Congress
Republicans scratch their heads over Trump’s ‘comprehensive’ crime bill
President Donald Trump is envisioning a sweeping crime bill and billions of dollars in new funding for the nation’s capital. His Republican allies in Congress are largely in the dark on the details.
Multiple times this month, Trump has said he’s working on crime legislation with GOP congressional leaders. His latest comment came early Wednesday morning when he posted on Truth Social that he is working with Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other Republican lawmakers on a “Comprehensive Crime Bill” with “more to follow.”
There have been some early conversations between White House officials and House GOP leadership aides about legislation related to Trump’s public-safety crackdown in Washington as well as certain other crime provisions.
But Trump’s latest comments have puzzled Republicans, including members of leadership and key congressional committees, who don’t know what “comprehensive” measure the president is talking about, according to seven Republicans granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Trump, who speaks frequently with Johnson, discussed the president’s Washington crime campaign with the speaker on a call Tuesday morning, including extending his current temporary control over the D.C. police, according to two other people granted anonymity to describe the private conversation. Johnson was supportive of an extension, they said.
The House Oversight Committee, which has jurisdiction over D.C. issues, is already planning to advance a slate of bills in September, spanning efforts to crack down on juvenile crime in Washington, overhaul the city’s education system and unwind certain policing policies enacted by the D.C. Council. But it’s the Judiciary Committee that would have to advance any crime-related bills that are national in scope.
Trump’s request to extend his 30-day D.C. police takeover is adding a wrinkle to the House GOP’s plans, since his authority is set to expire Sept. 9 — just one week after lawmakers return to Washington. Republican leaders will need to advance it quickly — likely in a resolution they will put directly on the floor — leaving a broader package for later.
Even if the House quickly passes the extension, its fate in the Senate is uncertain. Trump said during a marathon Cabinet meeting Tuesday that he’s planning to speak with Thune about the matter. But because of the chamber’s filibuster rule, Republicans can’t act alone to approve the measure, and Senate Democrats have signaled they’ll block any attempt to do so.
Still, Republicans are eager to force Democrats into tough votes on crime, which they see as advantageous political ground — especially with House GOP leaders facing ongoing headaches over the Jeffrey Epstein case and the administration’s handling of it.
Republicans are also still waiting on details on what Trump has described as a $2 billion bill to “beautify” Washington. Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Katie Britt of Alabama are taking the lead on the D.C. funding bill, and Trump spoke with Graham, who is currently traveling overseas, about the president’s plan for the capital city earlier this month.
“I’m going to try to find him the money to repave the roads, take the graffiti off the building, refurbish the parks and give homeless people some place to go other than a tent,” Graham said at a South Carolina event last week.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a news conference Wednesday that she, too, was sketchy on the details of what Trump is proposing with the federal funding infusion. But she said “we will be supportive of the president’s $2 billion request to improve infrastructure, especially federal infrastructure, in the District.”
But Trump is now making clear he wants a major crime bill, too — and fast.
The president has spent weeks bashing Democrats on crime, particularly governors who are seen as key 2028 presidential race contenders, and he’s eager to leverage a winning and unifying issue for Republicans on Capitol Hill.
But just how ambitious the crime bill ends up being remains an open question. Even the D.C.-focused legislation stands to be a significant undertaking on Capitol Hill next month — with GOP leaders already scrambling to hammer out plans to fund the government, pass a defense authorization bill and a litany of other items this fall.
Congress
White House declares $4.9B in foreign aid unilaterally canceled in end-run around Congress’ funding power
The White House budget office said Friday morning that President Donald Trump has canceled $4.9 billion in foreign aid by using a so-called pocket rescission — furthering the administration’s assault on Congress’ funding prerogatives.
The move raises tensions on Capitol Hill as lawmakers face an Oct. 1 deadline to avoid a government shutdown. Many lawmakers from both parties, as well as Congress’ top watchdog, view the maneuver as an illegal end-run around their “power of the purse.”
The Trump administration boldly embraced the strategy on Friday. “Congress can choose to vote to rescind or continue the funds — it doesn’t matter,” an official from the White House budget office said in a statement. “This approach is rare but not unprecedented.”
The White House is allowed to send Congress a clawbacks request and then withhold the cash for 45 days while lawmakers consider whether to approve, reject or ignore the proposal. Because there are less than 45 days left before the end of the fiscal year, Trump’s top budget officials — led by budget chief Russ Vought — argue that they can employ the so-called pocket rescission to withhold the funding until it lapses at month’s end, ensuring its cancellation regardless of what Congress decides.
The pocket rescission request was first reported by the New York Post.
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
Two top Justice Department officials are expected to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in the coming weeks amid fallout over the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, according to two people granted anonymity to share scheduling information not yet public.
FBI director Kash Patel is set to give testimony Sept. 17, with attorney general Pam Bondi on tap to appear Oct. 9. Both have been invited as part of the Judiciary Committee’s general oversight work, and each will have an opportunity to outline some of the pieces of a crime bill President Donald Trump wants Hill Republicans to produce in the coming months.
But the hearings will likely focus most heavily on how the DOJ has maneuvered around the release of files related to the late, convicted sex offender.
Senior Republicans have continued over the August recess to press the Trump administration to unseal more Epstein documents after a mutiny over their release caused chaos in the GOP-controlled House, running the chamber aground before lawmakers left town early in late July.
DOJ started transmitting some of the so-called Epstein files last week in compliance with a subpoena from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. And Alex Acosta, President Donald Trump’s former labor secretary who singed off on Epstein’s previous plea deal as a then-U.S. attorney in Florida, will separately sit for a transcribed interview with the Oversight panel Sept. 19.
However, lawmakers otherwise have so far received scant new information during the month-long district work period, with members of both parties promising to continue to press the issue when the House is set to return to session next week.
Bondi has, in particular, been the subject of Republican consternation over allegedly withholding documents she at one point promised to reveal.
Baseball star Mark Teixeira launched a campaign to fill an open Texas House seat Thursday, the latest celebrity athlete to dive into politics.
Teixeira is running as a Republican in a safe red seat being vacated by GOP Rep. Chip Roy. And he’s already appealing to President Donald Trump in search of a home run on the campaign trail.
“As a lifelong conservative who loves this country, I’m running for Congress to fight for the principles that make Texas and America great,” he wrote in a post on X. “It takes teamwork to win — I’m ready to help defend President Trump’s America First agenda, Texas families, and individual liberty.”
Teixeira was a superstar on the diamond, going yard 409 times in a career that spanned 14 seasons and saw him play for four big league outfits, including the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. He last played in the 2016 season.
He reached baseball immortality when the Yankees won the World Series in 2009. He was included on the 2022 Hall of Fame ballot but failed to get enough votes from sportswriters to either get elected to the Hall or return to the ballot in future years.
Should he win the seat, he could be a major boon for Republicans in the Congressional Baseball Game, the annual charity event that pits Democrats against Republicans. The GOP has dominated the game in recent years, a gap that a former major leaguer would likely only widen.
Teixeira is leaning into his baseball bona fides.
“In Congress, he’ll bring the same grit, preparation, and competitive spirit that made him a champion in Major League Baseball to fight for Texas—and win,” reads his campaign website.
Roy, a Freedom Caucus member who has served in the House since 2019, is leaving Congress to run for the Texas attorney general post.
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