Congress
State of Congress: Republicans near formal House majority
More than a week after Election Day, there are just a dozen House races left uncalled by The Associated Press. Republicans currently have 216 seats — just two away from formally clinching the majority — while Democrats have 207. In the remaining uncalled contests, Republicans currently lead in six, while Democrats have the advantage in six.
Iowa’s 1st: Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) leads by a razor-thin 731 votes over Democrat Christina Bohannan, but the AP has not yet called the race. (Miller-Meeks is no stranger to tight races, having won her first bid for Congress by just six votes.) The incumbent announced her bid for House Republican Conference secretary, a leadership post, on Tuesday citing in part her ability to win tight battleground races. A recount is possible in this contest.
Maine’s 2nd: The state kicked off its ranked-choice voting procedures on Tuesday, and officials projected the process could take three to five days. Democratic Rep. Jared Golden led by just 726 votes over GOP nominee Austin Theriault as the process kicked off.
Oregon’s 5th: Democrat Janelle Bynum has declared victory over incumbent GOP Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer. But the AP has not yet called the race, despite Bynum’s lead of more than 10,000 votes. If the margin holds, the Democrat would flip control of the seat and become the first Black member of Congress from Oregon.
California’s 21st: Despite being neck and neck on election night with his unheralded GOP challenger, Rep. Jim Costa (D) has settled into a more comfortable position as further Democratic-friendly ballot drops have emerged. He now leads by almost 4 percentage points — more than 5,000 votes — in his bid for reelection in this Central Valley seat.
California’s 9th: Incumbent Rep. Josh Harder (D) has claimed victory in his reelection bid over much-touted Stockton, California, Mayor Kevin Lincoln (R), though the AP has yet to formally call the contest. Harder’s lead stands at more than 7,000 votes — nearly four percentage points.
Alaska at-large: A large batch of ballots posted late Tuesday did little to benefit Rep. Mary Peltola (D), who still trails GOP challenger Nick Begich by nearly 10,000 votes with more than 90 percent of ballots in. However, Begich is currently short of the 50 percent threshold to win outright, potentially triggering the state’s ranked-choice voting procedures next week.
California’s 41st: Longtime Rep. Ken Calvert (R) saw his lead over Democrat Will Rollins grow to more than 8,000 votes on Tuesday. He’s claimed victory in his reelection bid, though Rollins has yet to concede.
California’s 13th: Incumbent Rep. John Duarte (R) got several friendly ballot drops on Tuesday, keeping his lead over Democrat Adam Gray at slightly more than 3,100 votes. There’s still about 30 percent of the vote left to count, so this one could come down to the wire depending on what ballots are still out there.
Arizona’s 6th: It’s not been formally called yet, but Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R) leads Democrat Kirsten Engel by nearly 6,900 votes — or 1.8 percentage points — in this purple Arizona seat.
California’s 45th: Democratic challenger Derek Tran keeps winning new batches of counted ballots handily and eating into the election night lead held by incumbent Rep. Michelle Steel (R). She lost another 1,600 votes from that lead on Tuesday from a batch of 9,160 votes — and Steel’s lead is now just 2,272 votes.
Ohio’s 9th: The longest-serving woman in congressional history, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D), appears to have held onto her right-leaning seat by a hair — 1,193 votes. Her race against GOP nominee Derek Merrin has not been called by the AP, with more outstanding absentee and provisional ballots to count, but Kaptur has claimed victory.
California’s 47th: This race has also not been called, but Democrat Dave Min claimed victory on Tuesday night over GOP nominee Scott Baugh as late batches of ballots have consistently broken his way. Baugh later conceded as well. Min’s lead is now nearly 6,000 votes in what would be a major hold of an open swing seat being vacated by Rep. Katie Porter (D).
Pennsylvania Senate: Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) trimmed Sen.-elect David McCormick’s advantage in the contest — called by the AP — to under 29,300 votes in the latest counting Tuesday and isn’t conceding. “I want to make sure that we can count the votes and make a determination about who won and who lost,” Casey said on Capitol Hill as he walked to vote Tuesday.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who headed the Senate Democratic campaign arm this cycle, said Casey “definitely” still had a path for victory. “There are a lot of votes to count,” Peters told reporters. “They have provisional ballots. They tend to break his way, so we’ll have to see how many there are and wait for every vote to be counted.”
Republicans, meanwhile, welcomed McCormick to Senate orientation Tuesday and argued Casey needed to concede.
Called races by the AP on Tuesday: Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Rep.-elect George Whitesides (D-Calif.), Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), Rep.-elect Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) and Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.)
Note: Valadao and Newhouse are the only remaining House GOP members who voted to impeach President-elect Donald Trump over his handling of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Both won reelection on Tuesday.
Adam Hamilton raised $10.6 million in the third quarter of 2026 across his Senate campaign and his joint fundraising committees, his campaign tells Blue Light News, a significant haul for the Kansas Democrat.
The fundraising total illustrates Democrats’ newfound bullishness about flipping a Senate seat in the deep-red state for the first time since 1932.
“This grassroots support sends a clear message: with three weeks until Election Day, Adam Hamilton is building the momentum to win,” said Hamilton campaign spokesperson Tyson Brody.
Hamilton’s third-quarter figure is nearly triple his $3.66 million second-quarter total. His campaign did not provide a current cash-on-hand total.
National Democrats began pumping money into Kansas in recent days, a sign of their growing hopes that Hamilton could win. Last week, Senate Majority PAC — Senate Democrats’ top super PAC — reserved $5 million in television ads backing Hamilton. American Bridge PAC and Lower Costs Now, a new group affiliated with former Vice President Kamala Harris’ super PAC, have spent in Kansas in recent weeks.
Republicans have also flocked to Kansas to prop up Marshall: Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate GOP’s top PAC, has spent or reserved nearly $11 million backing Marshall in the past week, according to tracking firm AdImpact.
“It took us five months to raise $15 million. [Marshall] got it in a day,” Hamilton said at a campaign event in Lawrence, Kansas on Monday. “So please help us.”
Marshall’s campaign has yet to release his third-quarter fundraising totals. As of mid-July, Marshall had over $5 million in the bank to $1.73 million for Hamilton.
A bipartisan Senate duo is urging Trump national security officials to “bring its full capacities to bear” to stave off threats posed by artificial intelligence — sooner rather than later.
Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, and Republican South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, who serves on the Senate Armed Services cybersecurity subcommittee, are calling for a full government response to a growing number of cybersecurity breaches.
“Recent AI security incidents should serve as a warning,” the senators wrote in a Tuesday letter to Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and White House Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios. “Advanced AI agents have escaped testing environments, bypassed safeguards, and gained unauthorized access to real-world systems owned by government agencies and private organizations.”
Spokespeople for Clayton and Kratsios did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Their letter comes as lawmakers struggle to hash out what legislation on AI safety, if any, might look like. Members are currently in recess ahead of the November elections and there’s little hope progress can be made by the year’s end.
But those lawmakers who have been engaged on the topic for years now have mapped out administrative actions the Trump administration could move on now, without waiting on Congress.
The Cantwell and Rounds priorities include: strengthening federal AI safety and security standards at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST; expanding independent testing capabilities at the Center for Advancing Innovation and Standards for Super Intelligence, Department of Energy and the national labs; and working with the tech industry to develop and deploy defensive AI tools.
Specifically, the senators wrote, new NIST standards should address the risks posed by advanced AI capabilities, including the “potential misuse by malicious actors” to conduct sophisticated cyberattacks, automate attacks at scale and agents that threaten external systems and critical infrastructure.
They also said the federal government capacity should be complemented by universities and other research organizations, as well as by private sector, third-party evaluators.
Finally, they point to ways the government could use existing programs at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to work with AI labs to help detect threats and reinforce vulnerable systems.
A bipartisan group of senators urged President Donald Trump to rescind his recent diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, amid bubbling anger on Capitol Hill about Trump’s announcement.
In a letter sent to the White House, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the senators warned that the president’s deal with Russia will not “achieve just ends” or benefit Americans.
“Granting Moscow the ability to sell Russian diesel freely in global markets damages American security interests and is a betrayal of the people of Ukraine, who continue to defend themselves from Putin’s murderous, illegal war,” wrote the lawmakers, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies; it should be rescinded.”
On Sunday, a smaller group of senators called on the president to “immediately reverse course” on the plan in a statement. Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — who signed on to both — said Sunday there may be “a legitimate case for saying the president’s not following the law.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump announced in a social media post on Friday that Russia would “immediately supply” diesel fuel to global markets — including potentially the U.S. — to help relieve high prices driven, in part, by the ongoing war with Iran. Though Trump has repeatedly defended the U.S.’s actions against Iran, on Saturday he demanded an end to Ukrainian drone strikes that have crippled Russian oil refineries that he argues have caused the record-high oil prices.
The senators on Tuesday argued that the deal with Russia will have a “negligible impact” on fuel prices while providing Putin with “more fuel to finance his war machine” as Russia continues its “brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians.”
The deal with Russia is a sharp pivot from a sweeping sanctions package signed into law last month. That legislation — championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — was meant to deplete Moscow’s resources by targeting Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of oil tankers. It drew widespread bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress.
Senators on Tuesday referenced the package as they condemned Putin as a “tyrant.”
“For decades, America has stood as the bastion of freedom against tyranny, and American presidents have embodied our nation’s resistance to tyrants. Putin is a tyrant,” the letter reads. “Withdraw from this agreement, rescind General License No. 135, and execute the authorities provided under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. Maintain our legacy – and the duty America holds – as leader of the free world.”
In addition to Blumenthal and Tillis, Tuesday’s letter was signed by Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Jack Reed (R.I.), and Chris Coons (Del.) and Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Susan Collins (Maine), Alan Armstrong (Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and John Cornyn (Texas).
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