays out broad fiscal targets the eventual bill will need to comply with.

Budget Committee Republicans discussed trying to get parts of the SAVE America Act, like incentivizing states to implement voter ID, and funding for ICE into a party line bill. Graham did not specify a timeline for when he will have a budget resolution ready.

Even as Graham is vowing to push forward, it’s still uncertain that congressional Republicans will actually be able to pass another reconciliation bill.

Congress

Dershowitz to testify on Epstein ties

Published

4 minutes ago

June 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Alan Dershowitz is scheduled to speak with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on July 20 as part of its ongoing Jeffery Epstein investigation.

“I asked to be allowed to set the record straight and correct various misconceptions,” Dershowitz said in a text message. “I look forward to doing so.”

The prominent criminal defense attorney who once represented O.J. Simpson and President Donald Trump also worked on Epstein’s 2008 plea deal, which many have argued allowed Epstein — who died by suicide behind bars in 2019 — to continue to prey on young women and girls for another several years before his later incarceration.

The Oversight Committee is separately set Friday to interview investor Leon Black, whose business dealings with Epstein have been under congressional scrutiny for years.

Congress

Hegseth to brief House Republicans on White House goals for party-line package

Published

1 hour ago

June 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to give a classified briefing Wednesday to a group of House Republicans about the administration’s goals for military funding and another party-line reconciliation bill, according to three people granted anonymity to describe a private meeting.

The gathering will take place during the Republican Study Committee’s weekly lunch and be held in the House SCIF, underscoring the potentially sensitive nature of Hegseth’s planned presentation.

Lawmakers are expected to also press Hegseth on the agreement the Trump administration has reached with Iran to end the war.

Congress

Turek leads Hinson in Iowa Senate poll of likely general election voters

Published

6 hours ago

June 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Iowa Democratic Senate nominee Josh Turek has a narrow lead over GOP rival Ashley Hinson in a new internal poll of likely general-election voters.

Turek leads Hinson 47 percent to 45 percent in the poll, conducted by Global Strategy Group from June 8-11 among 1,000 likely general election voters. The poll shows that Republicans have a 10-point edge in voter registration (42 percent to 32 percent) and an electorate that voted for Trump by 9 points (50 percent for Trump to 41 percent for Kamala Harris).

But the polling also shows President Donald Trump’s favorabilities underwater across the electorate, with 45 percent favorable and 52 percent unfavorable. Among registered independents, Trump is upside down 28 points.

Turek is “significantly outperforming the state’s underlying partisan dynamics,” Global Strategy Group’s Matt Canter & Ramzi Ebbini write in a memo first obtained by Blue Light News. “Republicans maintain substantial advantages in voter registration and party identification, yet Turek enters the general election ahead of Republican Ashley Hinson, with stronger personal favorability ratings, overperforming a generic Democrat, and with clear opportunities to expand his coalition as more voters become familiar with him.”

Some Republicans have acknowledged a concern about Iowa.

“There are some issues there that we got to deal with — the biggest one is trade — trade and tariffs,” said a Republican close to the White House, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the obstacles.

In his early general election messaging, Turek has leaned into farmers’ frustrations.

“Josh Turek is winning this race because Iowans are sick and tired of multi-millionaire politicians like Ashley Hinson who sell out working families while they get rich,” Turek for Iowa campaign manager Brendan Koch said in a statement first shared with Blue Light News. “We will spend the next 134 days connecting with Iowans in every corner of the state and across the political spectrum to send a fighter for the working class to the U.S. Senate.”