Congress

It was Pam Bondi’s hearing. Kash Patel was in the hot seat.

Published

2 years ago

January 15, 2025

If you closed your eyes, you might’ve thought Kash Patel was in the witness chair.

Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats spent Wednesday pummeling President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to become FBI director at a confirmation hearing for his prospective boss: attorney general nominee Pam Bondi.

Ranking member Dick Durbin of Illinois raised Patel’s commentary about QAnon conspiracy theories. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota worried about Patel’s comments about targeting the media. Several Democratic senators expressed concern about his purported “enemies list” of people he believes should be investigated or prosecuted.

It all amounted to signs that Democrats view Patel — a polarizing MAGA loyalist who served in Trump’s first administration— as an easier target than Bondi, who seems to be on a glide path to confirmation.

Democrats have widely conceded they will save their energy fighting other of Trump’s more controversial nominees than they will Bondi, who they appear to consider qualified as a former Florida attorney general. Some Democrats even thanked the nominee for productive conversations about bipartisan issues, such as combating fentanyl addiction and human trafficking.

“If they’re asking about Kash Patel, it must be going pretty well,” quipped Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

The fixation on Patel by Democrats became clear early in Bondi’s confirmation hearing and remained consistent throughout her nearly 6 hours in front of the Judiciary Committee.

“My concern, on the basis of statements that President-elect Trump has made, is that he does identify people as political enemies … and there may come a day where there is pressure on you,” said Vermont Sen. Peter Welch. “I’m just going to express my hope that … when it comes to the constitution or pressure from a higher official, you’re going to choose the constitution.”

Bondi gave a full-throated endorsement of Patel, arguing he was the “right person” for the job and well-qualified. She also declined to defend or criticize his past statements, saying she was unfamiliar with them and would let him speak to them at his own confirmation hearing.

“I don’t believe he has an enemies list. He made a quote on TV that I have not heard,” Bondi said, deftly avoiding discussion of a book Patel wrote containing a long list of “Government Gangsters.”

At times, Bondi sought to remind the committee, gingerly, that she would be Patel’s superior. “Mr. Patel would fall under me and the Department of Justice and I will ensure that all laws are followed — and so will he.”

When Durbin raised Patel’s agreement with aspects of QAnon’s agenda, Bondi seemed to express relief that he would soon be in the hot seat instead of her.

“I look forward to hearing his testimony about QAnon in front of this committee,” Bondi said.

Bondi, a friend and ally of Trump for years, served as Trump’s lawyer during his first impeachment trial and assisted Rudy Guiliani in efforts to block Joe Biden’s Pennsylvania win in the 2020 election. Democratic Senators pressed Bondi on whether she believed Biden won that election, a question she repeatedly sidestepped. Bondi also declined to answer whether she would prosecute Jack Smith, the special prosecutor overseeing investigations into Trump, though she repeatedly emphasized she would be guided by facts, not politics.

In her remarks, Bondi vowed the Department of Justice would not pursue political investigations, despite Trump’s repeated calls for some of his staunchest adversaries to face prosecution.

“The partisanship, the weaponization will be gone,” Bondi said. “America must have one tier of justice for all.”

At the same time, Bondi tangled with some of Trump’s harshest critics on the committee. Her combativeness sometimes crossed lines that pending nominees rarely cross, such as when she mentioned California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff’s censure by the House for his handling of Trump-related investigations.

Schiff, a longtime representative, was elected to the Senate last year and is now serving on the Judiciary Committee.

When Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse went over his allotted time, Bondi joked that she’d like that time taken away from one of her toughest interlocutors. “Can we take a minute off Sen. Schiff?” she asked, puzzling Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley, the Senate Judiciary Chair, who didn’t immediately pick up on the joke.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Bondi seemed to be trying to avoid saying anything that would provoke Trump, which sometimes complicated her ability to answer simple questions.

“She very artfully dodged questions about whether Pres. Trump lost the 2020 election, which clearly is designed for an audience of one–that’s Donald Trump,” Blumenthal told reporters toward the end of Wednesday’s hearing. “He knows she’s here. She knows he’s watching. And I think that audience is clearly a presence in the room.”

Congress

Scalise will kick off August campaign sprint in marquee Nebraska House race

Published

5 hours ago

July 31, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is zeroing in on one of House Republicans’ biggest contests — a purple district in Nebraska — when he starts his recess campaign sprint.

Scalise will travel to Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District in the Omaha area for an event with Republican Brinker Harding in the coming days, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter granted anonymity to share plans not yet made public. Republicans are digging in to defend the seat, which Kamala Harris won in the 2024 presidential race and is among Democrats’ best pick up opportunities this fall as they seek to flip the House.

Harding is running against Democratic consultant Denise Powell to replace retiring GOP Rep. Don Bacon. Bacon, a moderate-leaning Republican, flipped the Omaha district red in 2016.

After Nebraska, Scalise is planning to travel across the country throughout August, including to defend GOP incumbents Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ and Zach Nunn’s key battleground seats in Iowa’s 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts and Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District.

He’ll boost candidates working to flip blue districts like Laurie Buckhout in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, Derek Merrin in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District and Mike LiPetri in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

Scalise also plans to travel to Michigan, Colorado, South Carolina and Texas for campaign events over the August recess.

Congress

Trump needles Cornyn as Blanche remains blocked

Published

9 hours ago

July 31, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump goaded John Cornyn on social media Friday morning, accusing the Texas senator of withholding his vote on Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination in retaliation for Trump’s central role in his political demise.

Cornyn, who lost his May primary to Texas’ scandal-ridden attorney general, the Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton, has threatened to block Blanche’s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee until the White House promises to permanently shelve its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” in writing — something Trump appears unwilling to do.

“John Cornyn never had a problem with the so called “Fund,” which will not benefit me, but rather the great American Patriots who were hunted down like dogs and whose lives were unfairly and illegally destroyed by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, until after I decided to Endorse and Support his Republican Primary opponent in Texas, who easily won the Nomination for the United States Senate,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Several Republicans bristled at the fund, which could have been deployed to compensate Americans who faced charges after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and which gives the president and his family audit immunity over taxes. At his July confirmation hearing, Blanche said that the fund, part of a settlement the president reached with the IRS, was defunct. But the administration has been “reluctant to change” the text of the settlement, Cornyn told reporters Thursday.

Trump signaled his continued support for the Jan 6 rioters on Friday.

“I will always feel that these victims of government abuse should be paid back for what they were forced to endure, their lives have been ruined!” he wrote. “Millions of people agree with me, as was proven in my landslide Presidential win, where this was a major subject of debate, and so did John Cornyn, until he lost his Election to an opponent that I Endorsed.”

On Thursday, the president suggested that he could punt a Senate vote on Blanche until after Cornyn — and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — leaves the chamber at the end of the year. Cornyn, however, suggested on social media that there are other Republican senators with concerns about the fund.

“After the midterms, who knows who’s going to be the next United States senator from North Carolina or Texas?” Cornyn told reporters.

Congress

Capitol agenda: The Senate’s fly-out agenda takes shape

Published

10 hours ago

July 31, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Republicans are prepping a jam-packed — if somewhat optimistic — agenda for their final week before summer recess.

Majority Leader John Thune wants to move stopgap funding through Dec. 11, bipartisan Russia sanctions legislation and a bloc of nominees — perhaps including attorney general pick Todd Blanche.

He’s also under pressure from President Donald Trump, administration officials and many of his GOP colleagues to adopt a budget resolution — the first step in unlocking another party-line spending bill.

Leaders are prioritizing the stopgap, though. Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) expects continuing resolution text to be unveiled later today, she told reporters Thursday, and an initial vote is expected Monday evening.

Still TBD: Collins wants to use the funding patch to block the Trump administration from putting political appointees in charge of approving grants — a demand Democratic senators are also making.

The decision is in Thune’s hands. He acknowledged a “handful of issues” are still under consideration with the CR, and said he’s “hoping both sides can come together and figure” them out.

As for the sanctions bill, leaders of both parties are still trying to work out a deal to fast-track the legislation amid concerns from some Democrats and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that it gives Trump too much tariff power.

In addition to the nominees package, Thune also hasn’t ruled out an initial vote on the landmark cryptocurrency bill both parties have spent months negotiating or teeing up a bipartisan college sports overhaul now in final stages of talks.

But the big question is whether Republicans can take a major step toward another reconciliation bill by advancing a budget resolution.

Thune met Thursday with Budget Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who said he was “optimistic in terms of how things are kind of coming together.”

Republicans anticipate giving a number of Senate committees instructions for the bill, setting up a lengthy and politically painful process ahead of adoption despite pushes for urgency from the White House.

Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was the latest official to head to Capitol Hill to try and light a fire under top Republicans. But GOP senators don’t necessarily see the urgency.

“The hard part is the president wants to be able to move fast, like an executive can move, and we’re a legislative branch,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). “It doesn’t move that fast.”

What else we’re watching:

— BLANCHE TEETERING: Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general isn’t dead yet. But it’s certainly on life support. The acting AG met with Cornyn and Tillis Thursday at NRSC headquarters, and one person familiar with the discussion said the group was “working collaboratively now.” But it would now be difficult to confirm him before August recess under Senate rules.

— FARM BILL TEXT: Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman said his farm bill legislative text — originally expected Thursday — could come Friday or Saturday. The bill, which is expected to include language allowing year-round E15 sales and a potential compromise on postponing GOP-led cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is set to be marked up Thursday.

Jordain Carney and Grace Yarrow contributed to this report.