Congress

Mike Johnson’s moment of truth

Published

2 years ago

February 24, 2025

The Senate’s Plan B is in place. Now it’s up to Speaker Mike Johnson to deliver on Plan A — the “one big, beautiful bill” he’s been promising for weeks.

It amounts to a key inflection point for President Donald Trump’s domestic policy agenda, and GOP senators — who muscled through their own two-bill legislative blueprint early Friday morning — are eagerly watching to see if Johnson can finally unify his fractious conference and move forward with his own plan.

“I’m pulling for the House to pull together and get one big, beautiful bill,” said Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). If Johnson can do so, he added, “I will be his biggest fan.”

But Johnson is facing major skepticism as he plows forward this week. The Rules Committee will meet Monday to ready the House GOP budget plan for the floor as a group of holdouts concerned about deep cuts to Medicaid and other safety-net programs raise increasingly sharp concerns.

Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, normally an ally of GOP leadership, led a group of GOP lawmakers to warn against steep cuts to Medicaid, food assistance and Pell Grants. Several Republicans who held town hall meetings during their recess last week faced boos and criticism from constituents concerned about potential cuts.

The public dissent came even after Trump publicly called on both chambers to quickly pass the House GOP budget plan, which tees up $2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years. Republican leaders at this point think they can muscle the effort through with Trump’s support. But just a few Republicans could block those plans, depending on attendance.

One hard-liner, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, has already told fellow Republicans he won’t support Johnson’s blueprint. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), who fellow Republicans have been watching as a likely source of opposition, posted on X Sunday night that she was indeed a “NO.” And New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, one of several remaining swing-district holdouts, said she was “still undecided.”

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis' final decision, along with other holdouts, is likely to come down to the wire.

Malliotakis has been talking through her Medicaid concerns with House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.). And her final decision, along with other holdouts, is likely to come down to the wire: She said she plans to talk again with Guthrie Monday and also with GOP leaders as part of a larger group of concerned Republicans. Johnson is planning a Tuesday floor vote.

“We may need to get the president involved,” one House GOP aide said.

The cross-cutting political pressures have some Republican lawmakers on both sides of the Capitol looking across the Rotunda curiously.

As the Senate moved forward on its two-bill plan last week, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri openly wondered why, given Trump’s stated preference, the chamber wasn’t simply moving forward with the House budget. Meanwhile, there are House members who still prefer the Senate’s two-bill approach, with some arguing it delivers more quickly on Trump’s border security promises — and others happy that it sidesteps the messy fight over Medicaid.

Some House Republicans are pushing for the two chambers to resolve their differences over the competing budget plans now, rather than forcing vulnerable Republicans to take a hard vote this week that could cost them in next year’s midterm elections. But any compromise could inflame conservative hard-liners who are demanding steep spending cuts — and whose votes are crucial to winning approval for any House budget.

Another option some holdouts are discussing is to try to amend the budget plan before the final floor vote this week, including by adding cuts undertaken by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency and additional energy measures as a way to decrease the Medicaid cuts. Opening the bill up on the floor, however, could quickly spiral out of control for Johnson. Party leaders are opposed to offering any concessions to the holdouts, and senior GOP aides don’t expect any changes to the plans, according to three Republicans familiar with the private talks who were granted anonymity to describe them.

On the flip side, Johnson is still facing skepticism on the right flank — even after agreeing to increase the level of spending cuts in the plans to $2 trillion. The GOP whip team has been making calls about the $4 trillion debt limit increase provided for in the House budget, a deeply controversial vote among conservative lawmakers. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who has never voted to lift the debt ceiling, is among those still undecided, according to two Republicans familiar with the matter.

It’s all making Senate Republicans openly skeptical that the House will be able to get its budget across the finish line after weeks of infighting. And it emboldened GOP leaders in that chamber to move forward despite Trump’s endorsement of the “one big, beautiful bill” plan.

“If that [House budget] had already passed this would be a different discussion,” said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who noted that Johnson sent his members home for a recess rather than stay in town to finish up.

Complicating the GOP agenda further: Even if the House can advance a budget this week, Senate Republicans are expected to change some key components of the plan, teeing up a grueling fight between the chambers.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and seven other GOP senators sent a letter to Trump — conspicuously sending a copy to Johnson — insisting that they won’t support a final bill that only extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts temporarily. That group alone would be enough to prevent any party-line bill from passing.

“The president has called for making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent. And I am committed to ensuring that any tax bill we consider does exactly that,” Thune said on the Senate floor Thursday.

The Senate GOP budget resolution also doesn’t touch Medicaid — and there are already signs of unease there with the kinds of cuts Johnson is staking out. During the Senate’s overnight voting slog last week, Republicans rejected a budget amendment from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to mirror the House GOP’s $1.5 trillion floor for spending cuts — suggesting a potential fight to come.

And though no final decision has been made, Senate Republican leaders continue to signal that a debt ceiling increase should be handled on a bipartisan basis — not as part of GOP’s party-line agenda.

“My assumption has always been that the debt ceiling will have to be handled the way it traditionally is,” Thune told reporters last week.

Trump, as always, has been an unpredictable player in the process. After he publicly called on both chambers to approve the House’s budget resolution last week, he and members of his administration continued to raise other options — which the Senate took as a green light to move forward with their competing plan. Trump even thanked Thune in a Truth Social post just before the Senate started voting on its budget — a tacit sign that he was OK with the “optionality” the South Dakota Republican has vowed to provide for Republicans.

How the two sides ultimately work out their disagreements remains to be seen: Leadership and key factions in both chambers could informally work out an agreement, with the Senate adopting those changes when they take up a House-passed budget resolution. Though, some Budget Committee members are floating a formal conference committee to work out the differences.

“What I see happening is the Senate is working toward an objective. The House is working toward the same objective,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). “We’ll go to a conference committee, and we’ll all have a cup of hot cocoa and hug each other.”

Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.

Congress

Chris Murphy plans midterm travel blitz, fundraising for Nixon in Florida

Published

2 hours ago

October 9, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Chris Murphy wants Democrats to go big for Angie Nixon in Florida’s Senate race — and he’s pushing to raise some “serious money” to help.

“I do believe that we’d make a big mistake if we slept on Florida,” the Connecticut Democrat told Blue Light News on Friday. “I know it feels like a longer shot, but I just think this year is looking exceptional.”

Murphy plans to hit the trail with Nixon as part of a campaign swing for Senate candidates over the next three weeks that will take him through North Carolina and Florida, as well as events with Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota and Chris Pappas in New Hampshire. Murphy will serve as a surrogate for El-Sayed in the spin room at his next debate, and said he’s “just a big believer” in the Michigan Senate nominee.

Murphy’s bullishness about a blue wave comes as Senate Democrats are pushing the boundaries of a midterm battle map that is shifting further into red territory. The Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC has dropped roughly $5 million apiece into Texas and Kansas over recent days, and the minority leader has included Kansas and Mississippi in his pitches to donors.

“If I were in charge, I would definitely put some resources in Florida,” Murphy said. “When you have an exciting candidate like this, it’s a good long-term investment” in growing Democrats’ activist base.

Still, Murphy stressed he’s “not making any formal recommendations” on where Schumer or top Democratic campaign groups should move their money.

“They’ve got so many mouths to feed,” Murphy said. “That’s why I’m going to try to step up and do some work on my own.”

Murphy, who is considered a potential 2028 presidential contender, has spread roughly $2.5 million across candidates, campaign arms and other organizations this cycle. That includes transferring more than $500,000 to Democrats’ three top campaign arms and 25 state parties.

Prominent Democrats have been ramping up their attention on Florida. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has funneled $250,000 toward Nixon’s campaign, along with other resources. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) also told Blue Light News he hopes to campaign with Nixon.

But Democrats across suddenly competitive red states are clamoring for more cash and Florida is an expensive state, complicating the chances of a significant investment from national groups.

Nixon also faces an uphill battle against GOP Sen. Ashley Moody in the Sunshine State. A progressive state lawmaker, Nixon aligned herself with the Democratic Socialists of America over the summer in a state where many voters, especially those with ties to Cuba, reject such an ideology. Also, Republicans in Florida have a 1.5 million voter registration advantage over Democrats.

Congress

Democrats drop $5M into Kansas Senate race

Published

6 hours ago

October 9, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Democrats’ top super PAC is pushing into Kansas.

The Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC is launching a $5 million statewide television ad blitz starting Saturday through Election Day — the latest sign that Democrats believe the Senate map is shifting onto red turf.

SMP had signaled in recent days it could get involved in the race, telling Blue Light News late last month it was “actively thinking” about whether to wade into the state where Democrats haven’t won a Senate seat in nearly a century but where Adam Hamilton narrowly leads GOP Sen. Roger Marshall in recent polls. Internal SMP polling that found an increasingly competitive race factored into the group’s decision to spend. It will also run digital ads.

“The gap is closing in Kansas,” SMP spokesperson Lauren French said in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring families understand Marshall’s real record of making health care and basic goods more expensive for working Kansans.”

Republicans are scrambling to shore up Marshall. Senate Leadership Fund, a top GOP super PAC aligned with Republican leadership, has booked over $10 million in ads through Election Day in the state, per ad tracking firm AdImpact.

SMP’s first ad attacks Marshall for joining Senate Republicans in voting to table a Democratic-led amendment last year to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. The Senate later approved legislation to release the files by unanimous consent. It’s the latest in a slate of ads from Democrats hitting their Republican rivals over the late, disgraced financier and convicted sex offender. Marshall’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Senate Democrats’ plunge into the state comes as the midterm battle map is undergoing a major realignment. Georgia and North Carolina — primed to be two of the cycle’s premiere battlegrounds — are tilting left to the point where national Republicans are retracting spending in both states and Democrats are starting to follow suit, freeing funds on both sides to shift elsewhere.

Republicans are racing to reinforce incumbents across what was once safer red turf. SLF has also pledged $5 million to bolster Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina.

Democrats, meanwhile, are starting to spend more in red states. SMP has dropped over $2 million on digital ads in Texas. Schumer, the Senate minority leader, has included Kansas and Mississippi in his pitches to donors.

Congress

House Democratic campaign arm says it needs $17 million, and fast

Published

6 hours ago

October 9, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is begging for resources, and setting a hard deadline for donors to give $17 million in order to compete in a handful of districts that Republicans carried easily in 2024.

DCCC Executive Director Julie Merz said the committee needs the cash influx by Oct. 22 in order to “to take advantage of the opportunities we have” outside of the core battlefield, according to a memo shared with donors on Friday and obtained by POLITICO.

If they don’t pony up, Merz warns, the party “could be leaving winnable races on the table.”

Democrats have been clear that they have a fundraising disadvantage this cycle, but they have so far been reluctant to place a specific dollar amount on their needs, making the DCCC’s memo Friday a particularly surprising outlier.

“Here’s the tough reality though: the Republican ecosystem has amassed a massive war chest that is significantly greater than ours and is spending it,” Merz says in the memo after arguing that the members of the committee “remain confident that we will win back the majority in 25 days.”

Specifically, Merz dedicates significant portions of the memo to four districts where the committee is desperate for more money in order to compete — all of which President Donald Trump won by double-digit margins in 2024:

— Florida’s 27th District (Trump +14.6)

— Nevada’s 2nd District (Trump +13.9)

— South Carolina’s 1st District (Trump +13)

— New York’s 21st District (Trump +20.7)

The fundraising disadvantage has created headaches for both House and Senate Democrats over where, exactly, to deploy the resources they do have.

The committee tells donors that their internal polling shows all of those races within reach, but that Republicans’ big cash advantages — especially in the Trump-aligned super PAC MAGA Inc. — will make it harder to win those and other reach seats.

Merz also name drops a handful of other deep-red districts that are “worthy of additional investment in this environment,” including seats held by GOP Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.) and Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the chair of the Republican National Congressional Committee.

The NRCC was quick to mock the DCCC’s memo.

“No amount of money fixes candidates voters don’t want. These seats are staying red, and Republicans are on offense across the map,” NRCC spokesperson Mike Marinella said in a statement.