Congress

Susan Collins’ spending bill — and her reelection — are under siege

Published

1 month ago

January 28, 2026

Susan Collins is stuck in the middle of an ICE storm.

The Maine Republican and Senate Appropriations Committee chair is working overtime to salvage a package of six funding bills hanging by a thread after the Saturday killing of a Minnesota man by federal agents. The scramble follows months of work to put the appropriations process back on track in the wake of a record government shutdown.

How Collins navigates the fight will have reverberations far beyond whether or not Congress manages to avoid falling over the shutdown cliff for the second time in four months. The 73-year-old — who intends to seek a sixth term this November — is already under a microscope from Democrats back home after the Trump administration launched an immigration enforcement operation in her state.

Collins, who said earlier this month she didn’t “see the rationale for a large number of ICE agents” in Maine, spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Monday, later telling reporters Tuesday she urged Noem to pause “this surge of enforcement” in Minnesota and Maine “until we can get far better focus.”

On Capitol Hill, she’s part of a group of senators who are trying to defuse the shutdown fight, including by exploring actions President Donald Trump could have his agencies take without needing to strip DHS funding out of the pending spending package as Democrats are demanding.

“We are having conversations with all the parties,” Collins said in an interview Tuesday, referring to the White House and Democrats.

As to whether or not a shutdown is inevitable, she separately told reporters “it depends on whether people look at the consequences.”

She pointed to Trump’s decision to send border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis as a sign that the administration is willing to make policy changes in the wake of Saturday’s shooting. But just sending in Homan won’t be enough to appease Democrats.

Republicans, including Collins, are loath to do that because any changes to the six-bill package would virtually guarantee a partial shutdown starting 12:01 a.m. Saturday. The House would need to approve any changes to the package, and the chamber is in recess until Monday.

Republican leaders are also wary of an internal backlash to any revised bill, with the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus warning Monday that they would oppose any measure that did not include money for DHS.

Democrats say the deployment of DHS agents in Collins’ home state is justification enough for pulling apart the funding package she’s trying to salvage this week.

“All you have to do is look at what’s happening in Minnesota, look at what’s happening in Maine,” Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a senior Democratic appropriator, told reporters. “And I think that this is why everyone’s got to vote to rein in Trump’s ICE operation.”

Collins acknowledged on the Senate floor Monday that the killing of Alex Pretti in Minnesota Saturday refocused attention on Homeland Security funding and whether more guardrails are needed for the immigration agencies under its purview.

“I recognize that and share the concerns,” she said.

But she noted that the funding package includes “many safeguards” on DHS funding and that the majority of the department’s budget covers work unrelated to immigration enforcement, including TSA, the Coast Guard and FEMA.

The political backdrop could hardly be more fraught for Collins. She was already dealing with a complicated relationship with Trump, with the president attacking her and several other GOP senators just this month for supporting an effort to rein in military action in Venezuela. They “should never be elected to office again,” Trump announced — with Collins the only in-cycle Republican among those targeted.

Collins also voted against the Trump-backed “Big, Beautiful Bill” last year and a separate $9 billion funding clawback pushed by the White House. Still, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other GOP colleagues have publicly defended Collins as essential to keeping the Maine seat in Republican hands.

But her well-documented willingness to break from her party has done little to stop Democrats back home from linking her to Trump’s immigration enforcement policies. The Maine Democratic Party accused Collins of “choosing Donald Trump over the people of Maine” and “leading the charge to pass more funding for ICE.”

One of her aspiring Democratic challengers, Gov. Janet Mills, leaned into the immigration fight during her State of the State speech Tuesday night — the latest indication of how it is potentially reorienting midterm politics.

“Tonight, I say to the people of Maine: We will not be intimidated. We will not be silenced,” Mills said.

Back in Washington, Collins is speaking with Democrats on the Appropriations Committee and members of the Trump administration, as well as fellow Republicans including Thune and Sen. Katie Britt, the top Homeland Security appropriator.

Whether Collins can hold the funding package together and avoid a partial shutdown, most Hill Republicans believe, will ultimately come down to what Trump and congressional Democrats can agree to.

Thune cited “good conversations” involving Collins and Britt, before adding: “The other thing too is making sure that they’re engaged in the White House.”

Democrats believe Republicans are open to immigration enforcement changes — and are speaking out about Saturday’s shooting — in large part because of the potential electoral ramifications coming in November.

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, another Democratic appropriator, said Republicans are only concerned about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions “in the context of elections right now.”

“So they talk about Maine — there’s a reason that there’s extra attention to Maine,” Merkley said in an interview. “I’d like to see some actual principles exhorted by the Republican leadership in both houses — to stand up.”

Congress

Johnson: Congress will pass Iran war funding when ‘appropriate’

Published

4 minutes ago

March 4, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that lawmakers are waiting for the White House to formally request emergency cash to support the war in Iran, as administration officials reportedly consider seeking up to $50 billion.

In an interview, Johnson said he hadn’t heard yet about a specific funding level but that “we’ll pass a supplemental when it’s appropriate and get it right.”

“We’re waiting on the White House and [the Pentagon] to let us know, but we have an open dialogue about it,” he said when asked whether Congress could pass a $50 billion supplemental funding bill.

Passing any emergency funding will be a major fight on Capitol Hill, with Democrats already decrying the lack of details about how much the military is spending and Republican fiscal hawks wary of more spending. Reuters reported Tuesday that Deputy ‌Defense ⁠Secretary Steve Feinberg has been leading Pentagon work on a roughly $50 billion request.

Asked about a $50 billion request in a separate interview, Majority Leader Steve Scalise said, “Well, we’re nowhere close to that.”

“I mean, yesterday at the briefing, it was brought up that there may be a need for a supplemental,” he added. “But we’re still just in the first few days of this conflict, and there’s no no ask yet from the Department of War for a supplemental.”

Scalise said, “When that time comes, we’ll obviously have very serious conversations because it’s important that the Department of War have the tools they need to keep America safe.”

House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.) said in an interview that he didn’t know the specific number yet but that he would support an emergency funding bill of tens of billions of dollars.

Congress

House Ethics panel launches investigation of Tony Gonzales

Published

4 minutes ago

March 4, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The House Ethics Committee launched a formal investigation into Rep. Tony Gonzales Wednesday, establishing a panel to probe allegations that the Texas Republican “engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employed in his congressional office” and “discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.”

The announcement comes as Gonzales faces a 12-week runoff campaign to keep the Republican nomination for the south Texas seat he has held for three terms. He narrowly trails challenger Brandon Herrera in the latest returns from Tuesday’s election but neither candidate is on track to win an outright majority, setting up a May 23 runoff.

Gonzales has denied wrongdoing and thus far resisted calls from within his own party to resign as details of an alleged relationship with a former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, have emerged in recent weeks. She died by suicide after setting herself on fire in 2025.

Gonzales did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, navigating a tight GOP majority, said last week that he wanted to see how the election played out and that Gonzales was entitled to due process. It could take months or longer for the Ethics Committee to finish its investigation and recommend any discipline.

Gonzales is alleged to have pursued a sexual relationship with Santos-Aviles and tried to coerce her into sending explicit photos, according to text messages published by the San Antonio Express-News and other publications. Blue Light News has not independently reviewed the messages.

House rules prohibit members, such as Gonzales, from having “a sexual relationship” or engaging in “unwelcome sexual advances” with their staffers.

The Ethics Committee’s deliberations are usually shrouded in secrecy, and it sometimes takes years to deliver any sort of conclusion. Allegations that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) accepted improper gifts relating to the 2021 Met Gala, for instance, were not ruled upon until 2025.

Similarly, the Ethics panel took several years to issue a report on a 2020 stock trade made by the wife of Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) that was alleged to have been done using nonpublic information. Kelly was scolded in 2025 by the committee for not fully cooperating with the investigation with a strongly worded letter of disapproval.

Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

Congress

Capitol agenda: Democrats get their Texas dream scenario

Published

2 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Maybe, just maybe, this is the year Texas really matters.

While the outcome wasn’t shocking, the confirmation of a May 26 runoff between Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and state Attorney General Ken Paxton confirmed the fears of many Republicans who now face a likely scorched-earth campaign that could seriously hobble the victor in November’s general election and drain resources from tough races in places like North Carolina and Maine.

Democrats, meanwhile, are seeing their dream scenario play out: State Rep. James Talarico has defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett outright in the Democratic primary, giving the candidate many strategists see as the party’s best chance to finally turn the Lone Star State blue a clear path to November.

Tuesday’s results showed some surprising strength for Cornyn after he trailed Paxton, a MAGA firebrand, in most polls. The veteran senator is about a point ahead of the AG in the latest returns.

But for national Republicans, keeping Cornyn afloat will be expensive and will risk damaging Paxton if he ends up being their nominee. In the absence of a Trump endorsement for any candidate, Cornyn and his allies have already spent more than $100 million to take out Paxton.

The four-term Cornyn launched into the runoff Tuesday night by framing Paxton as an existential threat to the party — “dead weight” that could cost Republicans control of Congress.

“President Trump’s agenda hangs in the balance,” he said. “I’m proud to have supported President Trump and worked with him to help him achieve his goals in the Congress. If he’s nominated, there’s a high risk that Paxton would lose the Senate seat, taking five congressional seats down with him.”

Paxton reacted with a taunt over Cornyn’s big-budget failure to avoid the runoff.

“We proved something they’ll never understand in Washington,” he said, according to The Texas Tribune. “Texas is not for sale.”

Cornyn-Paxton wasn’t the only high-stakes drama in the Lone Star State. A quick round-up of the latest results from other races:

— Embattled GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales was forced into a runoff against gun influencer Brandon Herrera.

— State Rep. Steve Toth ousted GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw from the seat he’s held for four terms.

— GOP Rep. Chip Roy is heading into a runoff with state Sen. Mayes Middleton for attorney general.

— Rep. Christian Menefee is less than 2,000 votes ahead in his uncalled race against Rep. Al Green, who has served in Congress for more than 20 years.

— Former Rep. Colin Allred is more than 10 point ahead against incumbent Democrat Julie Johnson in another uncalled Dallas-area race.

What else we’re watching:

— Notable hearings: The House Oversight Committee will hear testimony at 9 a.m. from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison on the misuse of government funds. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is back for a second day in a row of congressional hearings, this time in front of the House Judiciary Committee at 10 a.m. And expect fireworks when IRS CEO Frank Bisignano testifies before the House Ways and Means panel at 10 a.m.

— Senate’s decision day on Iran: A bipartisan resolution to rein in Trump’s Iran war is expected to fail in the Senate Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m.

But beneath the surface, support for the ongoing strikes is looking less than robust. Many Republican lawmakers are harboring private misgivings about the risks to American troops, global stability and their own political fortunes if the military campaign drags on.

Liz Crampton, Hailey Fuchs, Brian Faler and Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.