Connect with us

Congress

House spending leaders on Musk plan: We’ll see

Published

on

Asked about president-elect Donald Trump’s promise to have Elon Musk draw up plans to radically overhaul the government and “send shockwaves” through Washington, key Republicans on Blue Light News had a slightly more muted message: Sure, we’ll take a look.

“I mean, they might make recommendations that we go ‘nah, not going to do that’,” Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), who leads the panel that funds the Department of Interior and environmental agencies, said Wednesday. “But there’s nothing wrong with having an outside group of people looking at how you’re doing things and how you might be able to do them better.”

Trump announced a new “Department of Government Efficiency” Tuesday night, a non-governmental office with Musk and MAGA investor Vivek Ramaswamy at the helm. He promised “large scale structural reform,” and Musk has said it’s possible to cut “at least $2 trillion” from the federal budget by eradicating waste. (Whether in a year or over a decade, it’s not clear.) Ramaswamy’s vision includes crowdsourcing ideas from X users.

But importantly for any planned cuts, Congress still holds the purse strings. Any spending reductions need to run through appropriators on Capitol Hill, and lawmakers — even budget hawks friendly to the idea — are waiting to see the office’s actual recommendations.

“I’d be very interested in whatever they had to say,” House Appropriations Chair Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told reporters. But he poured water on the prospect of the commission quickly taking out $2 trillion in discretionary spending — the levels his committee sets every year.

“Two trillion when you spend roughly six trillion a year — that’s hard to find,” he added. “That would actually push you into Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, so I don’t know how real these figures are.”

“I don’t think they’re walking in with any preconceived notion that this needs to be cut,” said Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), who is running to lead the influential House and Commerce Committee. “We’ll have to see what they come up with.”

Musk has a fan in House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), who said he was “excited” about the billionaire’s plans and even has some ideas of his own. “Of course, I’m going to try to meet with him. I got a plan I’d like to share with him,” he said.

Democrats were much more skeptical. “Tell me what you’re going to do. You’ve got a dollar amount, but where the hell are you going to find it and from whom?,” asked Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. “There are a whole lot of people who want to deal with the appropriations process and don’t know anything about the appropriations process.”

Reporters Jennifer Scholtes and David Lim contributed to this report. 

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Congress

Massie files to run in 2028 after losing House primary

Published

on

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie filed on Monday to run for his Kentucky House seat in 2028, less than a week after losing a primary fight against a challenger backed by President Donald Trump.

Massie became the latest victim of Trump’s revenge tour last week when former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein successfully ousted him in a primary that shattered electoral spending records.

Trump repeatedly railed against Massie, who has broken with the president on several high-profile issues in recent months, including the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran. Massie also helped lead the congressional effort to force Trump to release the federal government’s files on deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Advertising spending in his primary fight — the most expensive on record — surpassed $32 million as pro-Israel interest groups poured millions into the effort to unseat Massie, who has been an outspoken critic of Israel during his time in Congress.

Massie said in a Monday afternoon statement that the move would allow him “to raise funds to continue my political operations supporting my position as a current office holder and as a potential candidate for federal office,” adding that he had not yet decided which office to seek.

Trump also succeeded in pushing out other Republicans who challenged his leadership in Louisiana and Georgia last week, with GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Brad Raffensperger both losing to Trump-endorsed opponents.

The president also forced out several Indiana state lawmakers who opposed his nationwide redistricting efforts earlier this month, once more proving his iron grip on the party.

But Republicans in Congress and GOP operatives are fretting that Trump’s laserlike focus on vengeance could imperil the party’s legislative agenda ahead of this fall’s midterm elections and potentially cost the GOP control of Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s seat. Trump handed down an eleventh-hour endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last week, more than two months after promising to weigh in on the ugly primary fight.

Continue Reading

Congress

Khanna expresses disappointment about Massie’s defeat

Published

on

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) expressed disappointment Sunday morning that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) lost his primary last week.

Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Khanna said of his reaction: “Sadness, disappointment. Thomas is a real friend. He’s a good man.”

Khanna and Massie are very much on opposite ends of the classic left-right ideological spectrum, but they came together to introduce the Epstein Files Transparency Act, requiring the release of files in the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. They also joined together to attempt, unsuccessfully, to block U.S. involvement in Iran.

Those efforts, as well as other votes, led President Donald Trump to repeatedly denounce Massie and campaign on behalf of Ed Gallrein, Massie’s challenger in their Kentucky congressional district. Gallrein won the primary last week with approximately 55 percent of the vote.

Speaking to host Kristen Welker, Khanna offered his analysis of Massie’s defeat.

“He was taken out for two reasons,” Khanna said. “One: He had the courage to go after some very powerful people in working with me to get the Epstein Transparency Act passed. As you mentioned, that’s historic bipartisan legislation that finally got justice for the survivors. And he had people spend millions of dollars and had the president of the United States after him.

“And second, he worked with me to stop this war in Iran. So for taking on the Epstein class and taking on war, he basically lost his state. And I admire his courage in taking those positions.”

With talk this weekend of a possible deal with Iran, Khanna said it is time for the war to come to an end.

“The answer to your question is yes. I do believe we need a negotiated deal,” he told Welker.

Continue Reading

Congress

Absent congressmember Tom Kean Jr. starts working the phone

Published

on

Rep. Tom Kean Jr., whose two-and-a-half month disappearance has stoked speculation about his health and political future, has begun more actively communicating over the phone.

On Thursday, Kean began calling Republican county chairs in his 7th Congressional District, one of the most competitive in the country in this year’s midterms. The two-term Republican also gave a “lengthy” interview to New Jersey Globe on Thursday afternoon, the first he has granted since he last voted on March 5.

Kean did not respond to a text message from Blue Light News and his voicemail was full Thursday night.

But Kean, 57, gave no details to the Globe on his undisclosed illness, which has kept him out of public view since early March. He said he’s expecting to make a full recovery, that it would not affect his cognitive health, that he plans to run for reelection and that he will publicly discuss his health at an unspecified later date.

“My doctors are confident that I’m on the road to a full recovery,” Kean told New Jersey Globe. “I understand the need for public transparency, and I appreciate the support of my constituents.”

Kean added that he plans to return to voting and campaigning in the next couple weeks. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), chair of the House GOP’s campaign arm, told reporters Thursday he spoke to Kean and he will be back voting in June.

Kean’s lengthy absence has drawn national media attention, with reporters staking out his home in the wealthy 7th Congressional District, where he faces an extremely competitive reelection, with four Democrats competing in the June 2 primary to take him on in November. His campaign and office staff had repeatedly said that he expects to make a full recovery and would return to work “soon.”

But few people — even Kean’s two fellow New Jersey House Republicans — had recently reported speaking to him. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that he spoke to Kean last month.

Kean called Republican chairs in his district on Thursday.

“He sounded good to me. Sounded just as normal as always,” said Carlos Santos, the Republican chair of Union County, where Kean lives.

Santos said that he did not ask Kean about his ailment, and that Kean did not disclose it. But he said Kean confirmed he’s running for reelection and that he has his support.

Tracy DiFrancesco, the GOP chair of Somerset County, also spoke with Kean.

“It was just a simple conversation. He sounded just like Tom always sounds. He sounded perfectly fine. He’s basically back. Hopefully we’re going to see him very soon,” she said. “I think he’s doing well and we’re excited to get back on his campaign.”

Continue Reading

Trending