Senate bills survive

Published

7 months ago

March 17, 2026

Threats from some hard-right House Republicans to block any Senate bill until the SAVE America Act passes appear to be falling flat.

A bill from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) to reauthorize small business grant programs passed 345-41 Tuesday, a day after another Senate bill, aimed at recovering Nazi-looted art, passed on a voice vote.

Capitol agenda: Sanders could soon get a Senate bully pulpit

Published

5 hours ago

October 26, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Bernie Sanders is already the most prominent voice on the American left. Now he’s on the brink of getting a powerful perch to do something about it.

Sanders is poised to lead Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions if Democrats flip the chamber next week — a chance to push the party further left and shape the next presidential contest in which he’s signaled he’s unlikely to be a candidate.

“If I have anything to say about it … the agenda of the Democratic Party is going to be extremely bold,” the 85-year-old independent said. “We’re going to do what the American people want.”

Sanders’ term runs through 2030, and with President Donald Trump in the White House for at least two more years, it’s unlikely many of his sweeping legislative dreams will be fulfilled anytime soon. But with a role atop the health panel, Sanders could leverage any Trump veto of his legislation along with his own oversight powers to paint the party’s priorities for voters heading into 2028.

He’s already signaling he would make a “Medicare for All” universal health plan a signature push next year.

As for labor matters, Sanders has said he would try to raise the minimum wage, advance legislation that would expand employees’ ability to unionize and also protect workers from artificial-intelligence-driven job loss.

On education, Sanders has called to make four-year public college tuition-free and to raise teacher pay.

During his first round with the HELP gavel in 2023 and 2024, Sanders’ legislative plans were stymied by a GOP-controlled House and more moderate Democratic colleagues.

But the Senate Democratic Caucus and the party writ large have moved closer toward Sanders since then, and several of the Senate’s 2028 White House hopefuls are from the left.

Sanders may also find himself with a GOP counterpart more willing to play ball to hold administration officials accountable. Sen. Lisa Murkowski — who has raised concerns about Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — could become the top Republican on HELP if Sen. Rand Paul continues to lead Homeland Security.

Joseph Geevarghese — the executive director of Our Revolution, which Sanders founded but is now an independent organization — added that a Chair Sanders “would put the affordability crisis at the center of what an opposition party should be doing” while extracting concessions from the Trump administration for working families.

“In that sense, he could become the party’s de facto leader,” Geevarghese added.

What else we’re watching:

— DEMS PLAN TRUMP TARGET FOR EPSTEIN PROBE — House Democrats are making increasingly clear they have no plans to abandon their line of inquiry into whether Trump was involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring, should they retake the majority in the midterms. A new report, titled “The Case Against Donald Trump Emerging in the Epstein Files and DOJ’s Desperate Efforts to Cover It Up,” lists five women who have accused Trump “of raping or sexually assaulting them” in the company of Epstein.

— BLANCHE ON ALASKA: ‘THERE COULD BE A CRIME’ — Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the newly filed lawsuit to prevent Alaska state officials from certifying November’s election results if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses. In a Sunday BLN interview, host Dana Bash asked what crime the administration was arguing was being committed, Blanche replied, “It depends.” “There could be a crime,” said Blanche. “But the real wrong here is that Alaskans are going to be confused and will not have their vote heard.”

Jordain Carney, Chris Marquette, Cheyanne M. Daniels contributed to this report.

Congress

Bernie Sanders could soon get a powerful perch to help shape 2028

Published

5 hours ago

October 26, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Bernie Sanders probably isn’t going to be president. But he might be about to get one last chance to define his legacy in Washington.

The Vermont independent is poised to lead the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee if Democrats can flip the Senate next month — giving the 85-year-old leftist icon a powerful perch he could use to promote his political movement and shape a 2028 presidential contest in which he has indicated he’s unlikely to be a candidate.

He will also have to balance his colleagues’ strong desire to hold President Donald Trump’s administration to account, particularly the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. But he is making clear he plans to use his power to highlight systemic issues that go beyond the workings of any one agency.

“If I have anything to say about it … the agenda of the Democratic Party is going to be extremely bold. It is going to take on high costs,” Sanders said when asked about how he plans to use his prospective gavel. “The super PACs are not going to run the agenda anymore. We’re going to do what the American people want.”

Sanders’ term runs through 2030, and with Trump in the White House for at least two more years, it’s unlikely many of his sweeping legislative dreams will be fulfilled anytime soon. But he has long been comfortable using his power in the Senate to push Democrats — with whom he caucuses — further to the left.

During Joe Biden’s presidency, Sanders led the Budget Committee as Democrats pursued major party-line domestic policy bills. As part of a $1.9 trillion Covid relief package he helped shepherd, he tried unsuccessfully to include a $15 minimum wage hike.

He pushed the party to go bigger in what ultimately became the Inflation Reduction Act by backing a $6 trillion plan that would have beefed up the social safety net by adding, among other things, vision, hearing and dental coverage to Medicare. That vision was curtailed significantly as Biden and Democratic leaders struggled to secure the needed votes.

All the while, Sanders called hearing after hearing on big national issues that touched only indirectly on the federal budget — including climate change, income inequality and Amazon’s labor practices.

He also promoted a “Medicare for All” universal health plan. And now, with the possibility of gaining direct oversight of health matters, Sanders is signaling he intends to make it a signature push.

“The current system is broken, dysfunctional, and wildly expensive,” he told reporters last month. He followed up this month with a social media post warning Democrats that if they win back power there can be “no more failed establishment status quo policies.”

“If the Democratic Party thinks that they can just tinker around the edges once they take control of Congress, guess again,” he said.

The Senate Democratic Caucus and the party writ large have moved closer toward Sanders since his earlier tussles under the Biden administration. The moderates who forced Sanders and fellow progressives to scale back their ambitions have departed, and several of the Senate’s 2028 White House hopefuls are from the left.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who is flirting with a 2028 presidential bid and has been floated by some progressives as a future Senate leader, said “Medicare for All” is something a Democrat-controlled Senate should pursue.

“The reality is people are facing huge increases in premiums and copays. … So we need a Medicare-for-All-type solution,” Van Hollen said. “This is the kind of debate we need to have.”

In addition to health care — the oversight of which HELP shares with the Finance Committee — Sanders would have a big role to play in labor matters. He has said he would try to raise the minimum wage, advance legislation that would expand employees’ ability to unionize and also protect workers from artificial-intelligence-driven job loss.

“If I have anything to say about it, we’ve got to slow it down big time, “ Sanders said of AI. “The American people want us to pause.”

On education, Sanders has called to make four-year public college tuition-free and to raise teacher pay. But many Democrats are also eager to delve into Trump’s ongoing effort to downsize and ultimately eliminate the Education Department.

Sanders’ office produced an often-cited report showing that the department’s civil rights enforcement has plummeted. But some of the high-profile actions to rein in the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the department have been taken by other panel members.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) struck a deal with outgoing the committee chair, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), tovote on legislation to block the offloading of certain key programs to other federal agencies. And it was Kaine who publicly prodded Cassidy to call a hearing with Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

During Sanders’ first round with the HELP gavel, in 2023 and 2024, his legislative plans were stymied by a GOP-controlled House. But he put a spotlight on rising health care costs by bringing in health care company CEOs to testify. He and Cassidy, then the top Republican on the panel, also led an effort to hold the CEO of a large hospital network that had declared bankruptcy in contempt of Congress after declining to testify.

Cassidy is leaving the Senate at the end of the year, and it’s not yet clear who will be his replacement as HELP’s top Republican. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is next in line, but he could choose to continue leading the GOP on the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs panel instead, in which case the job could fall to Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Murkowski has raised pointed concerns with Kennedy’s leadership at HHS, which could generate some promising bipartisan oversight opportunities. Sanders could also find overlap with some committee Republicans who are AI-skeptical, like Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri.

But Sanders’ supporters of the left see his potential ascension to HELP chair as an opportunity to push a progressive vision that could frame the future of American politics — not to pare down ambitions and cooperate with Republicans.

“He’s worked his entire life … on getting everybody health care as a human right and winning everybody a living wage,” Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) said in an interview, adding that Sanders is “going to make a huge difference next year.”

Joseph Geevarghese — the executive director of Our Revolution, which Sanders founded but is now an independent organization — added that a Chair Sanders “would put the affordability crisis at the center of what an opposition party should be doing” while using Trump administration oversight “to extract concessions and secure concrete gains for working families.”

“In that sense, he could become the party’s de facto leader,” Geevarghese added, “helping define Democrats as a party prepared to fight for working people while taking on Trump.”

Mackenzie Wilkes and Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.

Congress

House Judiciary Democrats want a special counsel to investigate Trump’s ties to Epstein

Published

5 hours ago

October 26, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Democrats are making increasingly clear they have no plans to abandon their line of inquiry into whether President Donald Trump was involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring, should they retake the majority in the midterms.

A new report from the minority staff for the House Judiciary Committee, released Monday, calls for a special counsel to investigate Trump’s ties to the late convicted sex offender, alleging he was “an active participant in Jeffery Epstein’s sexual abuse of young women during the mid-to-late 1990s.”

While Congress does not have the power to appoint a special counsel, the report also makes the case for increased federal support to assist with state and foreign prosecutions of Epstein’s co-conspirators, along with further congressional action to uncover Epstein’s expansive sex trafficking scheme — both actions lawmakers could undertake through legislation.

“The women who survived Epstein deserve to be heard, Congress must have the complete files required by law, and an independent special counsel must investigate Epstein’s co-conspirators and DOJ’s cover-up and ensure that state and foreign prosecutors have the evidence they need to pursue justice,” Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the panel’s top Democrat said in a statement.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein’s actions and has repeatedly said he and Epstein had a falling out years ago and that he banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago “for being a creep.”

But Democrats think the House Republican-led Epstein investigation has allowed accusations against Trump to go unchecked. They also want to put more pressure on the Justice Department to account for the agency’s slow-walking and haphazard release of all the Epstein files, despite the law Congress passed last year compelling all the materials be made available.

Their new report, titled “The Case Against Donald Trump Emerging in the Epstein Files and DOJ’s Desperate Efforts to Cover It Up,” lists five women who have accused Trump “of raping or sexually assaulting them” in the company of Epstein.

Lauren Bis, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement that Trump has been “totally exonerated on anything related to Epstein,” adding that the president “has done more for Epstein’s victims than anyone before him” by “releasing thousands of pages of documents, cooperating with the House Oversight Committee’s subpoena request, signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and calling for more investigations into Epstein’s Democrat friends.”

As spokesperson for House Judiciary Republicans did not immediately respond to a request for comment.