Congress

Kentucky governor asks Mitch McConnell for a health update

Published

3 hours ago

July 8, 2026

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is publicly asking Sen. Mitch McConnell to provide an update on his health amid a secretive weekslong hospitalization.

Beshear sent a letter to McConnell Wednesday, saying that Kentuckians had grown “increasingly concerned” since the former Senate Republican leader was hospitalized in mid-June about both his health and “ability to hold office.”

“As governor, I request that you fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health,” Beshear wrote to McConnell. “As public officeholders, we have made a commitment to our constituents to do our best to represent them and to always be transparent. I believe this requires clear communication about one’s ability to serve.”

Spokespeople for McConnell did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Beshear’s letter or whether the senator had spoken with the governor or plans to speak with him.

Beshear said during a news conference last week that he had received “no updates” regarding McConnell’s health.

McConnell was first hospitalized on June 14. While his staff has provided multiple updates since, they have not disclosed why he was hospitalized or details on his condition. Online speculation that he could be in grave condition erupted online recently after news outlets reported on D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services radio traffic indicating a person at McConnell’s address was found unconscious and required cardiac resuscitation.

Three Republicans — Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Majority Whip John Barrasso and McConnell-adviser-turned-commentator Scott Jennings — said Tuesday they had spoken to McConnell this week.

Beshear, a Democrat who was elected in 2019, cited the online chatter in requesting transparency, arguing that “allowing speculation to continue in the media is not fair to the Senator or to Kentuckians.” He said his own office has been peppered with questions about McConnell’s health.

Notably, Kentucky Republicans have moved to sideline Beshear from the appointment process should there be a Senate vacancy. The state legislature changed the succession law in 2024, shortly after McConnell announced that he would retire at the end of his current term.

Where previously the governor could make an appointment to fill a Senate vacancy pending a special election, as in most states, the new law provides only for a special election. Republican legislators overrode a Beshear veto to enact the 2024 law, but there are ongoing questions about its legality that could be litigated if there is in fact a vacancy.

Congress

Johnson eyes vote on bill to end ‘birth tourism’ to satisfy right flank

Published

5 hours ago

July 8, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Speaker Mike Johnson is exploring whether to put legislation on the House floor that would end the ability of pregnant women to enter the United States legally to gain citizenship for their children.

The possible vote, described by four people granted anonymity to share details of private conversations, would be a way for Johnson to appease hard-liners who are demanding a vote to end birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court ruled against Trump administration efforts to undermine it.

House passage of a measure to crack down the practice would be largely symbolic, as it stands no chance of overcoming the Senate filibuster. But Johnson’s most conservative members are also continuing to agitate for the chance to vote on legislation to crack down on legal immigration in the U.S., and Johnson needs a way to respond to those demands quickly.

“If there’s some legislative fix, we’ll advance that immediately,” Johnson said in an interview on Fox News Sunday over the weekend. While he warned that enacting a constitutional amendment would take “a little more time,” he added, “we’ve got to address this. It really is a serious, serious issue.”

A spokesperson for Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his possible plan to target what critics call “birth tourism.”

Further complicating matters, the speaker promised hard-liners last month that he would hold a vote before July 4 on legislation that would codify President Donald Trump’s border security priorities — in exchange for their support on a more narrow bill funding federal immigration enforcement activities.

Those members now say Johnson has gone back on his word and, in revolt, they ground legislative business to a halt, forcing GOP leaders to send the House home early for the holiday recess. It could still be a problem when the chamber reconvenes next week, and Johnson needs to come up with a solution quickly.

Several GOP centrists are open to Johnson’s latest idea, according to two other people with knowledge of the talks. But the dynamics are deeply tricky for Johnson, who must grapple with intraparty factions divided over the party’s approach to the immigration issue broadly.

A handful of moderate Republicans do not want to vote on immigration matters so close to the midterms, while a swath of Republicans in agriculture-heavy districts have warned Johnson he needs to address an overhaul of the visa process for seasonal immigrant farm workers as part of any immigration package that comes to the floor. But that would stoke major backlash from the far-right rank and file.

For now, Republicans are still stuck without a final agreement or way forward.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters last week that Republicans were far from reaching a compromise, and one person involved in the talks Tuesday described senior House Republicans as “still pissing around” on the discussions.

Congress

Capitol agenda: Dems want Schumer silent on Maine

Published

6 hours ago

July 8, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Nobody understands the stakes of finding a replacement for Graham Platner quite like Chuck Schumer.

But nobody in his party is suggesting he should have anything to do with it.

The anti-establishment fervor energizing Democrats’ voter base is putting Schumer and other party leaders in a delicate spot. They are aching to ensure whomever may take Platner’s place on the ballot is better vetted after POLITICO’s exclusive reporting on allegations of sexual assault against him, which Platner denies.

Still, even the appearance of the Senate minority leader controlling voters’ choice is stoking fears of deflated turnout and internal fighting that could risk the chance to unseat GOP Sen. Susan Collins and snatch the chamber’s majority.

“The opposite of maximally participatory is any version of events where Chuck Schumer and out-of-step party leaders in D.C. are calling the shots for Maine Democratic Party leaders,” Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder Adam Green said in an interview. Green’s group had backed Platner before pulling their support Monday and pushing for another progressive pick.

“This can’t happen as a party insider backroom deal,” Sen. Chris Murphy posted on X. “Voters are sick of the status quo and they need to have a say here – or our party will squander whatever credibility we have left.”

To be clear: Platner has not dropped out of the race, despite the vast majority of Democratic senators Schumer leads calling for him to step aside. He has until July 13 to make a decision, and the Maine Democratic Party would need to name his replacement by July 27.

Meanwhile, that group Tuesday night accused Platner’s team itself of attempting to “put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like,” according to a press release. The organization tried to assure voters it was committed to an “open, inclusive, transparent, and fair,” path forward.

Platner’s campaign responded to the claim by saying it had reached out to the state party to discuss the possible process of replacing him.

“While Graham wouldn’t want to be a part of the process, he would want to make sure the voters and volunteers make this decision — not the political establishment,” a spokesperson said.

Lauren French, a spokesperson for the Senate Majority PAC, a group aligned with Schumer, said “this should be a Maine-centric decision.”

But as high as the stakes are for the party, the stakes are similarly high for Schumer, whose leadership has been challenged across the Democratic Senate map, including in Maine as his handpicked candidate Gov. Janet Mills struggled mightily before suspending her campaign in April.

“[Schumer] knows it’s important in their calculus to win the Senate so I don’t see him turning a blind eye to this,” said one veteran Democratic strategist, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “But yes if people think he’s tipping the scales or something there’s going to be more fighting.”

Spokespeople for Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee did not respond to a request for comment.

In another sign of the toxicity of showing establishment ties at this moment, one potential Maine candidate expressed doubt about supporting Schumer as leader if elected.

“I think that’s a question to be determined,” Nirav Shah, who said he is “evaluating” jumping in the race, told Alec Hernandez in an interview. “I’ve got concerns, as do many, with his leadership, but that’s not a question I want to go to right now.”

What else we’re watching:

— MCCONNELL’S ABSENCE COMPLICATES PENTAGON BUDGET BOOST PLANS: Sen. Mitch McConnell’s uncertain health status threatens to upend Trump’s defense budget plans at a critical moment for the Iran war and midterms. The 84-year-old Kentucky Republican was admitted to a Washington hospital June 14 for undisclosed medical issues, and his staff has not offered any information on when he will return to Capitol Hill. McConnell — who chairs the Senate Appropriations panel that controls Pentagon spending — will be key in moving any of the multiple funding plans forward that Trump is pushing.

— FIRST IN INSIDE CONGRESS: JOHNSON EYES PREGNANT TOURIST MEASURE: Speaker Mike Johnson is exploring whether to put legislation on the House floor that would end the ability of pregnant women to enter the United States legally to gain citizenship for their children. The possible vote, described by four people granted anonymity to share details of private conversations, would be a way for Johnson to appease hard-liners who are demanding action on birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court ruled against Trump administration efforts to undermine it.

Leo Shane III, Connor O’Brien, Jordain Carney and Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

Congress

Senate panel schedules Jay Clayton confirmation hearing for July 15

Published

16 hours ago

July 8, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Senate Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing next week on Jay Clayton’s nomination to serve as director of national intelligence — paving the way for replacing the controversial acting director Bill Pulte and clearing the way for an extension of a lapsed spy authority.

Committee Chair Tom Cotton officially scheduled the confirmation hearing for July 15. The Arkansas Republican had originally intended to convene Clayton’s hearing last month, but those plans were derailed when President Donald Trump announced the confirmation process for Clayton would not go forward until James McDonald’s nomination to succeed Clayton as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York was approved.

Trump appeared to come around late last week, telling reporters that Clayton’s hearing would take place in two weeks. A spokesperson for Cotton didn’t comment at the time, but a person with knowledge of the matter, granted anonymity to disclose private scheduling, told Blue Light News Cotton was aiming to hold a hearing on July 15.

Republicans want to confirm Clayton before leaving for a weeks-long break at the start of August and hope that moving his nomination will break a stalemate over a three-year extension of Section 702 authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Democrats have said they won’t vote for the reauthorization until Pulte, a Trump ally who they deem as unqualified, is removed from the post.