Congress

How Senate Republicans finally said ‘no’ to Ingrassia

Published

9 hours ago

October 23, 2025

Senate Republicans spent months quietly raising the alarm with the White House about Paul Ingrassia’s nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel before he withdrew from consideration this week.

Members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which was vetting President Donald Trump’s pick, were initially on edge this summer about his comments on social media and perceived lack of qualifications, according to interviews with GOP members of the panel.

Even close Trump allies, including Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, said they dug into his background and were uneasy with what they found. Ingrassia professed to have little memory of inflammatory social media posts and writings when he sat for a meeting with bipartisan committee staff in July, according to three Democratic aides who were present and granted anonymity to discuss the conversation.

Senators reached a breaking point this week after Blue Light News reported on texts that showed Ingrassia making racist and antisemitic remarks to fellow Republicans, as he was set to testify before the Senate Homeland committee on Thursday. Ingrassia announced Tuesday evening that he was withdrawing, citing a lack of GOP votes for his confirmation.

“It’s been ongoing for a while,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview Wednesday. “The members on the committee who have met with him and some of the stuff they had come up with during the vetting process, I think, created some — he had challenges.”

The derailment of Ingrassia’s nomination shows that even some of Trump’s most loyal defenders have limits when it comes to rubber-stamping his administration personnel. In the case of Ingrassia, Republican senators succeeded in blocking the nominee through limited public statements and months of privately putting the White House on notice.

The GOP pushback accelerated in July when he was first scheduled to testify before Senate Homeland Security — a hearing that was ultimately delayed.

In a July 21 meeting with Senate staffers, Ingrassia was asked about a December 2023 social media post where he said “exceptional white men are not only the builders of Western civilization but are the ones most capable of appreciating the fruits of our heritage,” according to the three aides in the room. Ingrassia responded by pointing to Leonardo da Vinci as an example of a great artist but then trailed off, the aides said.

“His most typical response was that he’s posted so many things he couldn’t recall,” said one of the aides.

Just before he was set to testify on July 24, his appearance was postponed.

Ingrassia and his attorney did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Sen. Rand Paul, the chair of Senate Homeland Security, declined to comment.

As Senate staff continued to vet Ingrassia, Republican offices backchanneled with the White House about the nominee’s dimming chances of confirmation.

Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican on Senate Homeland Security, said in an interview this week his office privately signaled to the White House “at a staff level” that he would not support Ingrassia’s confirmation.

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican on the panel, said in an interview he had “rolling conversations” with the White House about “what do I think about the nomination.” Hawley said that from the beginning his concerns were focused on a perceived lack of qualifications to lead the office, which investigates federal employee whistleblower complaints and discrimination claims. Ingrassia, a conservative lawyer and activist, would have been two decades younger and less experienced than recent leaders at the Office of Special Counsel.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Scott, whose home state of Florida has a large Jewish population, said in an interview this week that digging from Hill staff had turned up a litany of remarks that troubled him.

“We just reviewed things he had said in the past,” Scott said. “It was just a lot of antisemitic tropes.”

Scrutiny of the nomination ramped up earlier this month, after Blue Light News reported that Ingrassia, who has been serving as White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, was investigated for harassment involving a lower-ranking colleague. The colleague filed a complaint against him before retracting it. Ingrassia’s attorney denied the allegations.

On Monday, Blue Light News reported on a text chain that showed Ingrassia making a number of offensive remarks, including that he had a “Nazi streak” and that the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday “should be ended and tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs.” A lawyer for Ingrassia did not confirm the authenticity of the texts and said they “could be manipulated or are being provided with material context omitted.”

Hours before Ingrassia withdrew from consideration Tuesday, Paul in a POLITICO interview vented about Trump’s handling of the nomination and said Republicans should “man up” and bring their concerns about Ingrassia to the president.

“I’m waiting to see a little courage,” Paul said.

But Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), another member of the Homeland Security panel, denied that lawmakers had been reluctant to voice their concerns.

“Several of us … had direct conversations with the White House for a couple of months, actually,” he said.

Congress

101 Republicans to defend community finance program from Trump cuts

Published

59 minutes ago

October 23, 2025

Blue Light Newsroom

More than 100 Republican lawmakers are expected to sign on to a letter pushing back on the Trump administration’s move to eliminate a popular, bipartisan community development finance fund that helps small businesses and home buyers access capital in areas of the country underserved by big banks.

The congressional Republicans are pressing the Trump administration to reverse its decision to fire all employees at the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, according to the draft letter. The letter is expected to be sent to the administration Thursday.

The bicameral letter, led by Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, and Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who chairs the Senate’s Community Development Finance Caucus, is addressed to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Office of Management Director Russ Vought. The letter “strongly urge[s] the Administration to continue carrying out the statutory obligations of the CDFI Fund that are essential to ensuring private investments reach our states and districts.”

The large wave of GOP lawmakers that signed the letter signals widespread support among congressional Republicans for a program that the Trump administration has attempted to eviscerate.

The list of signatories obtained by Blue Light News includes 27 Senators and 74 House members. The letter was signed by key Republicans, including Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) Mike Flood (R-Neb.), and Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), among others.

The CDFI Fund awards federal dollars to CDFIs, which are community banks, credit unions and other financial institutions, that lend and provide other types of capital as part of a public-private partnership designed to increase the accessibility for communities traditionally underserved by the banking industry.

Congress

Blaming Democrats, Johnson won’t bring House back to pay air traffic controllers

Published

59 minutes ago

October 23, 2025

Blue Light Newsroom

Speaker Mike Johnson said he won’t bring the House back to vote to pay air traffic controllers and other essential employees, saying the measure “would be spiked in the Senate” anyway — and besides, “it would take the pressure off [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer to get his job done and open the government again.”

Johnson made the comments Thursday at a press conference with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who noted that the government shutdown is leaving already overworked air traffic controllers without pay, many of them forced to pick up second jobs to pay the bills.

“Next Tuesday is the first paycheck that they will not receive,” Duffy said of the air traffic controllers, warning that more flights would be canceled or delayed if that is necessary to keep the skies safe as the shutdown drags on.

Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has introduced a bill that would fund air traffic controllers. But Johnson, pressed by reporters about passing such a standalone bill in the House, noted that House Republicans have already approved a “clean” stopgap funding bill a month ago — which includes funding for air traffic controllers and TSA agents’ salaries. And, the speaker argued, even if he brought the House back to pay essential federal workers, Senate Democrats would block it.

“So it would be a waste of our time,” Johnson added.

A spokesperson for Schumer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump administration officials at the White House and the Transportation Department have been exploring ways to shift funding within the executive branch to pay air traffic controllers, but it’s a huge feat and would cost more than $500 million per month to pull off.

“I don’t know where we’re going to get it,” House Transportation Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) said in an interview. “It’s going to be really tough to find it.”

Johnson said White House officials “are running out of creative ideas, and there is not an existing pot of money that could cover the air traffic controller’s salaries right now. And so that is why we have to get the government reopened.”

Safety could become an issue as the shutdown stretches longer, Graves said.

“It’s not right now, but that’s a good question. I mean, it could eventually become one — a safety issue. If air traffic controllers don’t get paid, then they’re going to be frustrated because they have obligations as well,” Graves said. “This just needs to end. That’s just all there is to it.”

Congress

Capitol agenda: Senators start getting stir-crazy as shutdown drags on

Published

6 hours ago

October 23, 2025

Blue Light Newsroom

The shutdown is going into next week — at least. And senators are getting restless.

There’s little hope of movement anytime soon, with President Donald Trump leaving Washington Friday for a trip to Asia for at least several days.

“Everybody knows Mike Johnson is not going to take a single step without Donald Trump’s permission,” Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, a senior appropriator and the Senate’s next Democratic whip, told Blue Light News. “He has to get involved.”

But after weeks of daily votes on the House-passed continuing resolution, Republican leaders are starting to mix it up a bit. On Thursday, they’re hoping to split Democrats by holding a vote on a bill from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) to pay troops and some federal workers on the floor. That’s not expected to get enough Democratic support to pass.

Senate Republicans are looking to keep the pressure on next week. Senate Majority Leader John Thune took the step Wednesday to make two other bills available for a vote: another troop pay bill from Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and a bill to pay TSA employees and air traffic controllers from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

They’re also discussing voting on a bill from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) that would fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for the duration of the shutdown.

Meanwhile, talk of a new CR is heating up as Nov. 21, the expiration date for the House-passed stopgap, draws closer. Some Republicans are eyeing a punt though January or March. Other conservatives are pushing for a CR through December of next year, a plan that’s not likely to fly with appropriators.

“I’d like to get it done this year and not push it into next year,” said Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), who oversees Military Construction-VA spending. “Although there’s good arguments for doing that, we don’t have a whole lot of time left.”

While there’s little hope of an immediate path out of the shutdown, the mood appears to be lightening, at least. Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) are hosting a bipartisan lunch Thursday, and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) — who are part of the informal group trying to find an off-ramp — said they are planning to attend.

“There is a little bit of a better spirit. Something must be happening,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told Blue Light News about the vibe among senators Wednesday night.

What else we’re watching:

— Russia sanctions: The top Democrat on a bipartisan effort to punish Russia for the war in Ukraine praised new sanctions issued by the Trump administration Wednesday — but thinks they don’t go far enough. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said the secondary sanctions legislation he is spearheading with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — which Trump has been reluctant to green-light — is still necessary. Their bill would impose sanctions on countries lawmakers say are “fueling the Russian oil machine,” like China, India, Brazil and Hungary.

Jordain Carney and Calen Razor contributed to this report.