Congress
Negative signs for Gaetz as senators brush off questions amid Trump pressure
A negative sign looms for Matt Gaetz: Nearly a dozen GOP senators won’t commit to confirming him for attorney general, saying they want to let the process play out.
And many, even if they aren’t insisting on seeing the potentially damaging House Ethics report on the recently resigned lawmaker, assume the information will have to come out.
“He’s got an uphill climb,” said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a senior member of the conference who said she looked forward to meeting with Gaetz and the Judiciary Committee’s review of the nomination.
Promising to follow the vetting process doesn’t mean senators will necessarily oppose a nominee, but it’s notable given GOP senators are clearly wary of crossing President-elect Donald Trump. And it contrasts heavily with more Trump-aligned senators, many of whom have indicated they will support Gaetz no matter what. Given the litany of allegations against the Florida firebrand, including that he had sex with a minor, it leaves plenty of room for senators to opt against him later. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, Trump has called at least one senator personally to talk about Gaetz, and the attorney general nominee makes a few calls of his own. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said he got a call from Gaetz on Thursday evening, and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said both Trump and Gaetz have called him. Cramer said Trump asked him to give Gaetz “a shot” and Cramer didn’t pick up the Gaetz call because he didn’t recognize the number.
“That was kind of the whole conversation,” Cramer said. “He’s the disrupter that the department needs. That’s the bottom line. And he doesn’t know that anybody else really will be.”
The House Ethics Committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday, as pressure intensifies on the panel to release their investigative findings about Gaetz — a report they’ve worked on for more than a year. The committee could vote to publish the report, bury it, or share it with senators. Many senators believe the report may come out in other ways if the panel tries to keep it under wraps.
Kennedy encouraged lawmakers on the committee to “follow the rules,” but added that “we live in a Washington, D.C., version of la la land and, as we all know, this place leaks like a wet paper bag.”
Incoming Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) refused multiple times to say whether he’d demand access to the House Ethics report on Monday, vowing his committee’s professional staff would obtain information on Gaetz. He added that questions on the former congressman’s conduct should wait until after confirmation hearings.
“You guys are all asking me these questions that would be better asked after the hearing, then we got some answers for you,” the Iowa Republican said.
Grassley declined to answer whether he would interview cooperating witnesses on Gaetz’s alleged conduct who have spoken with the House Ethics Committee.
Senators on the Judiciary Committee conducting their own investigation seemed to be a popular Plan B among lawmakers, if the House Ethics Committee doesn’t share the report. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Monday said that though he agrees with Speaker Mike Johnson in not wanting to disrupt the “integrity” of the ethics process, he sees that as “separate from the likelihood that whatever was in there is going to be released.”
Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), seen as a likely swing vote, said of the prospect of seeing the Ethics report: “If I feel like I don’t have sufficient information down the road, I’ll make that known.”
Still, it’s unlikely a truncated Senate investigation would have the breadth of the unreleased House Ethics report. An attorney told ABC News on Monday that two of his clients testified to the House Ethics Committee that Gaetz paid them for sex — and one of the women added that she witnessed the then-congressman having sex with a 17-year-old minor in 2017.
There is a vocal group of GOP lawmakers who say they’ll back Trump’s nominee picks, including Gaetz, no matter what.
“I don’t know why they wouldn’t” be confirmed, said Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who touted his strong rapport with Gaetz as a member of the House
“I’m gonna vote for Matt Gaetz,” said Sen.-elect Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who said he didn’t need to see the Ethics findings.
Only Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have openly questioned the selection. Any nominee will be able to lose only three votes — with Vice President-elect JD Vance breaking the tie — to secure confirmation.
Democrats, meanwhile, are still eyeing ways to usurp the nomination. Some want to try and obtain information on Gaetz from federal agencies while they still have control of the committees, but not all members of the Judiciary Committee think that’s even possible.
“He’s made the nomination, and we’ll have to go through the ordinary process in the appropriate Congress,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said.
Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.
Adam Hamilton raised $10.6 million in the third quarter of 2026 across his Senate campaign and his joint fundraising committees, his campaign tells Blue Light News, a significant haul for the Kansas Democrat.
The fundraising total illustrates Democrats’ newfound bullishness about flipping a Senate seat in the deep-red state for the first time since 1932.
“This grassroots support sends a clear message: with three weeks until Election Day, Adam Hamilton is building the momentum to win,” said Hamilton campaign spokesperson Tyson Brody.
Hamilton’s third-quarter figure is nearly triple his $3.66 million second-quarter total. His campaign did not provide a current cash-on-hand total.
National Democrats began pumping money into Kansas in recent days, a sign of their growing hopes that Hamilton could win. Last week, Senate Majority PAC — Senate Democrats’ top super PAC — reserved $5 million in television ads backing Hamilton. American Bridge PAC and Lower Costs Now, a new group affiliated with former Vice President Kamala Harris’ super PAC, have spent in Kansas in recent weeks.
Republicans have also flocked to Kansas to prop up Marshall: Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate GOP’s top PAC, has spent or reserved nearly $11 million backing Marshall in the past week, according to tracking firm AdImpact.
“It took us five months to raise $15 million. [Marshall] got it in a day,” Hamilton said at a campaign event in Lawrence, Kansas on Monday. “So please help us.”
Marshall’s campaign has yet to release his third-quarter fundraising totals. As of mid-July, Marshall had over $5 million in the bank to $1.73 million for Hamilton.
A bipartisan Senate duo is urging Trump national security officials to “bring its full capacities to bear” to stave off threats posed by artificial intelligence — sooner rather than later.
Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, and Republican South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, who serves on the Senate Armed Services cybersecurity subcommittee, are calling for a full government response to a growing number of cybersecurity breaches.
“Recent AI security incidents should serve as a warning,” the senators wrote in a Tuesday letter to Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and White House Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios. “Advanced AI agents have escaped testing environments, bypassed safeguards, and gained unauthorized access to real-world systems owned by government agencies and private organizations.”
Spokespeople for Clayton and Kratsios did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Their letter comes as lawmakers struggle to hash out what legislation on AI safety, if any, might look like. Members are currently in recess ahead of the November elections and there’s little hope progress can be made by the year’s end.
But those lawmakers who have been engaged on the topic for years now have mapped out administrative actions the Trump administration could move on now, without waiting on Congress.
The Cantwell and Rounds priorities include: strengthening federal AI safety and security standards at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST; expanding independent testing capabilities at the Center for Advancing Innovation and Standards for Super Intelligence, Department of Energy and the national labs; and working with the tech industry to develop and deploy defensive AI tools.
Specifically, the senators wrote, new NIST standards should address the risks posed by advanced AI capabilities, including the “potential misuse by malicious actors” to conduct sophisticated cyberattacks, automate attacks at scale and agents that threaten external systems and critical infrastructure.
They also said the federal government capacity should be complemented by universities and other research organizations, as well as by private sector, third-party evaluators.
Finally, they point to ways the government could use existing programs at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to work with AI labs to help detect threats and reinforce vulnerable systems.
A bipartisan group of senators urged President Donald Trump to rescind his recent diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, amid bubbling anger on Capitol Hill about Trump’s announcement.
In a letter sent to the White House, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the senators warned that the president’s deal with Russia will not “achieve just ends” or benefit Americans.
“Granting Moscow the ability to sell Russian diesel freely in global markets damages American security interests and is a betrayal of the people of Ukraine, who continue to defend themselves from Putin’s murderous, illegal war,” wrote the lawmakers, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies; it should be rescinded.”
On Sunday, a smaller group of senators called on the president to “immediately reverse course” on the plan in a statement. Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — who signed on to both — said Sunday there may be “a legitimate case for saying the president’s not following the law.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump announced in a social media post on Friday that Russia would “immediately supply” diesel fuel to global markets — including potentially the U.S. — to help relieve high prices driven, in part, by the ongoing war with Iran. Though Trump has repeatedly defended the U.S.’s actions against Iran, on Saturday he demanded an end to Ukrainian drone strikes that have crippled Russian oil refineries that he argues have caused the record-high oil prices.
The senators on Tuesday argued that the deal with Russia will have a “negligible impact” on fuel prices while providing Putin with “more fuel to finance his war machine” as Russia continues its “brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians.”
The deal with Russia is a sharp pivot from a sweeping sanctions package signed into law last month. That legislation — championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — was meant to deplete Moscow’s resources by targeting Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of oil tankers. It drew widespread bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress.
Senators on Tuesday referenced the package as they condemned Putin as a “tyrant.”
“For decades, America has stood as the bastion of freedom against tyranny, and American presidents have embodied our nation’s resistance to tyrants. Putin is a tyrant,” the letter reads. “Withdraw from this agreement, rescind General License No. 135, and execute the authorities provided under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. Maintain our legacy – and the duty America holds – as leader of the free world.”
In addition to Blumenthal and Tillis, Tuesday’s letter was signed by Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Jack Reed (R.I.), and Chris Coons (Del.) and Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Susan Collins (Maine), Alan Armstrong (Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and John Cornyn (Texas).
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