Congress

Republicans come to grips with midterm reality: Trump won’t be doing them any favors

Published

3 months ago

May 20, 2026

An emboldened President Donald Trump is determined to flex his power over the GOP — at seemingly any cost.

Republicans are coming to grips with a president who less than six months out from the midterms is focused on racking up a body count of lawmakers who have crossed him, asserting his control over his party and burnishing his legacy — putting the GOP legislative agenda and the survival of its majorities at risk.

That reckoning is playing out on Capitol Hill this week as frustrated Republicans — including some lawmakers that Trump has essentially cast out of the party — joined with Democrats to rebuke his handling of the Iran war, deny public money for his White House ballroom and decry an “anti-weaponization” fund that could be used to pay presidential allies.

It does not appear that Trump or many of his allies in Congress are prepared to heed that message. Instead they are doubling down on loyalty.Speaker Mike Johnson tried to quiet any anxieties within his conference Wednesday, arguing that the president “knows what’s at stake” this November and is working to keep the GOP in control in the House and Senate.

But asked about Trump ousting Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, one of few remaining GOP mavericks in Congress, the speaker made clear that a certain level of dissent will not be tolerated.

“We need people here … who are not trying to carve out their own lane and do something that’s destructive or counterproductive to the agenda, and that’s what’s happened,” Johnson said. “That’s the message.”

Just as Johnson spoke, Trump turned his fire on yet another GOP lawmaker — Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who represents a purple Pennsylvania district that Kamala Harris won in 2024 and is widely seen as the only Republican capable of holding it.

Trump attacked him after fielding a question he didn’t like from a Fox News reporter who is engaged to Fitzpatrick: “He likes voting against Trump. You know what happens with that? It doesn’t work out well.”

Coming on the heels of Trump’s moves to oust two sitting GOP senators, many Republicans blanched as the president again unloaded on one of their own.

“It’s dumb,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who is choosing to retire at the end of his current term after clashing with Trump on numerous issues.

“It seems like he’s given up on holding the majority and focusing on loyalty in the minority,” said another House Republican granted anonymity to speak candidly.

Fitzpatrick told reporters Trump’s attacks would have “zero” effect on his positions: “He can say what he wants. It doesn’t impact me at all. It doesn’t hurt my feelings.”

To be sure, some Republicans are openly cheering the president’s bare-knuckle crackdown on his opponents within the party. But others are despondent about where the president’s attention appears to be — on his ballroom, a triumphal arch and the internal revenge campaign — as gas prices continue to rise and the Iran war drags on with little end in sight.

“I believe that there are people in the White House who couldn’t care less about what happens in November,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who, like Bacon, is retiring. “And that goes to show you how stupid they are, because if they don’t get Republicans reelected, they’re going to create the most miserable two years of this president’s life.”

Trump officials are dismissing any concerns about the president’s focus.

White House spokesperson Olivia Wales touted the president’s policy accomplishments, including border security, tax cuts and a drop in violent crime. She said the president will continue to “draw a contrast” with Democrats ahead of the election by highlighting his “common sense agenda.”

“President Trump is the unequivocal leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican party,” Wales said, while RNC spokesperson Kiersten Pels said “voters overwhelmingly continue to reward candidates who stand with the President and his winning movement.”

A senior White House official said other Republicans simply needed to submit given Trump’s grip on the GOP electorate: “The quicker they understand that President Trump is the ultimate force in politics, the quicker they’ll realize it’s a futile exercise to go against him.”

Back on Capitol Hill, House GOP leaders took a less bombastic approach as they defended Fitzpatrick from Trump’s barbs.

“Look, Brian Fitzpatrick has a very difficult district — he has an independent streak, as we all know — but he’s a very close friend and colleague of mine,” Johnson said in an interview later Wednesday, adding that he was “working hard to get him reelected.”

Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, who leads the House GOP campaign arm, declined to comment on Trump’s attack but noted that “holding that seat is really important for holding the majority.”

Party loyalty was an even touchier subject in the Senate this week as Republicans reeled from the president’s successful campaign to end Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy’s two-term career in the chamber and his late-breaking endorsement undercutting Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s reelection bid.

“There’s growing frustration that the president won’t aim his ire at Democrats instead of Republicans,” said one senior Senate GOP aide who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledged the tough reality he faces Wednesday, a day after Cassidy helped advance a measure that would rein in Trump’s military campaign against Iran: “Obviously, there’s always a consequence associated with taking on incumbent United States senators.” “He obviously has his favorites and people he wants to endorse, and that’s his prerogative, but what we have to deal with up here is moving an agenda,” Thune added. “Obviously that can become slightly more complicated.”

Trump’s refusal to brook any disagreement with a fellow Republican or walk away from legacy-burnishing projects that others in his party find hard to defend has Democrats feeling more bullish by the day about their midterm opportunities.

“He’s focused on a revenge tour and not at all on the struggles that American families are having, and they see that every day in … his focus on ballrooms or reflecting pools, slush funds, golf courses,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, who leads Democratic House campaign efforts. “They’ve ignored the needs of the American people.”

Reacting Wednesday to Massie’s loss, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said that all members needed to remember that they are “here to represent the people that sent you” and referenced Cassidy’s loss as another object lesson.

“Just like in Louisiana Saturday, it just goes to show that the voters have the ultimate say on whether we stay or come back, and if you break the trust with your voters, they’re going to send you home,” he said.

Fitzpatrick said much the same.

“Every bill that comes to the floor is either a net positive or a net negative for your district,” he said. “They’re your bosses. … I know my constituents, and I’m sure many other representatives’ constituents do not want taxpayer money going to a ballroom.”

Samuel Benson and Kelsey Brugger contributed to this report.

Congress

Jack Smith invited to testify before Senate next month

Published

3 hours ago

August 3, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Jack Smith, the former special counsel who brought criminal charges against President Donald Trump, has been invited to testify Sept. 22 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to an invitation from Chair Chuck Grassley reviewed by Blue Light News.

Smith previously testified before the House Judiciary Committee in January, but Grassley (R-Iowa) and his team have been probing Smith and his investigations for months.

Grassley recently revealed that Smith obtained text messages that 44 members of Congress sent to White House officials during the waning months of Trump’s first term leading up to and around the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Grassley’s texts were among those accessed by Smith’s team, along with Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).

“In the process of a deeply flawed, weaponized investigation, Jack Smith subpoenaed phone toll records from a dozen senators, scooped up text messages from over 40 members of Congress, and subpoenaed the private communications and financial records of hundreds of other Republican entities and individuals,” Grassley said in a statement.

“He needs to answer directly to Congress for his actions,” Grassley added. “Smith has requested to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and our committee looks forward to hearing from him as part of Congress’ investigation into Arctic Frost and his time as Special Counsel. Smith must be honest and forthcoming in his answers, because the American people deserve nothing less than full transparency and accountability.”

Lawyers for Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

During the January hearing, Republicans focused on technicalities of how Smith investigated the probe into Trump’s election interference, such as whether he properly signed his oath of office and whether he was sufficiently versed on the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause that protects members of Congress from criminal investigation for their lawmaking actions.

Congress

Chuck Edwards recommended for censure by House Ethics Committee

Published

3 hours ago

August 3, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The House Ethics Committee recommended Monday that lawmakers censure Rep. Chuck Edwards for engaging in “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers” — cataloguing multiple episodes of sexual harassment by the married lawmaker.

Censure is the most severe punishment the panel can recommend short of expulsion, requiring targeted members to submit to a public shaming on the floor. The bipartisan panel said it plans to bring a privileged resolution to a vote once the House returns to session later this month.

A spokesperson for Edwards, 65, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a 15-page rebuttal, lawyers for Edwards said that the Ethics Committee “failed to demonstrate that either of the two staffers expressed discomfort to Representative Edwards regarding his conduct with them.” They also rejected the need for censure, noting that it has been used “sparingly in this context and directed only at matters of severe sexual misconduct.”

The panel itself released a trove of evidence including emails, text messages and photographs showing how Edwards had insinuated himself into intimate aspects of their lives.

Edwards, the committee found, made comments on the appearance of two young female staffers in his congressional office, telling them they looked “pretty” or “breathtaking” and made a comment on one staffer’s weight. He also lavished the young women with gifts, including purses valued at more than $1,000, as well as guns, shoes, flowers and one-on-one dinners.

Text messages from one of the women showed Edwards at one point sent her more than 20 containers of ice cream because, he said, she needed “a lot of cheering up!”

Sexual harassment is prohibited by House rules and federal law, and the committee found that Edwards violated “the spirit of the House’s prohibitions on sexual harassment and unwanted advances, as well as the requirement to act in a manner that reflects credibly upon the House.”

The report found Edwards brought one of the staffers to a holiday event at the White House, gave her flowers and texted her how he was “so excited about tonight” and that he pressured her to continue the night with him after the event. Edwards told the committee he accompanied that staffer to her home in Virginia because he “felt uncomfortable dumping a young lady on the street.”

Edwards also talked to that staffer and others about going to strip clubs in Washington, the report says.

The panel concluded that Edwards did not engage in sexual activity with either of the women, nor did he explicitly proposition them or other staff members for sex. Edwards, who is facing a competitive race for reelection in his western North Carolina district, cooperated with the probe, the committee said.

In one instance, the panel found, Edwards skipped House votes one night to decorate the second staffer’s Christmas tree. He also went out drinking and gambling with her. On another occasion, he recited a poem at her going-away party in his office and cried during that incident, making his staff noticeably uncomfortable.

When the second staffer left his office, Edwards helped her move back to North Carolina and sent her a handwritten letter in which he described her as “the most amazing woman” and that she had “written a complex chapter in my heart that I will never stop reading.”

Edwards told the committee that letter was not romantic.

“It was only to imply that we had a relationship on so many different levels — on a congressional level, on a professional level, on a friendship level, on a helping-one-another-out-with-our-chores-and-responsibility level,” he said.

Congress

Cornyn, Tillis confirm they will vote for Blanche

Published

7 hours ago

August 3, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has a clear path to the Senate Judiciary Committee advancing his nomination to the permanent job after two GOP holdouts confirmed Monday they would vote for him.

The statement from Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) comes after the late-night announcement Sunday of a Justice Department agreement to clarify a controversial May settlement agreement between President Donald Trump and the IRS.

A successful Judiciary vote Tuesday would set Blanche up for confirmation on the Senate floor later this week, before the chamber breaks for August recess.

“We want to express our gratitude to Mr. Blanche and his staff for working with us on this, and we look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon,” Cornyn and Tillis said in a joint statement.

The senators suggested their agreement with Blanche also satisfies the concerns of several other Republican senators off the Judiciary Committee who have raised concerns about the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” created in the original settlement, as well as provisions immunizing Trump and his family from some tax audits.

“We are pleased that the Department of Justice has issued a formal order terminating the anti-weaponization fund. Additionally, the Department has acknowledged in a binding written order that the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs and the scope does not extend beyond the defendants in the lawsuit, the IRS and the Treasury, addressing concerns that multiple of our Republican colleagues share,” Cornyn and Tillis said.

Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, John Curtis of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska are among the other Republicans who have expressed concerns about the payout fund. Blanche recently visited Alaska and announced a flurry of settlements benefiting Alaska as he courts Murkowski’s vote.