Congress
Pelosi shivs Schumer: ‘Don’t give away anything for nothing’
SAN FRANCISCO — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered a sharp critique of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday, suggesting he had forfeited a crucial bargaining chip by allowing a vote on Republicans’ government funding bill.
“I myself don’t give away anything for nothing,” Pelosi told reporters during a news conference at a children’s hospital in San Francisco. “I think that’s what happened the other day.”
Pelosi — who spoke during an event to oppose House Republicans’ proposed cuts to Medicaid — said she still supports Schumer, her longtime ally who’s come under fire from within his own party in recent days over his decision to allow the GOP’s bill to avert a government shutdown through last Friday.
But Pelosi, in response to a question, suggested that if Schumer hadn’t cleared the way, it would have given Democrats more leverage to fight proposed cuts to Medicaid and other social safety-net programs.
“We could have, in my view, perhaps, gotten them to agree to a third way,” Pelosi said. She said a potential outcome could have been a bipartisan continuing resolution to delay a shutdown for up to four weeks while negotiations continued.
She added, “They may not have agreed to it, but at least the public would have seen they’re not agreeing to it — and that then they would have been shutting (the) government down.”
It’s the second time in a week that Pelosi has criticized Schumer over his handling of the funding bill. On Friday, she suggested his move had played into a “false choice” that President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk had offered Congress: shutdown the government or give them a “blank check” to slash government spending.
Pelosi also praised House Democrats and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, her successor, for refusing to support Republicans’ stopgap spending measure, despite blowback from Trump’s administration and GOP leaders, who accused Democrats of risking a shutdown for political reasons.
Tensions between Schumer and Jeffries blew up last week after the Senate Democrat bucked his party’s move in the House. But the two have played nice in recent days, and Jeffries said Tuesday that he supports Schumer’s leadership.
Later Tuesday Pelosi noted her and Jeffries’ shared confidence in Schumer — and she was quick to suggest Democrats are poised to recapture the House in the midterm 2026 elections amid a “drumbeat” of protests over proposed cuts to Medicaid and other public programs.
“What happened last week was last week,” Pelosi said. “We’re going into the future.”
Democrats on the Budget Committee were frustrated by Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-Wis.) first turn with the gavel after the new chair rebutted each of their remarks.
“Welcome to the chairmanship, but I find you are turning this into a debate committee and not a budget committee,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said during the Tuesday hearing on Medicaid.
Johnson, who took over chair after the unexpected passing of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) last month, fact checked Democrats on the committee after their allotted question time, which got on the nerves of his colleagues.
Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said near the end of the hearing that rebuttals by the chair aren’t “customary.”
Johnson, a frequent critic of the Medicaid program, defended his approach, which he said makes the hearings more “informative.” He sparred with Democrats on Tuesday over the impact of Medicaid cuts included in the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as well as Medicaid fraud and spending growth.
“I keep my comments pretty short,” he said. “There are important points to be made, and I will continue to do that. I hope it doesn’t offend my Democratic colleagues, but that will be my contention here.”
Rep. Max Miller, facing allegations of domestic abuse from his ex-wife, said he would ask the House Ethics Committee to investigate the claims in an attempt to clear his name.
“In light of all the renewed interest in my family affairs I am going to file my own paperwork for an ethics investigation into myself to clear my name from these horrific attacks on myself and family,” the Ohio Republican said in an X post. “I have absolutely nothing to hide.”
Miller is facing calls to resign after GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno, the father of Miller’s ex-wife Emily Moreno, said he should not serve in the House and should “seek professional help.”
Miller has denied allegations of domestic abuse from Emily Moreno. He attempted to defend himself Sunday in a livestreamed monologue and by publishing a trove of documents related to the divorce. Those documents included an “intimate image” of their daughter, which Miller’s lawyer Aaron Minc said he uploaded by mistake.
A spokesperson for Emily Moreno did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Miller’s request for a House Ethics investigation. A committee spokesperson also did not immediately respond.
Miller said he would provide the panel with “all necessary documents needed for a detail examination.” It is unlikely the committee, which historically works slowly, would make any assessment ahead of the November midterm election where he is facing a strong Democratic challenger.
“The accusations continue to change, but my facts stay the same,” Miller said. “I am looking forward to my colleagues reading everything for themselves.”
Todd Blanche took a major step toward confirmation as attorney general Tuesday after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 on party lines to advance his nomination, likely setting up a final vote within days.
His nomination, at risk of being withdrawn just last week, now appears to be on a glide path toward approval. Blanche has been serving as acting attorney general since April, but President Donald Trump has been intent on installing his former personal lawyer permanently.
Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said ahead of the vote that Cornyn and Tillis’ concerns about the fund “and the IRS settlement were shared by many, including this senator.” He added that the changes Blanche made “put this issue to bed once and for all.”
Democrats lambasted the deal Cornyn and Tillis struck, saying it would not meaningfully bind Trump from eventually resurrecting the payout fund and using his to enrich his political allies, including participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“To state the obvious, Mr. Blanche’s statement on the slush fund and the IRS immunity agreement are not signed by the parties to the settlement agreement and are therefore unenforceable,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the panel. “The parties could still sue to enforce the agreement and the cop-beaters fund can easily be revived with a new order from the Department of Justice 15 minutes after Mr. Blanche is confirmed as attorney general.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said he “loves the state of Texas” but said the deal Cornyn agreed to is “all hat and no cattle.”
Booker, who is a vegan, asked, “Where’s the beef?”
Outside of the committee, there are a few GOP senators who could pose a hurdle in confirming Blanche, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. John Curtis of Utah and Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
Murkowski called the written elimination of the payout fund a “pretty good step” Monday, while the others said they continue to evaluate Blanche’s nomination.
All four have yet to commit to voting for Blanche, and as long as all Democrats are unified in voting against him, he can only lose two Republican votes given the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has not voted since June due to health reasons.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he wants to get Blanche confirmed before senators leave as soon as the end of this week for an extended recess.
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