Congress
The midterms are months away. The scramble to get on Congress’ tax writing committees has already started.
A giant wave of departures is set to hit Capitol Hill’s tax writing committees in the next Congress, jumpstarting the competition to fill some critical gaps in institutional knowledge and ideological representation across two powerful panels.
On the House Ways and Means Committee, three Democrats plan to leave office next year: Reps. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Danny Davis of Illinois and Dwight Evans of Pennsylvania. Two others — Reps. Tom Suozzi of New York and Steven Horsford of Nevada — are not guaranteed to prevail in tight races, which would create additional openings.
Four Ways and Means Republicans — Reps. Vern Buchanan of Florida, Jodey Arrington of Texas, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma and David Schweikert of Arizona — are also headed for the exits.
In the Senate, the Finance Committee is expected to lose one Democrat, Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota, as well as five Republicans: Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Steve Daines of Montana, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.
Landing an assignment on these high-profile committees is considered a coup that can often take years to achieve. Both play a role in producing major tax legislation, leading to landmark laws like last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the Affordable Care Act of 2010. And in the next Congress, it will be where Republicans work to help President Donald Trump cement his legacy of tax cuts, while Democrats build out a tax platform to run on in 2028 — their next chance to win a governing trifecta to codify their agenda.
Adding to the prestige: Members of Senate Finance and Ways and Means are typically among the best funded, given the scope and reach of the committees’ purviews and the special interests eager to curry favor.
Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said in a recent interview he has met with more than 10 Republicans who are vying to get onto his panel. Among the lead contenders are Reps. Vince Fong of California, Brian Jack of Georgia and Tony Wied of Wisconsin, according to three people granted anonymity to describe private GOP dynamics.
The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, said “it’s going to be a hot spot next year” if his party wins back control of the House in the midterms.
Selection for new members of Ways and Means won’t take place until after the elections, and for each party the process is overseen by a slate of lawmakers representing leadership and different geographical regions.
Jockeying is particularly active right now among House Democrats, who are feeling bullish about winning the majority in November and could, in that scenario, gain as many as 10 or more seats on the panel.
Neal said the work of populating the committee on his side of the dais is “really only speculative until you win,” but that “you want to make sure it’s a reflection of the caucus.”
That could create an opening for additional progressive members to join, given the success of far-left candidates in primary elections this cycle plus the planned retirement of Doggett, one of the longest-serving liberal voices on the committee.
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar of Texas could use this gap to his advantage. While he would not comment on his active interest in joining Ways and Means, two people familiar with caucus dynamics — granted anonymity to speak candidly — said he’s going for it.
“My focus as Progressive Caucus chair is on helping make sure that we have progressive members well represented across all of the exclusive committees,” Casar said in an interview.
Another progressive from the southwest, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico, is also angling for a spot, according to two people familiar with the active conversations.
One Democrat widely considered a frontrunner is Kentucky Rep. Morgan McGarvey, a vice chair of the Progressive Caucus who represents a blue district that includes Louisville. He has co-sponsored legislation on clean energy tax incentives and other affordability tax credits, and would help fill out the southern region’s representation.
Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, is also seen as having a competitive edge. She can boast having worked on legislation with Ways and Means Republican Blake Moore of Utah that would set up low-income housing tax credits for servicemembers.
In signs these two members have been playing the long game, McGarvey and Strickland have donated three years in a row to the annual fundraising dinner Neal hosts on behalf of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. A member’s willingness to spend generously on the party can tip the scales in their favor.
Six other Democrats contributed to Neal’s dinner this year for the first time — a sign they, too, could be seeking promotions to the panel. Those members are Reps. Tim Kennedy of New York, Kristen McDonald Rivet of Michigan, Rep. Andrea Salinas of Oregon, Gabe Amo of Rhode Island, Johnny Olszewski of Maryland and Hillary Scholten of Michigan.
Ways and Means has not historically been stacked with frontliners because committee members are regularly forced to take politically difficult votes. McGarvey and Strickland have a leg up in this regard because they represent safe Democratic districts.
But it could undermine the ambitions of three more vulnerable Democrats vying to fill a hole in midwestern representation on the panel due to Davis’ retirement: Scholten, McDonald Rivet and Rep. Emilia Sykes of Ohio.
Those three members, however, have experience pushing for tax credits that would benefit their manufacturing-heavy region. And they are women at a time when Democrats should be taking gender into account when making committee assignments, said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), who spent four years trying to get onto Ways and Means before finally winning a slot in 2019.
If Democrats flip the House, four of the six subcommittees could be chaired by women, said Beyer, “which would be unprecedented.”
Also weighing on Democrats could be that three of the departing Ways and Means Democrats are members of the Congressional Black Caucus, potentially giving an edge to Strickland, Amo and Sykes.
Across the Capitol, at least four Republicans are looking to serve on the Senate Finance Committee. According to one person granted anonymity to describe internal party dynamics, those lawmakers include Sens. John Curtis of Utah, Bernie Moreno of Ohio, David McCormick of Pennsylvania and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska.
These GOP contenders, and any others, will be evaluated by the so-called Committee on Committees, which is incidentally chaired by the top Republican on Senate Finance, Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho.
Crapo, in an interview, explained the first pick always goes to Senate Majority Leader John Thune; the second senator must be selected based on seniority. Lawmakers will be chosen according to this alternating pattern until all the open GOP seats on the Finance Committee are filled.
But nothing is settled until after the midterm elections, Crapo said, “and at that time, we can make the decisions. The leader … sometimes consults with me, and sometimes doesn’t, with regard to his pick. But none of that’s going on right now.”
Crapo did acknowledge there’s always quiet jockeying: “It never stops. …There are always members of the Senate who are not on the committee who are letting their desires be known.”
On the Democratic side, no senators are currently making their interest in joining the Finance Committee publicly known. But the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, in an interview mirrored Crapo’s assessment of the competitive landscape.
“Without getting into details,” Wyden said, “there’s always lots of interest and I’ll leave it at that.”
Brian Faler contributed to this report.
Senate Republicans are discussing whether to call up a data center utility costs bill as they make plans to stay in Washington next week rather than beat an early exit before the midterms.
Two GOP aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the Senate will remain in town amid pressure from some corners of the party to send members home early to campaign.
Asked if the Senate will stay next week, Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday it’s “looking that way.”
While some lawmakers had hoped to move a long-brewing bipartisan energy permitting deal, those hopes have evaporated, and GOP leaders are instead eyeing votes on the Ratepayer Protection Act — a top priority of endangered Ohio Sen. Jon Husted.
Thune said Thursday moving to the data-center-focused bill next week “is an option.” The Senate is also expected to take up a Democratic resolution condemning the Iran war and several presidential nominations.
The Ratepayer Protection Act easily passed the House earlier this month, but some Senate Democrats are arguing it does not go far enough and party leaders could be motivated to deny Husted a pre-election win.
Josh Siegel contributed to this report.
A bipartisan group of senators failed to close a long-sought deal on legislation to ease permitting approvals for energy projects, kicking consideration of the issue until after the midterm elections.
A senior Democrat aide familiar with the negotiations and granted anonymity to discuss the matter told Blue Light News on Thursday that Senate Democrats don’t think there’s enough time to get it done.
“The goal here has always been to pass permitting reform, not just to introduce it,” the aide said.
Top negotiators — Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), along with Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee and ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) — were unable to reach agreement on a package this week, despite recent overtures made by both sides.
The lack of a deal now means a permitting bill likely won’t get a vote until after the elections, when lawmakers are expected to face a packed legislative agenda and the power dynamics in Congress will begin to shift.
Republicans and the Trump administration were eager to lock in a vote soon, arguing legislation to ease permitting approvals for energy projects would represent a major bipartisan breakthrough to address voters’ affordability concerns.
President Donald Trump even signaled he would ease his administration’s blockade on wind projects to entice Democrats to agree on a permitting deal.
But Democrats wanted more time for their members to review any bill and are seeking stronger assurances that the Trump administration would lay off its attacks on clean energy projects. They also did not face the same political incentives to act now, with Trump and Republicans struggling in the polls.
“I appreciate very much what the Trump administration has done to move in this direction, but in order to brief colleagues on what this really means, we need just a bit more clarity on exactly what return to regular order for wind and solar projects looks like. So that’s still to be done, but that I think can happen in fairly short order,” Whitehouse told reporters Thursday.
For all the common ground in both parties around encouraging more energy production and accelerating projects to help address affordability concerns and meet rising power demand, permitting also touches on thorny issues for congressional Republicans, Democrats and this White House.
Democrats are pressing for significant measures to boost interstate transmission lines to deliver clean power to major demand centers and restrain the administration’s power to cancel projects or stall on approvals.
Republicans, for their part, want to limit states’ authority to reject projects under a provision of the Clean Water Act that Democratic governors have used to block interstate pipelines.
Other elements of a deal would likely include easing approvals and limiting legal challenges against projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, a bedrock procedural environmental law that is increasingly blamed for stalling projects of all types, as well as under the National Historic Preservation Act, a landmark law designed to protect Native American cultural treasures.
Amelia Davidson contributed to this report.
An ugly fight is brewing among Democrats about an unlikely issue: college sports regulation.
Senate passage of a White House-endorsed bill to overhaul college athletic rules could happen as soon as Thursday. But despite the bill’s bipartisan backing, Black Democratic lawmakers are warning their own party that supporting the measure risks exploiting Black athletes.
The debate spotlights a painful party divide that could also alienate a key demographic in Democrats’ voter base just weeks before the midterms.
“It is stunning to me,” Sen. Cory Booker told Blue Light News Wednesday, pointing out about half of Senate Democrats have voted to advance the measure thus far.
“I am disappointed in a way I’ve never felt before in the United States Senate with my own caucus,” he said, referring to Democrats. “My caucus, some members of my caucus, are about to take away the rights for athletes to sue.”
Booker is backed by the Congressional Black Caucus, which for months has also pleaded with senators not to pass the Protect College Sports Act they argue strips the rights of student athletes while protecting the NCAA and its coaches. The group helped sink a similar measure in the House earlier this year. CBC member and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reiterated the group’s opposition to the legislation Wednesday.
“This is insane to me, especially because the revenue sports are disproportionately African American,” he said. “When has the Democratic Party stood up for taking away rights from disadvantaged minorities? When have we ever done what we’re about to do right now? It is wrong. It is unjust, and it will disproportionately affect African Americans.”
While a host of student and college groups, including the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the United Negro College Fund, support the bill, both the AFL-CIO and the NAACP say they oppose it for denying student athletes labor protections and unduly benefiting athletic conferences.
Another vocal opponent of the measure, Sen. Chris Murphy, called the divide “a unique moment for Democrats.”
Top Commerce Democrat and bill sponsor Maria Cantwell has said the legislation attempts to restore order to college sports, where major football programs can consume resources that would have otherwise gone to women’s and Olympic sports.
Cantwell, in an interview, countered Booker’s concerns by saying the “historic bill…recognizes for the first time in federal law that student athletes get a percentage of the revenue, ticket sales, media rights, media sales, and sponsorship. Historic.”
A Democratic aide, who is supportive of the bill and was granted anonymity to speak candidly, referenced the number of student athletes who stand to benefit from the measure, “There’s nothing progressive about blocking new protections for 550,000 people just so you can strengthen the hand of the highest-earning 1% of them.”
Booker said without major changes, he would continue the fight if the Senate’s bill makes it to the House.
What else we’re watching:
— THUNE PUTS ODDS ON STAYING IN SESSION: Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday night it’s more likely than not that senators remain in session next week, but the plan is “still to be determined.” “Just don’t make any plans yet. I would say right now still odds are we plan on being here next week, and I’d say that still looks like the case, but if that changes I’ll let you know,” Thune said. Senate Republicans are discussing whether to vote on a data center bill next week being championed by one of their most vulnerable incumbents, Sen. Jon Husted, according to two GOP senators granted anonymity to disclose private talks. They’re also waiting to see if a long-sought deal to overhaul the energy permitting process comes together, which Thune has indicated would trigger members staying in town next week.
— INSIDE THE FIERCE HOUSE GOP WAIVER FIGHT: A behind-the-scenes battle is playing out over several powerful House Republicans who don’t want to be forced out of their posts. House Republicans’ decades old three-term limit for panel leaders has grown less strict in recent years. Some want a crackdown, saying the turnover is needed to promote fresh ideas and leadership in the ranks. Three of the 20 sitting House chairs have signaled interest in applying for a waiver. If each follows through, it would be the first time so many exceptions have been sought at once.
Jordain Carney and Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.
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