Congress
Senate Republicans hint at clawing back hiring and firing power for Congressional agencies
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins thinks Congress needs to take charge in naming the heads of major legislative branch agencies, including the Library of Congress and Government Accountability Office.
“I think what we’re going to have to do with some of these organizations — like the Library of Congress, GAO — is have Congress appoint the head, to make it crystal clear that these are congressional entities,” the Maine Republican told reporters Wednesday.
The decisive words from a senior GOP lawmaker signal the growing appetite on Capitol Hill for Congress to claw back hiring and firing power for leaders of key congressional support agencies, which now rests with the president.
The new evaluation of the status quo comes in the wake of President Donald Trump’s abrupt firings of the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, and the head of the U.S. Copyright office, Shira Perlmutter. Leadership of the library remains in limbo after Trump attempted to appoint allies from the Justice Department to leadership within the library.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative has also in recent weeks attempted to gain access to multiple legislative branch entities, including the GAO, which roots out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government; the Government Publishing Office; and Blue Light News office that fields and manages complaints about discrimination, harassment, accessibility and other workplace issues.
Collins described GAO as an “organization that serves and responds to Congress. And I do not think it’s appropriate for DOGE to be trying to reorganize it or enter it in any way.”
She said, however, that she has not been in touch with Musk or other DOGE officials about these efforts.
The president currently has the power to nominate a Librarian of Congress and the Comptroller General, the title for the head of GAO. Those nominees require senate approval. There is broad agreement on both sides of the aisle that firing power for those presidential-appointed roles lies with the president, but there is some bipartisan interest in changing that.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is the highest-ranking lawmaker so far to nod at the possible need for legislation to clarify and solidify Congressional authority over leadership of these key agencies under Capitol Hill’s explicit purview.
“There needs to be a consultation around this,” Thune told reporters last week. “There are equities that both Article One and Article Two branches have when it comes to the Library of Congress, and it might suggest that in future, we may need to delineate those more clearly.”
Congress made a similar move to solidify congressional control over the Architect of the Capitol role in recent years. It came about as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were pushing for removal of Architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton amid revelations of misconduct and misuse of resources, but they had to wait for then-President Joe Biden to fire him.
“Just like we changed the rules with Architect the Capitol, we should change them here,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told reporters.
Klobuchar authored the bill that changed how the Architect of the Capitol is hired and fired, making it a Congress-only process and cutting out presidential involvement. Many Democrats in both chambers have voiced support for such legislation to apply the Librarian of Congress to the same standard.
Lisa Kashinsky contributed to this report.
Senate Republicans confirmed dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees Friday, just before they leave for a five-week congressional recess.
Senators voted 51-47 to approve officials at the Departments of Defense, Energy, State and other agencies.
They included David Cummins to head the Transportation Security Administration, Cameron Hamilton to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Hal Duncan to be OMB deputy director and Francis Brooke to be Treasury deputy secretary. Among the group were several ambassadors, including former Rep. David Brat to be ambassador to Australia.
Senate Republicans changed the chamber’s rules last year to be able to confirm lower-level nominees as a package instead of having to hold a vote on each.
After finishing the expedited procedure Friday, Senate Republicans estimate they will only have a small number of civilian nominees awaiting confirmation.
President Donald Trump said voters may seek to punish Republicans — but not him — in the November midterm elections, as GOP lawmakers sweat that affordability concerns and the war in Iran could mean Democrats flip the House and perhaps even the Senate.
“They’re angry at Republicans,” Trump said in an interview with Punchbowl News that aired Friday. “But they’re not angry at me. They’re not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.”
The GOP faces the prospect of heavy losses this November, as gas and grocery prices remain stubbornly high due in part to the White House’s five-month-long war in Iran. The administration’s guidance on campaign trail messaging has been “tone deaf,” House Republicans fear.
Meanwhile, the president’s approval rating has tumbled since he returned to the Oval Office last year, and even his biggest supporters have grown frustrated over his Middle East war.
And with a messy, jam-packed slate of primaries now all but in the rearview mirror, Democrats are determined to go on offense. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has 58 seats on its midterm target map that stretches into redder territory — while still facing an uphill climb to take the Senate.
Trump has a massive war chest at his disposal. His MAGA Inc. super PAC reached $400 million in June. The president told Punchbowl he plans to use it to “help Republicans,” but he stressed that he faces no pressure in this campaign cycle.
“I said to somebody, ‘Wait a minute, you don’t understand, I won,’” Trump said, referencing his 2024 presidential election victory. “I’m not campaigning.”
The biggest issue for Republicans this year? That Trump himself is not on the ballot, he said.
“If I don’t run, will those people go out and vote? And that’s the one thing I can’t tell, I’m going to ask them to,” he said.
The Senate’s plan to get out of town is coming together.
Majority Leader John Thune teed up a final vote on the Russia sanctions legislation for this morning, as well as a confirmation vote for dozens of nominees and a procedural step on a stopgap funding bill.
But there’s still a number of questions that need to be answered if Thune wants to adjourn for recess by the end of the day:
— BLANCHE’S FATE: President Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general needs to secure at least one more vote to be confirmed before the break.
It looks like it’s all up to Sen. Bill Cassidy after Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced Friday morning she is opposed. Thune indicated Thursday night Blanche’s fate was uncertain and that leaders were “still working to get the final vote.”
— SAVE AMERICA ACT: Thune said to expect a vote related to the SAVE America Act as well as an initial vote on a budget blueprint for a third party-line spending bill — which includes elements of Trump’s election security legislation.
The decision to hold the budget vote comes after two Republican senators, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told Blue Light News Thursday they believed Sen. Mike Lee or another member of the GOP’s right flank would have otherwise forced a vote on the framework.
But as we’ve previously reported, Republicans don’t believe the budget resolution has the votes within the conference to be adopted — meaning the expected initial vote today will fail to clear a simple majority threshold.
And it’s not clear Lee or like-minded senators will be satisfied and allow for lawmakers to adjourn for recess without more action on the elections measure. The senator has made similar threats over the past year but has never followed through.
— TIME AGREEMENT: GOP leaders need to strike an agreement to finish other business, including passing the stopgap government funding bill and advancing a college sports bill.
At this point, any single senator could still object to expediting the chamber’s agenda, which would derail Thune’s goal of getting members out of town by the end of the day.
“We’ve been having these conversations with Democrats trying to figure out what’s the path,” Thune said.
“We’ll see how it goes,” he added.
What else we’re watching:
— GOP EXPECTS CRYPTO BILL DELAY: The Senate will leave for the chamber’s August recess without holding a vote on a landmark cryptocurrency bill, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. Thune may still file cloture on the bill, but it likely won’t come to the floor until lawmakers return to Washington next month, two of the people said.
— COLLEGE SPORTS BILL STUMBLES: Sens. Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell’s legislation to impose new guardrails on college sports is looking increasingly unlikely to hit the floor this week. Eleven senators objected to expedited consideration of the Protect College Sports Act after Thune filed cloture earlier this week, two people familiar with discussions told Blue Light News.
— OGLES OUSTED: GOP House leaders lost an incumbent — and a perennial headache — with Rep. Andy Ogles’ primary defeat in Tennessee Thursday night. His loss to former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher represents the second Trump-endorsed candidate to lose a primary this week.
Jordain Carney, Mia McCarthy, Andrew Howard and Jacob Wendler contributed to this report.
-
The Josh Fourrier Show2 years agoDOOMSDAY: Trump won, now what?
-
Politics1 year agoFormer ‘Squad’ members launching ‘Bowman and Bush’ YouTube show
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoLuigi Mangione acknowledges public support in first official statement since arrest
-
Uncategorized2 years ago
Bob Good to step down as Freedom Caucus chair this week
-
Politics1 year agoFormer Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron launches Senate bid
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoPete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse
-
Politics1 year agoBlue Light News’s Editorial Director Ryan Hutchins speaks at Blue Light News’s 2025 Governors Summit
-
The Dictatorship11 months agoMike Johnson sums up the GOP’s arrogant position on military occupation with two words