Congress
Jim Jordan backs Elon Musk’s authority to cut federal government
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) vehemently defended Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s campaign to slash federal spending — and declined to endorse the idea that Musk was stepping on Congress’ power of the purse.
“It’s interesting,” Jordan said on BLN’s “Inside Politics” on Sunday. “No one wants to defend the waste, fraud and abuse, so they attack the guy who’s exposing all the waste, fraud and ridiculous things we’re spending money on.”
Over the past few weeks, Musk and the DOGE team have zeroed in on the Trump administration’s mission to overhaul federal agencies and reduce staff. Entities like the United States Agency for International Development and Department of Education have been DOGE’s main targets, with Musk referring to USAID as a “criminal organization” on X.
The Trump administration ordered forced administrative leave for over 2,000 employees of the foreign aid agency last week, though a judge issued a temporary block on Friday of the action. Trump has since said he ordered DOGE to look into spending at the Education Department and the Defense Department on Friday.
When pushed by host Manu Raju as to whether Musk should wield so much power, Jordan doubled down on his defense: ”The folks who work for DOGE are federal employees carrying out the will of the executive branch leader, the president of the United States,” he said.
Spending authority in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 7, clause 1) originates with the House. Pressing the issue of legal authority further, Raju asked Jordan: “So, you’re comfortable if he shuts those down without getting congressional approval?”
“Well, Congress will be involved at some point,” said Jordan, the current chair of the House Judiciary Committee.
In reaction to North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer’s comments about the need for guardrails on Musk, Jordan said “I think the guardrails are you all in the press who are talking about it every day.”
He added: “I do think what Elon and his team are doing, at the request, at the urging of the president — and it’s something that he campaigned on. And It’s something that people evaluated and voted for on November 5.”
Sen. Susan Collins said Tuesday she will vote against Todd Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general.
The Maine Republican, who is facing a difficult race for reelection, said in a statement she would oppose Blanche, citing “several actions that have further eroded the Department’s independence.” She specifically mentioned his role in a controversial IRS settlement with President Donald Trump and over having “promised an anti-abortion organization that he would seek to prohibit the mailing of abortion medication to women nationwide.”
Two other Republicans — Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — are known to still be undecided; Blanche needs one of their votes to secure confirmation.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) has once again broken ranks with House Democratic leadership over endorsements, this time to support former Missouri Rep. Cori Bush over incumbent Rep. Wesley Bell.
In a post to social media Tuesday, Pressley called on voters to elect “champions” like Bush, who is in a heated primary rematch Tuesday in a contest that lays bare the party’s divide over Israel.
“Whether in Massachusetts, Michigan or Missouri, we all need politicians who fight for us, not corporations,” Pressley said. Her endorsement comes as voters head to the polls for primaries in both Michigan and Missouri, where progressive challengers are taking on moderate incumbents.
It marks the second time this primary cycle Pressley has endorsed against candidates backed by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). Last month, she joined a handful of other Congressional Black Caucus members to support Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney in his bid to unseat Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar.
A spokesperson for Jeffries did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pressley’s endorsement also sets her squarely against the establishment wing of the party: both Bush and McKinney have been endorsed by their local Democratic Socialists of America chapters.
But the endorsement is unsurprising: she and Bush served as members of the progressive “Squad” in the last Congress and often worked together on legislation. In a previous interview with POLITICO, Bush said she and Pressley continued to talk regularly, even after Bell unseated her in 2024.
Todd Blanche picked up an important GOP vote Tuesday for his nomination as attorney general — Sen. John Curtis of Utah — likely leaving him just one vote shy of securing confirmation.
Curtis said in a statement he plans to “support” Blanche and was pleased with the nominee’s “receptivity and understanding” of issues raised, including ending the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” created under a May settlement Blanche brokered between the IRS and President Donald Trump.
The announcement came moments after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted on party lines to advance Blanche’s nomination to the full Senate.
Crucial to that vote was Blanche agreeing in writing that the $1.8 billion payout fund was nullified and that another aspect of the settlement — an IRS audit immunity agreement — was scaled back. That gave GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina enough comfort to vote for Blanche.
The remaining undecided Republican senators are Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. All three said Tuesday they are still grappling with their decisions.
“I’m still considering everything,” Collins said. “I watched part of the markup this morning to hear some of the statements, but I don’t have any decision to share with you right now.”
Murkowski declined to say how she would vote, and Cassidy told reporters that he had “nothing about Todd Blanche” to say.
Cornyn said he has already spoken with Collins and Murkowski and that additional conversations are expected.
“Senator Collins, she’s one of the most diligent individuals I know, certainly here in the United States Senate, and we had a good conversation.” Cornyn said. “She’ll have to speak for herself as to her ultimate conclusion. And I’ve also been exchanging messages with Senator Murkowski, and I know we’ll have further conversations about this.”
Jordain Carney and Calen Razor contributed to this report.
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