Congress

Senate panel schedules Jay Clayton confirmation hearing for July 15

Published

3 hours ago

July 8, 2026

The Senate Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing next week on Jay Clayton’s nomination to serve as director of national intelligence — paving the way for replacing the controversial acting director Bill Pulte and clearing the way for an extension of a lapsed spy authority.

Committee Chair Tom Cotton officially scheduled the confirmation hearing for July 15. The Arkansas Republican had originally intended to convene Clayton’s hearing last month, but those plans were derailed when President Donald Trump announced the confirmation process for Clayton would not go forward until James McDonald’s nomination to succeed Clayton as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York was approved.

Trump appeared to come around late last week, telling reporters that Clayton’s hearing would take place in two weeks. A spokesperson for Cotton didn’t comment at the time, but a person with knowledge of the matter, granted anonymity to disclose private scheduling, told Blue Light News Cotton was aiming to hold a hearing on July 15.

Republicans want to confirm Clayton before leaving for a weeks-long break at the start of August and hope that moving his nomination will break a stalemate over a three-year extension of Section 702 authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Democrats have said they won’t vote for the reauthorization until Pulte, a Trump ally who they deem as unqualified, is removed from the post.

Congress

Senate GOP leaders say they’ve spoken with Mitch McConnell

Published

10 hours ago

July 7, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Spokespeople for Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Majority Whip John Barrasso said the two leaders spoke this week with Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has been hospitalized since June 14.

Disclosure of the calls — with Thune Monday and Barrasso Tuesday — comes amid rampant speculation from conservative influencers online about McConnell’s health and little detail from the Kentucky Republican’s own office about the reason for his hospitalization or his condition.

Thune and McConnell “had a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security,” a spokesperson for the majority leader said in a statement Tuesday.

Kate Noyes, a spokesperson for Barrasso, said the No. 2 leader and McConnell “had a lengthy conversation early this afternoon,” speaking by phone for roughly 20 minutes.

“They caught up about the latest news impacting Senate races, the Graham Platner scandal, and the recent Supreme Court ruling on coordinated spending limits,” as well as the Senate agenda, she added. “Senator McConnell was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate.”

Both men previously said they had spoken to McConnell in the immediate aftermath of his hospitalization. In addition to Thune and Barrasso, Scott Jennings, a longtime McConnell adviser who is now a BLN commentator, posted on social media Tuesday that he had also spoken with McConnell.

A spokesperson for McConnell did not directly respond to a Tuesday request for a status update on the senator’s health. McConnell staffers did email news outlets to flag the calls with Thune, Barrasso and Jennings, and pointed reporters back to a Thursday statement that said McConnell “continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff.”

That was the latest in a series of occasional updates from McConnell’s staff that have said nothing about why he was hospitalized or remains under medical care.

Suggestions online that McConnell could be in grave condition exploded over the past week after news outlets reported on D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services radio traffic that indicated a person at the former GOP leader’s address was found unconscious and required cardiac resuscitation.

Congress

Justices Kagan and Barrett on tap to testify on Capitol Hill next week

Published

13 hours ago

July 7, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Two Supreme Court justices will testify on Capitol Hill next week, marking the first time since 2019 that members of the high court will testify on their annual budget request to Congress.

Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan will appear July 14 before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, which has jurisdiction over the annual spending measure that funds the Supreme Court, according to a scheduling announcement from House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole.

They will also give testimony that same day to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, according to a person granted anonymity to disclose scheduling not yet made public.

The Supreme Court requested a boost of more than $14 million for fiscal 2027 for security for the nine justices. House Appropriators have advanced legislation that would fund the Supreme Court at $207 million — nearly $44 million more than the current enacted funding levels.

Lawmakers of both parties and chambers are seeking more information about how the court plans to use the funds. Senior appropriators have said they are hoping to keep questioning tightly focused on operations and expenses of the court rather than on cases pending before the justices.

Congress

Capitol agenda: Platner’s Hill support crumbles

Published

17 hours ago

July 7, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Graham Platner’s congressional fan club is ready to move on.

The Maine oysterman’s already scandal-ridden campaign was hit Monday by new allegations reported by POLITICO that he forced a woman he dated, Jenny Racicot, to have sex with him in 2021 — a claim Platner denies.

Now a wave of Democrats across the ideological spectrum is calling on the progressive to step aside while already circulating names to replace him. Those bailing include his — now former — staunchest defenders on Capitol Hill, along with party leaders who had warily gotten behind him after their preferred candidate, Gov. Janet Mills, suspended her campaign.

The cascade of opposition spotlights a party deeply anxious about their path ahead in Maine, where unseating GOP Sen. Susan Collins is critical to Democrats’ effort to win control of the chamber.

Democrats can still replace Platner on the ballot, but only if he chooses to drop out before the July 13 deadline outlined in Maine law. If he were to exit the race, the state Democratic Party would have to pick his replacement by July 27.

That tight timeline would set up a scramble potentially pitting factions of the party against each other.

Rep. Ro Khanna, who joined Platner on the campaign trail several times, Monday night endorsed a former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson, who had previously won the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders. Khanna said Jackson was “someone who has spent his life standing up for these progressive values.”

Sanders himself, who had backed Platner, has yet to comment publicly on the allegations.

A progressive-aligned PAC also weighed in, calling for Maine’s Democratic Party to honor primary voters’ wishes and “not allow crusty insiders like Chuck Schumer an establishment do-over.”

“A small caucus of party insiders cannot be trusted to nominate the shake-up-the-system outsider this moment calls for,” Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder Adam Green said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand called for Platner’s immediate withdrawal, saying the DSCC “will not invest in the Maine Senate race” if he remains on the ballot. Schumer had previously backed Mills.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Martin Heinrich, previously two of Platner’s biggest supporters, also joined in calling for him to step down, while Sen. Ruben Gallego, another former Platner fan, rescinded his endorsement.

Apart from Jackson, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former public health official Nirav Shah are taking calls about replacing Platner, according to three people familiar with those conversations, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive discussions.

A spokesperson for Platner did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the candidate’s loss of lawmakers’ support.

Platner has not said that he would suspend his campaign. In a video statement posted minutes after Blue Light News’s report, Platner said he is “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward” for his candidacy.

What else we’re watching:

— MEET THE NEXT LIKELY CBC CHAIR: Rep. Troy Carter has a front row seat to Republican redistricting in Louisiana, is a self-proclaimed “close ally” of potential speaker Hakeem Jeffries and is currently the Congressional Black Caucus’ vice chair. CBC members say that makes him their ideal next leader. Several members, including Chair Yvette Clarke and No. 3 Lucy McBath, said in interviews they view Carter as a strong — if not singular — contender to chair the caucus next term.

— HILL STAFFER GROUP DEMANDS MISCONDUCT ACCOUNTABILITY: A 1,500-strong group of Capitol Hill staff members is calling on congressional panels to take steps to better hold accountable denizens of the campus accused of misconduct. The Congressional Progressive Staff Association is asking House Administration and Senate Rules and Administration to enact a series of recommendations after two House members — Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales — became the latest lawmakers to resign over sexual misconduct accusations against them.

Riley Rogerson and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.