Congress

Retiring Rep. Barbara Lee considering run for Oakland mayor

Published

2 years ago

December 21, 2024

OAKLAND, California — Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee said Friday she will announce in early January whether she plans to run for mayor of Oakland as the city holds a special election following the recall of its last mayor.

Lee, who leaves Congress early next year, tweeted that she is considering running — the first official confirmation that she might vie to lead the turbulent Bay Area city following months of speculation about her intentions.

“The decision to run for mayor of Oakland, a city that I have long called home, is not one I take lightly,” Lee posted. “As my time in Congress wraps up, my current priority is navigating the crisis before us in DC,” Lee said, referring to efforts to avert a government shutdown.

Lee, a national progressive icon known for being the lone member of Congress to vote against the war in Afghanistan, would immediately be the frontrunner in the race, and her candidacy could cause other progressives to clear the field.

Lee’s candidacy could create a headache for moderate activists and donors eager to put a more centrist Democrat at the helm of City Hall — an effort to repeat the political shift underway across the Bay in San Francisco, as tech-funded groups nudge the famously liberal city closer to the center.

Voters in Oakland, a city reeling from a deep budget deficit and a gun-violence epidemic, recalled former Mayor Sheng Thao in the November election, largely over their frustrations with dysfunction inside City Hall. The recall effort was bankrolled by moderate advocacy groups and wealthy tech donors who want to move the deep-blue city in a more centrist direction.

A special election to fill the seat is scheduled for April 15 and will utilize the city’s ranked-choice voting system.

Loren Taylor, a former city councilmember and moderate Democrat, is already running and would likely be Lee’s toughest competition. Meanwhile, Marshawn Lynch, a former NFL running back, has hinted he’s also considering jumping into the race, though he hasn’t made any announcements.

Earlier this year, Lee unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate, handedly losing the primary to fellow Democrat Adam Schiff. In that contest, Lee struggled to raise the millions of dollars needed to mount a statewide campaign and struggled to appeal to voters outside her progressive base.

But those weak spots could be far less of a hurdle for Lee if she runs for mayor in Oakland, where she’s a household name and more closely aligned with voters’ liberal politics on issues like the war in Gaza and police accountability.

Lee had previously expressed interested in serving as Housing and Urban Development secretary in a Kamala Harris’ administration before the vice president lost the election.

Congress

Todd Blanche won’t get Thursday vote in Senate Judiciary Committee

Published

4 hours ago

July 30, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Senate Judiciary Committee has abandoned plans to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general Thursday, according to a committee spokesperson.

The decision comes as Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) continue to push the Justice Department to revise a controversial settlement agreement between President Donald Trump and the IRS. A “no” vote from either senator would effectively sink Blanche’s nomination.

The two senators met Wednesday with Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) but did not announce any breakthrough.

“Chairman Grassley works to set President Trump’s nominees up for success in committee, not failure,” said the spokesperson, who declined to be named. “Senators Cornyn and Tillis want written assurances from the Department of Justice regarding the Trump-IRS settlement. Tomorrow’s markup is postponed as work continues to secure sufficient support in committee to favorably report [Blanche], who is highly qualified for the job.”

The meeting could still be rescheduled if Cornyn and Tillis are placated, but any delay threatens Senate GOP leaders’ plans to confirm Blanche before the chamber adjourns for its summer recess next week.

Congress

White House pitches Senate GOP on ‘tight’ party-line bill focused on military, farm aid

Published

8 hours ago

July 29, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

White House officials urged Senate Republicans on Wednesday to quickly adopt a spending blueprint for a narrowly focused party-line spending bill, but they struggled to quash GOP skepticism about the administration’s vision.

White House budget director Russ Vought stressed during the private lunch meeting with Senate Republicans that the next package passed under the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process should include only President Donald Trump’s most urgent priorities — particularly defense spending and aid for farmers.

Vought said Republicans should not seek to cut spending or otherwise offset the deficit impact of the tens of billions of dollars the Trump administration wants enacted, nor should they attempt to raise the debt limit.

“It should be tight,” he told reporters as he exited the lunch. “It should be for the defense needs that we need now, for the [agriculture] needs that we need now. And to get this as straight a shot to the president’s desk as possible.”

That approach comports with the $95 billion framework the House adopted last week before lawmakers there left Washington for their summer recess. But Vought and other White House officials faced pushback in the room Wednesday on a variety of issues.

Majority Leader John Thune warned afterward that he doesn’t believe he has the votes for the narrow budget resolution the Trump administration is contemplating. He said there was a disconnect between the narrow bill the White House is seeking and the political challenges it creates.

Those challenges revolve around “vote-a-rama” — a feature of the reconciliation process that allows Democrats to force a series of amendment votes that could put GOP senators in tough spots. The more committees the budget resolution “instructs” to deliver legislation, the more opportunities Democrats will have to create political mischief for Republicans.

“Some of the things that are contemplated being done in this reconciliation bill, or in this budget resolution legislation, are things that could implicate a number of committees,” Thune said. “Obviously that creates an uphill challenge in terms of trying to ensure that you have 50” votes.

Senators also aired concerns about Trump’s obsessive focus on the GOP elections bill known as the SAVE America Act. The House blueprint contemplates including parts of that bill in the party-line package.

But Senate Budget Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said doing so in the Senate could involve more committees — and open up the range of issues Democrats would be able to force politically troublesome votes on.

“I think we all hate vote-a-rama,” Johnson added. “Some people are more sensitive to the kind of votes they have to take.”

In another complication, some Senate defense hawks want more military spending than the $60 billion House Republicans laid out in their own framework. Johnson said he and other Republicans expect to meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later Wednesday to discuss the Pentagon’s needs.

But other Senate Republicans, such as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), aren’t convinced it’s a good idea to pursue another party-line bill at all.

“It used to be we would try to figure out how we worked through some challenging problems with the minority,” she said.

Murkowski added that the Trump administration’s strategy of relying on the reconciliation process to avoid bipartisan negotiations only works if a majority of Republican senators go along with the plan.

“It’s not always guaranteed that you get 50” votes, she said.

Vought, meanwhile, leaned on the potential for yet another party-line reconciliation package to be enacted after the midterm elections as another vehicle to deliver key priorities. That could include a debt limit increase, he said, along with yet another tranche of defense cash to meet Trump’s $1.5 trillion goal for annual military spending.

The various legislative vehicles left some GOP senators scratching their hands as they left the lunch.

Asked if he had gotten clarity from Vought & Co., Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said, “‘Not really’ is the short answer.”

Congress

Cruz drops plans to advance AI bills next week

Published

11 hours ago

July 29, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz said Wednesday he is again postponing a highly anticipated markup of artificial intelligence bills planned for next week.

Instead, the Texas Republican said in an interview Wednesday, the panel will only take up bills focused on kids’ online safety.

Cruz said senators could not strike a deal on AI legislation in time for the committee to vote next week.

“We are going to do a markup on kids’ safety next week,” Cruz told Blue Light News. “We have moved the broader AI markup to September. … It’s our intention still to mark those up, but it is taking longer to get bipartisan agreement.”

Cruz said the committee would mark up the Kids Online Safety Act, led by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), along with other measures.

Under the panel’s rules, the chair must publish an agenda a week in advance. The committee did not immediately respond to a question about exactly which bills would be on the docket.