Congress

Marco Rubio left the Senate. But he’s still part of the club.

Published

9 months ago

January 8, 2026

As senators woke up Saturday with questions on President Donald Trump’s audacious decision to order the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, one of their old colleagues was ready with answers.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio worked the phones in the wee hours of the morning and, in the days since, has played an outsize role in not only formulating the administration’s strategy in Venezuela but explaining it to skeptical lawmakers wary of a protracted military commitment.

That outreach has been to his former Republican colleagues as well as Democrats, including those who see him as a rare Trump official with whom they can maintain a trusted and respectful relationship amid profound policy disputes.

“Although I may disagree with him on a day-to-day or hour-to-hour basis … he has shown extraordinary competence,” Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democratic leader, said in an interview. “I voted for him in this position; I still have confidence in his abilities.”

Others said they respected his particular expertise on issues in Latin America while also raising doubts about the strategy for Venezuela he is laying out in public and in private briefings — which for now involves propping up interim president Delcy Rodriguez as a de facto U.S. puppet.

“You can talk to Marco about — ‘Tell us about Delcy.’ … He knows all of that, and he can give you a sense of who they are and what they’re up to,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a former colleague on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Kaine complimented Rubio for putting a renewed focus on the Americas, while quickly adding that Trump’s self-proclaimed “Donroe doctrine” is the “wrong kind of attention.”

Rubio returned to his old stomping groups Wednesday as part of a delegation of senior Trump officials who briefed lawmakers on the weekend military operation. There his status as a figure of special consequence who has taken on increasingly significant roles in the administration was on display.

“He’s the one in the center — he’s the one that starts it, no notes,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the No. 2 GOP leader, said in an interview describing the briefing. “To me, he’s a mature, experienced, reliable voice as secretary of State, and — specifically for this part of the world — he knows the issues, he knows the people, and that brings a lot.”

Also on display was Rubio’s membership in the rarefied club of senators and former senators.

He hugged and briefly huddled with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in view of dozens of reporters. A grinning Rubio came up to cameras afterward and joked to reporters, “I’m against everything he said.”

Schumer, who like most Democrats has been a persistent critic of the administration, offered no praise for Rubio but stopped short this week of disavowing his previous support for Rubio’s nomination as secretary. Asked Tuesday if he regretted his vote, the New York Democrat said he was “deeply, deeply disappointed in Marco Rubio even before Venezuela and even more so now.”

Rubio took in stride the criticism from Schumer and other Democrats that he and other Trump administration officials have not fully thought through their strategy.

“I used to be a senator, too — that’s what you always say when it’s the other party,” he told reporters Wednesday. “The bottom line is, we’ve gone into great detail with them about the planning.”

The Senate voted 99-0 hours after Trump’s Jan. 20 swearing-in to confirm Rubio — the only nominee who got through on Day 1.

At the time Democrats praised Rubio as a qualified foreign policy hand. They believed he shared some of their views and would work with them on key global matters such as helping Ukraine defeat Russia and strengthening the NATO alliance.

But since then, Rubio has rankled his former Democratic colleagues at times as he worked with Trump to upend America’s foreign aid infrastructure and back the president’s often erratic policy priorities — ranging from his attempts to force a peace deal in Ukraine to his ongoing push to take over Greenland.

Those tensions have at times spilled out into the public.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told Rubio during a committee hearing last year, “I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you for secretary of State.” Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) said at the same hearing that she found “Senator Rubio to be a bipartisan pragmatic partner” but “I don’t recognize Secretary Rubio.”

That said, lines of communication have stayed open. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who worked closely with Rubio on the Intelligence Committee, bristled this week at the administration’s decision not to notify top congressional leaders about the Venezuela operation in advance. But he credited Rubio for reaching out soon after.

“My phone had been hacked a few months back, and I had a new number,” Warner said. “So he did try to reach me, but it was after the strikes had started.”

Rubio did manage to reach many of his former Republican colleagues — including Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, with whom he had sometimes clashed over national security issues when they served together.

As news of the U.S. raid began to trickle out, Lee posted to X shortly after 3 a.m. with a skeptical note: “I look forward to learning what, if anything, might constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force.”

Less than two hours later, Lee posted again, saying he had spoken to Rubio: “This action likely falls within the president’s inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect U.S. personnel from an actual or imminent attack. Thank you, @SecRubio, for keeping me apprised.”

Rubio also reached out to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson soon after the operation launched, as well as chairs and members of key committees.

“He is a gift to America right now,” Johnson said Wednesday.

“All members are comfortable with him — certainly those that served with him, which is just about everyone here,” Barrasso said. He added that Rubio was confirmed unanimously “because people knew him and respected him.”

Democrats who worked with him in the Senate had a more nuanced assessment as they emerged Wednesday from their closed-door briefing with the Trump officials. They raised deep concerns over the administration’s strategy for Venezuela, but they also said they were in no way surprised by Rubio’s role in developing and promoting it given his long opposition to dictatorships in the region.

“Marco has been evangelical on Latin America for a long time, for a long time — I mean, he’s, you know, a pretty classic neocon who believes that America will generally be greeted as liberators,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), another former Foreign Relations colleague. “I didn’t vote for him because I thought he was going to suddenly agree with me on the importance of military restraint overseas.”

Added Kaine, “At the end of the day, he’s going to do what Trump tells him to do.”

Meredith Lee Hill and Daniella Cheslow contributed to this report.

Congress

Senators weigh staying in town to vote on data center bill

Published

4 hours ago

September 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Republicans are discussing whether to stay in town next week to vote on a data center bill being championed by one of their most vulnerable incumbents, according to two GOP senators granted anonymity to disclose private talks.

Republicans haven’t made a decision — and lawmakers said they were given no concrete guidance on their schedule during a closed-door lunch with party leaders Wednesday. But the fact that some are weighing whether to remain in session so close to the midterms against sending members home early to campaign signals a growing anxiety over affordability-related issues ahead of Election Day.

Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), who is fending off a competitive challenge from former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, tried last week to clear a House-passed bill aimed at getting tech companies to cover the energy costs associated with data centers — an issue that has overtaken his Senate race.

But Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, blocked Husted’s effort to pass the bill quickly via a unanimous consent agreement, arguing the measure doesn’t go far enough to protect consumers.

That means GOP leaders would need to jump through days of procedural hoops in order to get even an initial vote on the bill.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also indicated Wednesday that he would urge his colleagues not to support the legislation at this time, instead touting another Democratic bill that would put more enforcement mechanisms in place.

“Senator Husted’s bill is a fraud. It’s voluntary, no company has to do it,” he told reporters during his weekly news conference. “The bill we have is mandatory. It is much stronger and it is what is needed.”

The House version of Husted’s bill passed in the House with overwhelming bipartisan support earlier this month.

Senate Republicans are also still waiting to see if a long-sought deal to overhaul the energy permitting process comes together. If an agreement can be reached soon, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has indicated that the chamber would stay in town next week to process that bill, giving lawmakers more time to take up the Ratepayer Protection Act as well.

Calen Razor contributed to this report.

Congress

Mike Collins memo identifies 1 in 10 Georgia voters who should be voting for him — but are ‘up for grabs’

Published

5 hours ago

September 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

One in 10 Georgia voters aren’t sold on Mike Collins for Senate — even though those same voters backed President Donald Trump in 2024, according to a new memo from Collins’ campaign.

The finding comes as public polling continues to show Collins trailing Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in the premier battleground state. A YouGov poll released Wednesday found Ossoff up by 10 percentage points over Collins.

The memo identifies the “up for grabs” voters as Republicans and conservative-leaning independents who also plan to vote for the state’s GOP gubernatorial candidate, Rick Jackson, and could decide the election.

“They should be voting for Mike Collins, and they are not yet, mainly because they do not have a firm opinion of him,” the memo reads. “Most of them cannot tell you anything about him, and a third have never seen an ad about him.”

Collins’ campaign has been working to convince GOP leaders and outside groups that he can narrow Ossoff’s polling advantage, as the party weighs how best to allocate its resources in the closing stretch of the election.

For now, top Republicans have appeared to deprioritize the Georgia Senate race as a top pickup opportunity — as other battleground states come more into view — but Senate Majority Leader John Thune is planning to attend a fundraiser for Collins alongside Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday to shore up support.

The campaign memo makes the case that Collins does not need to build a new GOP coalition to close the gap but instead focus on the existing Republican coalition in the state that it identifies as still up for grabs for him.

Two-thirds of those voters live in the Atlanta media market, according to the memo, followed by Macon and Augusta.

“Streaming is how a plurality get live television,” the memo reads. “They are seeing fewer political ads than everyone else, so they need to see these messages more often, and they need to keep seeing them all the way through November 3.”

The overriding issue for these voters, according to the memo, is the cost of living. “Nothing else is close,” it says. The memo argues that the campaign’s closing message should introduce Collins by emphasizing his Georgia roots and business background while attacking Ossoff over taxes and other elements of his record.

“Every Georgian needs to understand how Jon Ossoff failed them by making their lives less safe and less affordable while aligning himself with far-left socialists who proclaim that ‘America deserved 9/11,’” Collins spokesperson Meyer Siegfried said in a statement.

Congress

Sanders, Casar introduce ‘superintelligence’ ban

Published

8 hours ago

September 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Two top congressional progressives unveiled their bill Wednesday to ban artificial “superintelligence” and establish a Cabinet-level agency to regulate AI, fleshing out their plans for a crackdown on the industry.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) have advocated for heavy regulation of the rapidly evolving technology, particularly following a string of high-profile cyberattacks and doomsday warnings from industry insiders. Sanders and Casar teased the proposal earlier this month but only officially rolled out their “Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act” on Wednesday.

Casar said the bill would ban “recursive self-improvement,” meaning AI’s ability to build improved and more capable versions of itself. The bill also bars AI models from designing nuclear or biological weapons and would ban models that try to “escape human oversight or deceive humans,” Casar told reporters.

Sanders and Casar had previously outlined their plans to draft legislation banning “superintelligence” and to pause advanced AI development until a “Department of Artificial Intelligence” with a Senate-confirmed secretary is capable of monitoring model capabilities and identifying risks.

The legislation would set penalties for any entity that attempts to circumvent federal oversight, including the “corporate death penalty” for companies and up to 20 years in prison for individuals — on par with the punishment for illegally developing nuclear weapons.

The duo is bullish about both chambers swiftly taking up their legislation, even as Democratic leaders entertain much smaller-bore regulatory actions and some Republican leaders reject the need to advance AI safety legislation entirely. Casar said he believed the bill “will be considered the commonsense proposal in the coming weeks” as public pressure on Congress to enact AI guardrails mounts.

“In my view, we cannot simply sit by idly and wait for advanced AI to cause the next 9/11 or Chernobyl or a global pandemic or a financial crisis before we take action to protect the American people and, of course, the people of the world,” Sanders told reporters.