Congress

Senate Republicans in no hurry to deliver Trump’s next reconciliation bill

Published

4 months ago

June 18, 2026

President Donald Trump is calling for Republicans to pass a $350 billion bill to fund the military while notching conservative policy victories — and GOP senators aren’t exactly scurrying to action.

House Republican leaders and committee chairs have been meeting for weeks about what to include in a new party-line reconciliation package. Speaker Mike Johnson has also had conversations about the House’s vision with Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

But the Senate has taken no concrete steps toward advancing a bill, and GOP senators and aides said this week it was becoming clear any “Reconciliation 3.0” would be a House-led effort. Multiple Senate Republicans — including members of leadership — say they don’t currently see a path that could marshall 50 votes behind such a measure on their side of the Capitol just months before the midterms.

“Everybody has a different concept of what they want, which is going to be the problem,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said in an interview this week.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said a third bill “doesn’t look to me like it’s got a lot of life in it,” while Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) separately warned that if his party was going to pass a third reconciliation bill, Republicans need to “saddle up and ride hard, because we’re running out of time.”

“You don’t have to be a senior at Cal Tech to know that the closer you get to the midterms, the harder it is to get anything done around here,” Kennedy added.

Republicans in the Senate aren’t entirely ruling out coalescing behind a plan, knowing they would risk sparking Trump’s wrath if they do. But they’re airing plenty of doubts, and that pessimism — combined with a lack of clear movement toward assembling policy priorities and satisfactory pay-fors — doesn’t bode well for the GOP’s ability to deliver on the president’s demands.

A handful of Senate Republicans have been going through some of the motions. Cornyn, Majority Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming and Budget Chair Lindsey Graham of South Carolina met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week to discuss using reconciliation to bolster the Pentagon’s budget amid the ongoing conflict with Iran.

Graham, after his meeting with Hegseth, said in an X post that he will be working with Senate leaders, Budget Committee Republicans and the administration “to see if we can get this process moving as expeditiously as possible.”

He added, “In my view, time is of the essence.”

But three Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee said there was no movement toward drafting a budget resolution — a prerequisite for unlocking the filibuster-skirting power of another reconciliation bill — nor have they received details on a timeline from Graham.

In an interview Monday, Graham said only, “I love reconciliation; I want it to never end.”

The party-line bill currently under discussion would be the third one passed in this Congress, following on last year’s $4.5 trillion tax-cuts-focused megabill and the $70 billion immigration enforcement funding package finalized earlier this month — hence “Reconciliation 3.0.”

Barrasso said Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) has had conversations on potential ways to help pay for a third reconciliation package through changes to the tax code, but that claim appeared to come as a surprise to Crapo.

“I would like to do a Reconciliation Three, but we are not crafting one or anything like that,” Crapo said in an interview earlier this week. “I mean, we are always discussing tax policy.”

Their posture is being influenced by the math within their own conference: With a 53-seat majority, Thune can only afford to lose three GOP senators with Vice President JD Vance casting a tie-breaking vote.

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky — another senior GOP appropriator who is currently hospitalized — both predicted during a recent hearing that a third reconciliation bill would not happen. Collins separately told reporters “it would be very difficult to get a third reconciliation bill approved.”

But with the annual bipartisan appropriations process collapsing in the Senate, some Republicans see reconciliation as the only path forward to fund certain programs — as the GOP did with “Reconciliation 2.0” that funded Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol for the duration of Trump’s term.

Cornyn said appropriators were skeptical of a third reconciliation bill because “it basically carves them out of the process.” But he added, “I don’t think there’s any other way to deal with things like defense spending.”

Meanwhile, Senate GOP fiscal hawks could also blow up the process by demanding pay-fors for Trump’s military funding request in the form of cuts to health care services. It’s a reality Thune acknowledged as he recently explained the challenges of advancing another reconciliation bill, noting that while most Republicans would unite around defense spending, “it certainly wouldn’t be limited to just that.”

“You’d have to have it offset and paid for,” Thune continued, “which implicates other committees of jurisdiction and creates unique challenges in terms of the vote count here in the Senate.”

Republican leaders are especially fearful of any scenario where vulnerable incumbents will have to take difficult votes related to health care so close to the elections. This conversation is also playing out in the House, where Republican leaders have signaled an interest in pursuing another reconciliation bill with hundreds of billions of dollars in new defense spending that would likely be offset by crackdowns on alleged fraud in social services programs.

Moderates are balking at many of the proposals on the table — frustrating House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), who said last week he could save hundreds of billions of dollars by cracking down on “fraud” across multiple social safety net programs if only his colleagues would join him.

“We have more than enough resources in savings … That I can tell you,” Arrington said in an interview.

One House Republican who was granted anonymity to speak freely said nobody is taking the current slate of offset recommendations seriously: “It’s fake pay-fors for defense spending no one has fully agreed to and no meaningful reforms.”

Still, House GOP leaders are expected to forge ahead with plans to unveil more of their framework after the chamber returns from recess next week. Some members want to adopt a budget blueprint and also pass the bill out of the House before the August break — a timeline many Republicans consider highly ambitious and can’t happen unless Senate Republicans are on board.

In the meantime, Barrasso is tempering expectations. He told reporters this week that while conversations are ongoing around Reconciliation 3.0, “the important thing is that we got Reconciliation 2.0 done.”

Thune also isn’t making any promises.

“As I said before on another reconciliation bill, you’ve got to have something that gets 50 and 218,” he told reporters, “and I’m not sure exactly at this point what that is.”

Meredith Lee Hill, Jennifer Scholtes and Kelsey Brugger contributed to this report.

Congress

DCCC launches ads against Mike Turner in red Ohio district

Published

2 hours ago

October 20, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Democrats’ campaign arm is launching its first ad buy against seven-term GOP Rep. Mike Turner in his western Ohio district as they seek to turn up the pressure on Republicans in once-safe red seats.

The DCCC is dropping separate six-figure buys on two coordinated television ads boosting challenger Kristina Knickerbocker, spokesperson Riya Vashi said — a remarkable investment considering Turner won in 2024 by over 18 percentage points, overperforming President Donald Trump.

Ohio adopted a new redistricted congressional map last year that was expected to favor Republicans. Turner’s 10th District voted for Trump by 6 points in 2024; under the new lines it would have been closer to 8 points.

The first ad airing this week opens with a woman saying, “It’s time we had someone in Congress who actually stands up for us” as Knickerbocker jogs through a neighborhood.

Democrats are eyeing Turner’s Dayton-area seat as a reach opportunity. A new internal DCCC poll of 535 likely general election voters reviewed by Blue Light News shows Knickerbocker running three percentage points ahead of Turner. Polling from this summer showed Turner leading the race.

Another Democratic group, House Majority PAC, has already poured more than a million dollars into the race against Turner and has reservations planned through Nov. 3. Knickerbocker is not on the DCCC’s “Red to Blue” roster of candidates who get the bulk of its resources.

“Alarm bells should be ringing for Mike Turner,” Vashi said in a statement. “Kristina Knickerbocker has the momentum in this race, and the DCCC will make sure every voter in this district knows exactly how Turner has betrayed them.”

But the NRCC has been spending in the district for several weeks to boost Turner. House Republican campaign operatives are so far dismissing efforts to flip the seat.

NRCC spokesperson Zach Bannon called Turner “a life-long Ohioan who has a record of cutting taxes, lowering costs, and making Ohio streets safer.”

“While Congressman Turner delivers commonsense conservative wins, out of touch Democrat Kristina Knickerbocker supports a radical far-left agenda,” Bannon said. “This November, Ohioans will reject liberal Knickerbocker and send Congressman Mike Turner back to Congress.”

Congress

Capitol agenda: Dem gavels are coming for Elon Musk

Published

2 hours ago

October 20, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Elon Musk is facing a gauntlet of Democratic oversight.

Democrats have long eyed investigating the world’s richest man and the GOP’s top donor. They may get their chance if they win back congressional power in November, and senior members are mulling how a range of panels could target Musk and a huge swath of his businesses.

Their list of potential probes is growing.

Some members are eager to dig into Musk’s possible role last week in throttling crucial internet access to the Ukrainian military as President Donald Trump seeks to pressure the country into cutting a peace deal with Russia.

The incident is one of a glut of alleged conflicts of interests members cited as ripe for oversight, as Musk’s companies like SpaceX and Tesla rake in multi-billion dollar federal contracts and subsidies.

“The sheer number of conflicts of interest are astounding,” top Space, Science and Technology Democrat Rep. Zoe Lofgren said.

Spokespeople for Musk did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Members of House Oversight and other panels also want to examine Musk’s role in eliminating over 250,000 federal jobs during his time at DOGE, withholding congressionally appropriated money and accessing sensitive government data.

“Congress must demand a full accounting of the damage Mr. Musk and DOGE caused, and we will not let anyone obstruct our oversight,” House Foreign Affairs ranking member Rep. Greg Meeks said in a statement Monday, referring to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency Musk headed last year.

Meeks named Musk’s part in “the cruel dismantling of USAID” as a prime target for his panel next year.

Some Democrats are not waiting for gavels: House Homeland Security Democrats demanded last month Musk testify under oath about a watchdog report claiming DOGE overstated its savings. And Ways and Means Democrats called for an investigation into the group’s alleged data theft from Social Security records.

But even members on panels with less obvious ties to the tech mogul are eyeing targets. Rep. Maxine Dexter, who sits on Natural Resources and Veterans Affairs, said she sees Musk among “the well-connected billionaire, trillionaires who have seen government contracts as a way to subsidize their own company’s research, development, and bottom line.”

“We need to shut that down,” she said.

What else we’re watching:

— MEET TRUMP’S HILL LIAISON: Katie Bailey is poised to run point between the White House and a chaotic Congress — especially if Democrats prevail in the midterms. Trump’s pick for the new director of the Office of Legislative Affairs is a longtime former congressional aide with wide-ranging experience in oversight and investigations. Her first task will be helping navigate a fast-moving, high-stakes “lame duck” legislative session, where lawmakers rush to pass outstanding bills and avoid a government shutdown. James Braid, who previously held the role before announcing his departure in August, said in an interview that Bailey is up for that task.

— GOP TRIES TO SPARE UKRAINE FROM TRUMP: Republican lawmakers are scrambling to find a way to stop Trump from cozying up to Russia and dismissing Ukraine — but they’re running low on options. All of it comes in response to the president’s decisions to purchase Russian diesel, waive sanctions on Moscow and potentially stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine. Lawmakers are also frustrated with days of unexplained disruptions in Kyiv’s U.S.-controlled satellite defenses. The disparate responses reflect an undercurrent of Republican angst about an administration that has largely ignored Congress on Ukraine and foreign policy more broadly — and the lack of a coordinated response from the legislative branch. They underscore just how little power Trump’s own party has had in reining in his attacks on longstanding allied relationships.

Riley Rogerson, Chris Marquette, Adam Wren, Mia McCarthy, Mark Satter and Leo Shane III contributed to this report.

Congress

Elon Musk is in Democrats’ oversight crosshairs

Published

3 hours ago

October 20, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Democrats are eyeing many targets as they make plans to probe corruption in and around President Donald Trump’s administration should they win control of the House next month.

Few loom larger than Elon Musk.

The world’s richest man and nine-figure Republican donor has emerged as a man of intense interest to several potential committee chairs — not to mention scores of rank-and-file Democratic lawmakers — who see multiple fronts for investigations.

Those include Musk’s whirlwind stint as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, his companies’ multibillion dollar contracts with the federal government and — most recently — his possible role in throttling crucial internet access to the Ukrainian military as the White House seeks to pressure President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into cutting a peace deal with Russia.

“What happens when one guy gets a giant contract from the government and then uses it to do something that shuts down communication in a war that has been extremely important to the United States to support Ukraine?” Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview. “There’s a lot of different parts of the corruption around Musk.”

Multiple committees are now gaming out how they will take on Musk next term if Democrats win back gavels, with senior members and aides considering how he fits into the various panels’ jurisdiction. Any number of committees in both chambers could stake a claim to probing a piece of Musk’s dealings with the federal government.

“We definitely have a lot of questions about Elon Musk’s role in DOGE and it is something we plan to investigate,” said Sara Guerrero, a spokesperson for top Oversight Committee Democrat Rep. Robert Garcia of California.

Spokespeople for Musk did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Some members are not waiting for election results to get started. Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee demanded last month that Musk testify under oath about a Government Accountability Office report claiming that DOGE overstated its savings, while the House Ways and Means Committee has already called to investigate alleged DOGE-related data theft from Social Security.

Huge parts of Musk’s dealings with the federal government could come under congressional scrutiny, including the billions of dollars in spaceflight contracts SpaceX holds with NASA as well as the clean-energy subsidies Tesla has reaped.

But leading Democrats of multiple committees remain fixed on Musk’s five-month rampage through the federal bureaucracy as DOGE leader, in which an estimated 250,000 federal jobs were cut amid allegations of data breaches and illegally withheld congressional spending.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, the top Democrat on the Space, Science and Technology Committee, which oversees NASA, said her panel has more “to learn about the damage that DOGE inflicted on our science agencies.”

“Elon Musk and his DOGE cronies stirred up chaos, ruined careers, and played a large role in illegal grant cancellations and firings of civil servants,” she said in a Monday statement.

“He helped orchestrate the systematic destruction of government programs and services over the last nearly two years,” Lofgren added. “The sheer number of conflicts of interest are astounding.”

Rep. Greg Meeks of New York, the top Foreign Affairs Committee Democrat, said much the same — calling in a Monday statement for “a full accounting of the damage Mr. Musk and DOGE caused.”

“The cruel dismantling of USAID, championed by Elon Musk and carried out by Secretary Rubio, saved no taxpayer money, balanced no budget, and made America no safer,” Meeks said, adding that the panel “will not let anyone obstruct our oversight.”

The House Oversight Committee, considered to have the most robust investigative staff of any congressional panel, could also get involved in probing Musk’s dealings.

“I think DOGE was the original sin,” said one Democratic member of the panel granted anonymity to describe internal discussions about its agenda. “A third of the committee is lawyers and we see the lawlessness, the intentional violations of the law.”

“I certainly hope that Elon Musk and DOGE get brought in,” the member added. “No one should be above the law.”

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has not named Musk as a preeminent target as tries to keep the Democratic midterm message trained on affordability, but he has spoken out about the need to crack down on the “wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected.”

Garcia also spoke at length in an August interview about targeting corruption within Trump’s inner circle, and others have emphasized the need to take a broad view of potential oversight subjects. Many top Democrats, for instance, want an early focus on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“I don’t think that there is a single like, ‘You are the one,’” Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio), a member of the Science panel, said in an interview. “I think it is across the board — we need answers.”

But plenty of rank-and-file Democrats want Musk personally held to account — including some on panels with less obvious ties to the tech mogul.

Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), for instance, sits on the Natural Resources and Veterans Affairs Committees. She said she sees Musk among “the well-connected billionaire, trillionaires who have seen government contracts as a way to subsidize their own company’s research, development, and bottom line.”

“We need to shut that down,” she added.

Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), a Foreign Affairs member, was succinct in describing the need to probe Musk’s dealings and haul him before that committee: “Bring it all on.”

Musk has made no secret of his preference for House control next term as the GOP’s single biggest known midterm donor, with $276 million and counting going to Republican committees and candidates.

Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), an Oversight Committee member and the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said delving into the allegedly transactional nature of Musk’s influence is the whole point.

“Our committees need to be doing oversight both into the Trump administration, but I think even more importantly or equally importantly, into the corporations and ultrarich people who have tried to corrupt our government,” he said. “And, of course, Elon Musk is on that list because it takes two to tango.”

Kelsey Brugger and Ari Hawkins contributed to this report.