Congress
NDAA delays pile up as GOP leaders work through last-minute snags
Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are scrambling to hammer out a host of complex, 11th-hour intraparty policy fights in the massive annual defense policy bill, delaying the release of final legislative text beyond the expected date of Thursday, according to four people granted anonymity to discuss the internal deliberations.
They are still pushing to release text of the sprawling bill by the end of the weekend, according to two of the people. But GOP leaders are going back and forth with White House officials about a raft of final issues, including Senate housing legislation that the administration wants but a key House committee chair opposes.
President Donald Trump and his deputies are eager to address housing costs, and top Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio told a closed-door meeting of House Republicans earlier Wednesday that Republicans need to focus more on housing issues ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
With White House officials digging in, congressional GOP leaders are now considering whether to add a revised or scaled down version of the Senate’s “ROAD to Housing” legislation to the Pentagon bill, but no final decisions have been made, according to the people. House Financial Services Chair French Hill has previously opposed the parts of the measure and said in a statement late Wednesday that “any housing package must have the buy-in” of his committee.
“Given our Conference has not seen any text, it’s unclear how we could support its inclusion in the NDAA,” Hill said.
Other issues GOP leaders are still working through include whether to add in new restrictions on U.S. investments in China, as well as provisions that would expand coverage for in vitro fertilization and other fertility services for military families under the Defense Department’s Tricare health system.
GOP leaders are reviewing the IVF expansion, which was included in both the House and Senate-passed defense bills. Pushed by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) and others, the provision wasn’t included in last year’s defense bill amid concerns about the practice from some conservatives.
A spokesperson for Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement that he “has clearly and repeatedly stated he is supportive of access to IVF when sufficient pro-life protections are in place, and he will continue to be supportive when it is done responsibly and ethically.”
The last-minute moves could weigh heavily on how easily Republican leaders can get the votes needed to pass the sprawling Pentagon bill, which the House aims to do next week.
The annual National Defense Authorization Act typically passes with broad bipartisan support. Johnson won passage of a hard-right version of the defense bill in September with just the support of a handful of Democrats, while the Senate cleared its own version with support from both parties.
Bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees made quick work of their negotiations on a compromise defense bill, which largely concluded before Thanksgiving.
The legislation was then handed up to House and Senate leaders to hammer out what provisions that fall outside of Armed Services’ jurisdiction would be attached. Top lawmakers on those panels have cautioned against attaching unrelated issues that don’t have broad support and could tank the final bill.
House and Senate leaders have already had to retreat on some fronts. Trump urged lawmakers to include a contentious moratorium on state regulations for artificial intelligence backed by House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and other Republicans. But the effort foundered, and Scalise this week conceded the NDAA “wasn’t the best place for this to fit.”
Jasper Goodman contributed to this report.
Rep. Max Miller issued a subpoena to his former father-in-law and fellow Ohio Republican, Sen. Bernie Moreno, in the latest escalation of a long-running family legal drama.
Pamela MacAdams, an attorney for Miller, reported to the Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court Monday that three subpoenas were served in Miller’s divorce case, according to court records. A person with knowledge of the subpoenas granted anonymity to comment on them said that two were sent to Moreno and his wife, Bridget.
Their daughter, Emily Moreno, was married to Miller, and the two remain embroiled in a nasty legal battle.
Spokespeople for Miller, Emily Moreno and Bernie Moreno did not immediately return requests for comment. TMZ first reported on the subpoenas.
Miller is seeking reelection in a competitive district, and his campaign has been marred by accusations of domestic abuse against Emily Moreno and their daughter. Miller has repeatedly denied the allegations and chose to remain in the race despite other Republican lawmakers pressuring him to withdraw his campaign.
The House Ethics Committee, which began an inquiry into Miller after Miller asked to be investigated, is currently in a preelection blackout period. During that period, which will continue through the midterms, the Ethics Committee doesn’t take any action against sitting members who could return next Congress.
Congress
Trump declares $1B canceled in ‘pocket rescission’ in another affront to Congress’ funding power
President Donald Trump informed congressional leaders Friday that he has unilaterally canceled almost $1 billion without Congress’ consent — employing a budget maneuver many lawmakers consider illegal.
In a move that will almost certainly set up an ugly government funding battle after the midterms, Trump has again claimed the power to execute a so-called “pocket rescission” to nix money Congress has already enacted. The money his administration will claw back is for for immigration services, support to foreign countries, education programs, health research efforts and assistance for businesses owned by minorities.
By law, the president is allowed to send Congress a request to rescind federal funding, then withhold that money for 45 days while lawmakers consider whether to approve, reject or ignore it. Trump administration officials also argue they have the power to cancel funding without any congressional action by sending Congress a rescission request with less than 45 days left in the fiscal year. The argument is that the money automatically gets canceled on Sept. 30, when funding lapses at the end of the fiscal year.
Last year, Trump canceled $4.9 billion in foreign aid.
The Senate’s top Republican appropriator, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, immediately blasted the move as illegal, saying in a statement Friday night that “any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.”
“This move shows that OMB intentionally withheld these funds for months to execute this unlawful cancellation of appropriations that were approved on a bipartisan basis and signed into law,” Collins added, pledging to work with other lawmakers “to address these illegal actions.”
Collins and other appropriators have already been on high alert in recent days, pressing multiple agencies about funding officials have yet to spend ahead of the expiration date.
Democrats are finally catching on to how to talk to young male voters in the lead-up to the midterms, but the party can still up its game, one battleground senator and potential 2028er said Friday.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has been one of his party’s most outspoken critics on its handling of outreach to young men, who swung right and helped deliver the White House and both chambers of Congress to Republicans in 2024.
The party is now “definitely moving in the right direction,” Gallego said Friday.
“Like back in the day, I was like the only one,” putting out positions on men, Gallego said at a Washington event on young American men. “Now, like, it seems like everyone every week is coming out with a new position, new idea, which is great.”
Gallego has criticized Democrat’s failure to highlight mens’ struggles and their tendency to over-police mens’ ideas. But there are signs the political winds have shifted in his party’s favor.
A new Cygnal poll released with the event of men ages 18-30 who say they’re the most determined to vote revealed Democrats’ generic ballot lead over Republicans at 57%-40%, Blue Light News reported. The poll also said nearly 40 percent of respondents said they feel their lives are off track.
“We need to take the opportunity to invest in that portion of this country, to say that we care about them and actually try to change the trajectory of what’s happening with men in this country,” Gallego said at the symposium.
Still, the path for specific legislation targeting the needs of this demographic faces an incredibly tight calendar this Congress and is uncertain in the political landscape of next year.
A proposal from Gallego and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) to establish a men’s health office within the Department of Health and Human Services, for example, has not advanced. Nor has bipartisan legislation from Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who also spoke at the event, targeting education outcomes, college investment transparency and dyslexic student support.
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