Congress
Henry Cuellar faces opposition as he seeks to regain powerful spending post
Some Democrats are uneasy about a push to restore Rep. Henry Cuellar to a powerful committee role following a pardon from President Donald Trump, potentially complicating his bid to regain influence over federal spending.
Cuellar relinquished his post as the top Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee overseeing Homeland Security funding in 2024 after he was indicted on federal corruption charges. But following Trump’s pardon last week, party leaders have indicated that he is now eligible to retake the post under caucus rules.
But not all of his fellow House Democrats are comfortable with a lawmaker accused of bribery and other offenses regaining direct control over more than $60 billion in annual spending, especially with a parallel Ethics Committee investigation still in motion. Compounding these concerns are Cuellar’s relatively conservative views on border policy and his potential sway over the budgets for agencies including Border Patrol and ICE.
The matter is in the hands of the 27 Democratic members of the House Appropriations Committee, who are set to take a secret ballot vote Thursday to determine Cuellar’s future on the panel.
Several have private misgivings, and the fact that the vote is even happening means at least one Democratic appropriator privately objected to Cuellar’s return as ranking member. Otherwise, he would have been approved by acclamation.
“That position is critical — it’s Homeland Security,” said a Democratic appropriator granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. “Your moral values are important — at least mine are — and I can’t look at myself in the mirror and vote for him.”
Rep. Lauren Underwood of Illinois, who has served as the top Democrat on Homeland Security since Cuellar was indicted, could vote to keep Cuellar out so she can keep the job. Another appropriator, Rep. Grace Meng of New York, said Wednesday she was undecided on the matter.
Other wild cards include Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, who led a push to formally reprimand a Democratic colleague last month, and Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois, who might vote in state solidarity with Underwood. Quigley had been leapfrogged by a more senior lawmaker who returned to the panel and has voiced criticism of Democratic leaders since then.
A spokesperson for Cuellar declined to comment.
The veteran Texas Democrat has been quietly canvassing members about regaining his role and reassuring those in his party who question the optics of wiping away an indictment sought by former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department at a time when the party is focusing on Trump’s alleged ethical violations.
Top party leaders have not weighed in directly on the matter. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday that Cuellar was likely to regain his committee leadership position, citing the caucus rules, while Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Appropriations Democrat, in a statement merely acknowledged the Thursday vote.
“We are holding a meeting tomorrow to discuss several issues, including who will serve as Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee,” the statement said.
The dilemma comes as some Democrats are making a high-profile push to police ethical transgressions in the party ranks. Last month, almost two dozen Democrats led by Gluesenkamp Perez broke ranks to reprimand outgoing Illinois Rep. Chuy García for apparently engineering his surprise retirement announcement to ensure a favored ally would succeed him.
Democrats have railed against Trump’s use of his clemency powers, which has benefited political allies and major donors. Cuellar’s pardon puts him in the company of such figures as former Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich and ex-Rep. George Santos, who are odious to Democrats.
“I’ve had nothing but good interactions with Henry in Congress, but we can’t be the party of following the law and say it’s just fine to break it and get a pardon from Trump,” said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), who is running for Senate.
Several other Democrats this week aired criticism of Trump’s pardons without specifically commenting on Cuellar and his bid to regain power inside the Democratic Caucus.
“President Trump’s continued efforts to pardon politicians that are either convicted or accused of corruption is just wrong,” said Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.). “And this is exactly the kind of problem that causes so many Americans to lose trust and faith in our politics.”
Kim, a former member of the House, succeeded Sen. Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who is currently serving a prison sentence for bribery and other charges.
“I don’t agree with any of the president’s pardons of members of Congress,” said Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), who is also running for Senate.
Cuellar was indicted on federal corruption charges that alleged he took some $600,000 in bribes from foreign entities. Still, the veteran lawmaker remains largely popular with his fellow Democrats, some of whom argued that with the indictment wiped away, the process had run its course.
“Under our system of laws, you’re still innocent until proven guilty,” said Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.). “He was indicted but never went to trial — was never proven to be guilty, never proven to be innocent, because there was no trial, but the pardon overrides that. That’s how the ball bounces.”
Others deflected criticism to Trump, who suggested in social media posts after the pardon that he expected Cuellar to retire or switch parties and run as a Republican in a gesture of gratitude. Instead Cuellar filed for re-election as a Democrat almost immediately after the pardon came through, and with the legal cloud over his campaign lifted, it increases the chances his seat will remain in Democratic hands in 2026.
“Nothing else seems to compare to this president and the abuse of the pardon power to get things he wants, including potentially people switching their party affiliation,” said Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio).
Cuellar’s allies quietly insist he shouldn’t be sidelined given his unique ability to win a South Texas district that Republicans have targeted for years — and recently redrew in hopes of ousting him. Now, with the pardon, even some Republicans acknowledge he’s in prime position to remain in Congress — and potentially hold a gavel next year if the majority flips.
“He’s going to have a very merry Christmas,” said Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas).
Calen Razor and Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report
President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson will meet at the White House Tuesday with the executives of top artificial intelligence companies, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss private plans.
The meeting comes as Congress is coming under increasing pressure to put federal guardrails on AI development, as fears mount that technological advancements could soon spiral beyond human control.
Responding to some warnings that AI development was on track to cause human extinction by the end of the decade, Johnson has said he wants Trump and AI CEOs to “go in a big room, close the door and sort this out.” He has yet to endorse major legislative action to address the issue, as Trump has resisted calls for government regulations, citing concerns about lagging behind China.
The president and speaker were in attendance at the State Dinner on Thursday night in honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, as were OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. It was not immediately clear which of these executives would be invited to next week’s meeting, and who will be participating.
News that the meeting had been scheduled was first reported by Axios.
A group of 10 Democrats has signed on to Rep. Greg Casar’s (D-Texas) bill that would ban superintelligence and pause advanced AI development until a vetting regime could be stood up.
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), both of whom are mulling a 2028 presidential run, are cosponsoring the bill, named the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act.
Khanna, in a statement, noted that he convened a hearing this week on AI safety cooperation between the U.S. and China as ranking member of the House China Select Committee with AI experts who underscored the need for a verifiable pause on superintelligence.
AI superintelligence is an as-yet hypothetical form of the advanced technology that surpasses humans’ cognitive capabilities, but exactly when AI crosses the threshold into superintelligence remains contested. The bill would subject violators to a 20-year prison sentence.
The support from prominent progressives in the Democratic caucus comes as the party is navigating how they would approach AI regulation should they retake control of one or both chambers in November.
Other cosponsors include Reps. Analilia Mejia of New Jersey, Yassamin Ansari and Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, Val Hoyle of Oregon, Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, Chuy García of Illinois, Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania and Nydia Velázquez of New York.
“We absolutely have to slow down and regulate the advancement of dangerous AI technologies that have the potential to spiral out-of-control and threaten humanity,” Ansari said.
To Lynch, a string of recent AI-led cyberbreaches has “shown us that the advanced forms of this are out of control,” he said in an interview. “We haven’t really solved that control problem yet, nor have we got the alignment problem right yet.”
Casar’s bill, introduced this week with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), is among the most stringent AI regulations proposed by either party.
Rather than focusing on bans as Casar and his progressive allies have done, centrist Democrats are looking to legislative proposals they say can address the technology’s risks without stifling innovation.
Senate Republicans are discussing whether to call up a data center utility costs bill as they make plans to stay in Washington next week rather than beat an early exit before the midterms.
Two GOP aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the Senate will remain in town amid pressure from some corners of the party to send members home early to campaign.
Asked if the Senate will stay next week, Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday it’s “looking that way.”
While some lawmakers had hoped to move a long-brewing bipartisan energy permitting deal, those hopes have evaporated, and GOP leaders are instead eyeing votes on the Ratepayer Protection Act — a top priority of endangered Ohio Sen. Jon Husted.
Thune said Thursday moving to the data-center-focused bill next week “is an option.” The Senate is also expected to take up a Democratic resolution condemning the Iran war and several presidential nominations.
The Ratepayer Protection Act easily passed the House earlier this month, but some Senate Democrats are arguing it does not go far enough and party leaders could be motivated to deny Husted a pre-election win.
Josh Siegel contributed to this report.
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