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Congress

Thune unveils Senate GOP committee assignments

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2 years ago

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Incoming Senate GOP Leader John Thune late Friday night unveiled the Republican conference’s committee assignments for next term.

A press release from Thune’s office noted the assignments “have been ratified by the Senate Republican Conference and are expected to be ratified by the full Senate early next Congress.”

Here’s who’s where:

Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee

  • John Boozman (R-Ark.)
  • Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
  • John Hoeven (R-N.D.)
  • Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)
  • Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.)
  • Roger Marshall (R-Kan.)
  • Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)
  • Jim Justice (R-W.Va.)
  • Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
  • John Thune (R-S.D.)
  • Deb Fischer (R-Neb.)
  • Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)

Senate Appropriations Committee

  • Susan Collins (R-Maine)
  • Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
  • Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
  • Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
  • Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)
  • John Hoeven (R-N.D.)
  • John Boozman (R-Ark.)
  • Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.)
  • John Kennedy (R-La.)
  • Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.)
  • Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.)
  • Katie Britt (R-Ala.)
  • Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.)
  • Deb Fischer (R-Neb.)
  • Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

Senate Armed Services Committee

  • Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)
  • Deb Fischer (R-Neb.)
  • Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)
  • Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)
  • Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)
  • Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)
  • Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.)
  • Rick Scott (R-Fla.)
  • Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)
  • Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.)
  • Ted Budd (R-N.C.)
  • Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.)
  • Jim Banks (R-Ind.)
  • Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.)

Senate Banking Committee

  • Tim Scott (R-S.C.)
  • Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)
  • Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)
  • Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)
  • John Kennedy (R-La.)
  • Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.)
  • Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.)
  • Katie Britt (R-Ala.)
  • Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.)
  • Jim Banks (R-Ind.)
  • Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.)
  • Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio)
  • Dave McCormick (R-Pa.)

Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

  • Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
  • John Thune (R-S.D.)
  • Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)
  • Deb Fischer (R-Neb.)
  • Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)
  • Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)
  • Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
  • Todd Young (R-Ind.)
  • Ted Budd (R-N.C.)
  • Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.)
  • John Curtis (R-Utah)
  • Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio)
  • Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.)
  • Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.)
  • Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.)

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

  • Mike Lee (R-Utah)
  • John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)
  • Jim Risch (R-Idaho)
  • Steve Daines (R-Mont.)
  • Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)
  • Jim Justice (R-W.Va.)
  • Dave McCormick (R-Pa.)
  • Bill Cassidy (R-La.)
  • Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.)
  • Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
  • John Hoeven (R-N.D.)

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee

  • Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.)
  • Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.)
  • Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.)
  • John Curtis (R-Utah)
  • Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
  • Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)
  • Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.)
  • Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)
  • John Boozman (R-Ark.)
  • Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)

Senate Finance Committee

  • Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)
  • Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
  • John Cornyn (R-Texas)
  • John Thune (R-S.D.)
  • Tim Scott (R-S.C.)
  • Bill Cassidy (R-La.)
  • James Lankford (R-Okla.)
  • Steve Daines (R-Mont.)
  • Todd Young (R-Ind.)
  • John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)
  • Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
  • Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)
  • Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
  • Roger Marshall (R-Kan.)

Senate Foreign Relations Committee

  • Jim Risch (R-Idaho)
  • Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.)
  • Dave McCormick (R-Pa.)
  • Steve Daines (R-Mont.)
  • Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.)
  • John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)
  • Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
  • Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
  • Mike Lee (R-Utah)
  • Rick Scott (R-Fla.)
  • John Curtis (R-Utah)
  • John Cornyn (R-Texas)

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

  • Bill Cassidy (R-La.)
  • Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
  • Susan Collins (R-Maine)
  • Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
  • Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.)
  • Roger Marshall (R-Kan.)
  • Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)
  • Tim Scott (R-S.C.)
  • Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)
  • Jim Banks (R-Ind.)
  • Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)
  • Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

  • Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
  • Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
  • James Lankford (R-Okla.)
  • Rick Scott (R-Fla.)
  • Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)
  • Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio)
  • Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)
  • Tim Scott (R-S.C.)

Senate Judiciary Committee

  • Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
  • Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
  • John Cornyn (R-Texas)
  • Mike Lee (R-Utah)
  • Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
  • Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)
  • Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)
  • John Kennedy (R-La.)
  • Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
  • Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.)
  • Katie Britt (R-Ala.)
  • Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)

Senate Committee on Intelligence

  • Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)
  • Jim Risch (R-Idaho)
  • Susan Collins (R-Maine)
  • John Cornyn (R-Texas)
  • Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)
  • James Lankford (R-Okla.)
  • Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)
  • Todd Young (R-Ind.)
  • Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)

Senate Aging Committee

  • Rick Scott (R-Fla.)
  • Dave McCormick (R-Pa.)
  • Jim Justice (R-W.Va.)
  • Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)
  • Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
  • Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)
  • Tim Scott (R-S.C.)

Senate Budget Committee

  • Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
  • Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
  • Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)
  • Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
  • Roger Marshall (R-Kan.)
  • John Cornyn (R-Texas)
  • Mike Lee (R-Utah)
  • John Kennedy (R-La.)
  • Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.)
  • Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio)
  • Rick Scott (R-Fla.)

Senate Indian Affairs Committee

  • Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
  • John Hoeven (R-N.D.)
  • Steve Daines (R-Mont.)
  • Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.)
  • Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)
  • Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)

Joint Economic Committee

  • Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.)
  • Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)
  • Ted Budd (R-N.C.)
  • Dave McCormick (R-Pa.)
  • Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
  • Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)

Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

  • Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
  • Deb Fischer (R-Neb.)
  • Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
  • Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.)
  • Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)
  • Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.)
  • Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.)
  • Katie Britt (R-Ala.)
  • John Boozman (R-Ark.)

Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee

  • Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)
  • Jim Risch (R-Idaho)
  • Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
  • Tim Scott (R-S.C.)
  • Todd Young (R-Ind.)
  • Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)
  • Ted Budd (R-N.C.)
  • John Curtis (R-Utah)
  • Jim Justice (R-W.Va.)
  • Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)

Senate Veterans Affairs Committee

  • Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)
  • John Boozman (R-Ark.)
  • Bill Cassidy (R-La.)
  • Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)
  • Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)
  • Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
  • Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.)
  • Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)
  • Jim Banks (R-Ind.)
  • Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.)

Senate Ethics Committee

  • James Lankford (R-Okla.)
  • Jim Risch (R-Idaho)
  • Deb Fischer (R-Neb.)
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Congress

Todd Blanche won’t get Thursday vote in Senate Judiciary Committee

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4 hours ago

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July 30, 2026

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The Senate Judiciary Committee has abandoned plans to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general Thursday, according to a committee spokesperson.

The decision comes as Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) continue to push the Justice Department to revise a controversial settlement agreement between President Donald Trump and the IRS. A “no” vote from either senator would effectively sink Blanche’s nomination.

The two senators met Wednesday with Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) but did not announce any breakthrough.

“Chairman Grassley works to set President Trump’s nominees up for success in committee, not failure,” said the spokesperson, who declined to be named. “Senators Cornyn and Tillis want written assurances from the Department of Justice regarding the Trump-IRS settlement. Tomorrow’s markup is postponed as work continues to secure sufficient support in committee to favorably report [Blanche], who is highly qualified for the job.”

The meeting could still be rescheduled if Cornyn and Tillis are placated, but any delay threatens Senate GOP leaders’ plans to confirm Blanche before the chamber adjourns for its summer recess next week.

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Congress

White House pitches Senate GOP on ‘tight’ party-line bill focused on military, farm aid

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8 hours ago

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July 29, 2026

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White House officials urged Senate Republicans on Wednesday to quickly adopt a spending blueprint for a narrowly focused party-line spending bill, but they struggled to quash GOP skepticism about the administration’s vision.

White House budget director Russ Vought stressed during the private lunch meeting with Senate Republicans that the next package passed under the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process should include only President Donald Trump’s most urgent priorities — particularly defense spending and aid for farmers.

Vought said Republicans should not seek to cut spending or otherwise offset the deficit impact of the tens of billions of dollars the Trump administration wants enacted, nor should they attempt to raise the debt limit.

“It should be tight,” he told reporters as he exited the lunch. “It should be for the defense needs that we need now, for the [agriculture] needs that we need now. And to get this as straight a shot to the president’s desk as possible.”

That approach comports with the $95 billion framework the House adopted last week before lawmakers there left Washington for their summer recess. But Vought and other White House officials faced pushback in the room Wednesday on a variety of issues.

Majority Leader John Thune warned afterward that he doesn’t believe he has the votes for the narrow budget resolution the Trump administration is contemplating. He said there was a disconnect between the narrow bill the White House is seeking and the political challenges it creates.

Those challenges revolve around “vote-a-rama” — a feature of the reconciliation process that allows Democrats to force a series of amendment votes that could put GOP senators in tough spots. The more committees the budget resolution “instructs” to deliver legislation, the more opportunities Democrats will have to create political mischief for Republicans.

“Some of the things that are contemplated being done in this reconciliation bill, or in this budget resolution legislation, are things that could implicate a number of committees,” Thune said. “Obviously that creates an uphill challenge in terms of trying to ensure that you have 50” votes.

Senators also aired concerns about Trump’s obsessive focus on the GOP elections bill known as the SAVE America Act. The House blueprint contemplates including parts of that bill in the party-line package.

But Senate Budget Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said doing so in the Senate could involve more committees — and open up the range of issues Democrats would be able to force politically troublesome votes on.

“I think we all hate vote-a-rama,” Johnson added. “Some people are more sensitive to the kind of votes they have to take.”

In another complication, some Senate defense hawks want more military spending than the $60 billion House Republicans laid out in their own framework. Johnson said he and other Republicans expect to meet with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later Wednesday to discuss the Pentagon’s needs.

But other Senate Republicans, such as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), aren’t convinced it’s a good idea to pursue another party-line bill at all.

“It used to be we would try to figure out how we worked through some challenging problems with the minority,” she said.

Murkowski added that the Trump administration’s strategy of relying on the reconciliation process to avoid bipartisan negotiations only works if a majority of Republican senators go along with the plan.

“It’s not always guaranteed that you get 50” votes, she said.

Vought, meanwhile, leaned on the potential for yet another party-line reconciliation package to be enacted after the midterm elections as another vehicle to deliver key priorities. That could include a debt limit increase, he said, along with yet another tranche of defense cash to meet Trump’s $1.5 trillion goal for annual military spending.

The various legislative vehicles left some GOP senators scratching their hands as they left the lunch.

Asked if he had gotten clarity from Vought & Co., Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said, “‘Not really’ is the short answer.”

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Congress

Cruz drops plans to advance AI bills next week

Published

11 hours ago

on

July 29, 2026

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Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz said Wednesday he is again postponing a highly anticipated markup of artificial intelligence bills planned for next week.

Instead, the Texas Republican said in an interview Wednesday, the panel will only take up bills focused on kids’ online safety.

Cruz said senators could not strike a deal on AI legislation in time for the committee to vote next week.

“We are going to do a markup on kids’ safety next week,” Cruz told Blue Light News. “We have moved the broader AI markup to September. … It’s our intention still to mark those up, but it is taking longer to get bipartisan agreement.”

Cruz said the committee would mark up the Kids Online Safety Act, led by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), along with other measures.

Under the panel’s rules, the chair must publish an agenda a week in advance. The committee did not immediately respond to a question about exactly which bills would be on the docket.

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