Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) said Tuesday he doesn’t intend to run for president in 2028 or 2032 in an interview with Blue Light News’s Jonathan Martin.

“Where we are in our life, we have six daughters, I’m 60 years old, had a great private sector career,” McCormick said at Blue Light News’s AI & Tech Summit in Washington. “So this was the the penultimate chapter, the ability to make a difference.”

McCormick, who first ran for then-outgoing Sen. Pat Toomey’s seat in 2022, said losing the GOP primary that year to Dr. Mehmet Oz by less than 1,000 votes was “excruciatingly hard” but ultimately made him a stronger candidate. He then narrowly defeated then-Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) in 2024.

Prior to his first Senate run, McCormick — a military veteran who served in the George W. Bush administration — led Bridgewater Associates, one of the largest hedge funds in the world.

“I look back at my first campaign and some of the things, some of the the media hits, and I cringe,” he said. “I look at my second campaign and I’m like, ‘OK, that’s a guy who knows why he’s doing it, knows what he’s trying to get done.’ And so it was a blessing. I didn’t think so at the time, it was a blessing.”

The GOP senator has been an ally of President Donald Trump since he joined Congress earlier this year.

McCormick, who is married to former deputy national security adviser Dina Powell, said that his children were opposed to both his 2022 and 2024 Senate bids but that he ultimately considers it “a privilege” to be serving in Congress.

Embattled FBI director Kash Patel defended his leadership of the nation’s top law enforcement agency in opening remarks Tuesday morning before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I’m honored to be the ninth director of the FBI — I’m not going anywhere,” he told lawmakers. “If you want to criticize my 16 years of service, please bring it on.”

It could set the tone for the Judiciary panel’s annual oversight hearing of the FBI, which comes amid increased scrutiny of Patel in the aftermath of last week’s assassination of conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk.

In the wake of the killing, Patel posted on social media that the government had a suspect in custody — only to post shortly thereafter that the suspect, who was not the killer, had been released. Patel defended the bureau’s handling of the investigation in his opening statement, while Sen. Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley opened the proceedings by noting the FBI director would have to answer for the department’s handling of the situation.

Patel, in his remarks, also criticized the Justice Department’s handling of the sex crimes case against Jeffrey Epstein in the George W. Bush administration, including calling out former U.S. attorney Alex Acosta, who oversaw Epstein’s controversial plea deal. Acosta later served as Labor Secretary in the first Trump administration but resigned in the midst of criticism of his handling of the Epstein deal. He is scheduled to be interviewed by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Friday as part of its Epstein probe.

In his own opening statement, Sen. Dick Durbin, the committee’s top Democrat, previewed what questions could look like from his side of the aisle: He took aim at the recent firings at the FBI, Patel’s background as a Trump loyalist and the current administration’s approach to the Epstein case.

Anticipating that the recent surge in political violence will be a theme at the Tuesday hearing, Durbin also argued that both sides bore a responsibility for turning down the temperature in partisan rhetoric: Democrats were not to blame for Kirk’s assassination, he said, nor were Republicans responsible for the murder of Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman back in June.

Senators will each be allotted ten minutes to question Patel, who is appearing before lawmakers on Capitol Hill for the first time since his confirmation. He’ll testify Wednesday in front of the House Judiciary Committee for its own FBI oversight hearing.

Republicans are bracing for weekend work to push through a stopgap funding bill. The first step: reaching consensus on new money for member security.

The debate around the cost and viability of additional security measures — elevated in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination — will come to a head in Tuesday morning’s House GOP conference meeting. Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) will brief members on current security resources and what additional options might look like.

GOP leaders think the most viable plan is to extend the expiring pilot program — which provides security for members when they’re home in their districts — through the length of the continuing resolution. They’ve discussed a range of alternatives but are circling an additional $30 to $50 million, according to two people granted anonymity to describe the talks.

“I get it’s going to cost a lot of money, but funerals aren’t cheap either and we need to have some protection for certain members,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) told reporters Monday.

If House GOP leaders unveil CR text later Tuesday as they hope, the chamber likely won’t vote until Friday. That means the Senate could be working on Saturday or beyond to meet Majority Leader John Thune’s target of wrapping things before next week’s scheduled recess.

And that’s if Democrats cooperate, which is a big “if.”

Meanwhile, the bigger picture is coming into focus as a group of GOP senators begin crafting legislation to extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies with policy changes designed to win over fellow Republicans.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said Monday he was “part of the group that’s working on the wording to make sure we do it right.” It comes as more Republicans acknowledge the political risk of allowing insurance premiums to hike on Jan. 1.

But Democrats are still waiting for Republicans to sit down and negotiate a funding deal, which could encompass an extension of the ACA subsidies.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have not publicly outlined a specific policy demand that Republicans would have to offer in order to secure votes for the CR. Instead, Schumer is pushing for a “bipartisan negotiation where we can address some of the grave harms Trump has caused to our health care system.”

Thune continues to wave off Democrats’ calls for more talks and is ruling out a deal on the expiring tax credits for now.

“I don’t know at this point if there’s a lot to talk about,” Thune told Blue Light News on Monday evening, adding that the subsidies “will be an issue for hopefully in November when the time comes.”

What else we’re watching:   

— Patel hits Blue Light News: FBI Director Kash Patel will be in the congressional hot seat Tuesday in front of Senate Judiciary and Wednesday before House Judiciary. Expect lawmakers of both parties to grill him on the agency’s handling of the assassination of Charlie Kirk and its decision to withhold materials in the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, along with firings at the bureau under Patel’s watch.

— Senators re-up tariff fight: Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is leading a bipartisan effort this week to force a vote that would roll back Trump’s “emergency” tariffs on Canada and Brazil. He and his allies, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), think their past success with a similar measure and increased public anxiety about higher prices will earn them the necessary votes this time.

— Greene’s weather forecast: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has previously stoked conspiracy theories about weather manipulation on social media. She’ll use her Oversight gavel Tuesday to elevate her concerns on Capitol Hill. Her DOGE subcommittee hearing will ostensibly examine cloud-seeding and solar geoengineering — methods that could increase rainfall or limit the amount of sunlight absorbed by the earth.

Meredith Lee Hill, Jordain Carney, Benjamin Guggenheim, Hailey Fuchs and Ari Hawkins contributed to this report.