Congress
Trump calls on House GOP hard-liners to end floor blockade
President Donald Trump instructed a band of his GOP hard-liner allies to end their House floor blockade with multiple major bills at risk of being derailed.
“House Republicans should unify, and stop voting down ‘Rules’ or, threatening to do so,” Trump posted after meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson Thursday. He added: “No more grandstanding, please!”
“Rules” are procedural measures used by House leaders to control the chamber floor. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and her allies said this week they would vote down those measures until the Senate passes the SAVE America Act, the stalled GOP elections bill.
Trump has embraced hardball tactics to advance SAVE America Act himself — including by refusing to sign a bipartisan housing bill this week. But Luna’s floor blockade has risked collateral damage, including passage of fiscal 2027 appropriations bills and the annual Pentagon policy bill.
Asked about Trump’s post, Luna said she has filed an amendment to the defense bill that would attach the elections bill. Doing so would almost certainly kill its chances of passing in the Senate, where Democrats could filibuster the bill.
The House Rules Committee is set to meet Monday to consider amendments and prepare the bill for the floor.
Trump, meanwhile, did not address the housing bill he refused to sign this week, but Johnson said in brief comments to reporters after returning from the White House that he intended to send the measure to Trump. That would set up a signature, a veto or passive enactment of the bill if it is not signed within 10 days.
“We’re on exactly the same page,” Johnson said. “Congress has work to do, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Senate Democrats have a decision to make about whether to grant a political favor to one of their most vulnerable Republican colleagues.
GOP leaders are expected to set up an initial vote Wednesday on legislation that would advise states on ensuring data centers pay for all their energy costs and grid updates. Democrats may discuss the matter at a weekly party lunch Tuesday, but so far haven’t had a caucus-wide conversation yet, several senators said in interviews.
The bill is being championed by Ohio GOP Sen. Jon Husted — who is facing a tough election bid against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. The measure easily passed the House last week with 206 Democratic votes, but campaign-season politics are making action trickier for the party in the Senate.
On one hand, voting to start debate on the bill could help keep Republicans off the campaign trail even longer and insulate Democrats against charges of politically motivated obstructionism.
On the other hand, a successful procedural vote could kick off an unpredictable amendment process and — as some Democrats see it — risk helping GOP leaders bail out an embattled candidate who has been inundated with data-center-themed campaign attacks.
“It’s an effort to rescue Husted’s campaign,” Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said in an interview, even as he acknowledged that he himself hasn’t yet made a call on how to vote.
Most in the party have yet to decide whether to lend their support, according to interviews with more than a dozen Senate Democrats and aides.
That includes in-cycle Jon Ossoff and known bipartisan dealmakers such as Jeanne Shaheen and Mark Warner, who all said Thursday they hadn’t made up their minds.
Sen. Peter Welch is so far the only Democrat to say he will support Husted’s bill, though he, like other Democrats, said “the bill didn’t go far enough.”
Sen. Brian Schatz, the Democrats’ deputy whip, said in an interview Thursday he found the bill “kind of weak” but that he didn’t have an announcement about whether party leaders would whip against it.
Two GOP senators, granted anonymity to describe private conversations, said that Republicans privately don’t expect the bill to get the votes needed to ultimately pass.
But Husted is keeping the pressure on Democrats publicly.
“They say they’re for more affordability,” he said. “This is a chance for everybody to prove it.”
What else we’re watching:
— JOHNSON, TRUMP SET MEETING WITH AI EXECS —- Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump will meet at the White House Tuesday with the executives of top artificial intelligence companies. Congress is under increasing pressure to put federal guardrails on AI development, but House GOP leaders continue to resist any major legislative action to address concerns. The speaker and president were in attendance at the state dinner Thursday night in honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, as were OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. It was not immediately clear which of these executives would be invited to next week’s meeting, and who will be participating.
— SENATE GOP’S NOMS IN LIMBO: Senate Republicans’ hopes of getting several of Trump’s key nominees confirmed before they leave for midterm campaigning are still in limbo. The main GOP sticking point is Sen. Kevin Cramer’s blanket hold on nominations — including but not limited to Keith Sonderling for labor secretary — “pending a repeal of the Biden setback rule on fish and wildlife easements” in his state, the North Dakota Republican told Blue Light News. After weeks of a complete hold, Cramer lifted his blockade on some nominees after the Trump administration committed to reevaluating some of the Fish and Wildlife Service easements that restrict farming.
Jordain Carney, Amelia Davidson, Nico Portuondo, Mia McCarthy, Sophia Cai and Miranda Willson contributed to this report.
Senate Democrats will soon have to decide whether to do one of their most vulnerable Republican colleagues a big political favor just weeks before the midterm elections.
Republican leaders are expected to set up a vote next week on the Ratepayer Protection Act, legislation that aims to curb energy prices associated with the data centers. It easily passed the House last week with 206 Democratic votes, but it faces a tougher path to passage across the Capitol — thanks to campaign-season politics.
The Senate version of the bill was written and is being championed by Ohio Sen. Jon Husted, the Republican who was appointed to replace Vice President JD Vance and is now facing a tough election bid against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Despite near-unanimous approval in the House, Senate Democrats see it as an attempt by GOP leaders to bail out an embattled candidate who has been inundated with data-center-themed campaign attacks. Most have yet to decide whether to lend their support, according to interviews with more than a dozen Senate Democrats and aides.
“It’s an effort to rescue Husted’s campaign,” Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said in an interview, even as he acknowledged that he himself hasn’t yet decided how to vote. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer this week dismissed Husted’s bill as a toothless “fraud.”
But there are strategic considerations for Democrats: Voting to start debate on the bill could help keep Republicans off the campaign trail even longer and insulate their own members against charges of politically motivated obstructionism. On the other hand, even a successful procedural vote risks boosting Husted and could kick off an unpredictable amendment process.
The Senate is expected to take an initial vote Wednesday, and at least seven Democratic votes will be needed to advance it. Democrats haven’t yet had a caucuswide discussion about the bill, several senators said in interviews. They could discuss the matter Tuesday at a weekly lunch.
Two GOP senators granted anonymity to describe private conversations said that Republicans privately don’t expect the bill to get the 60 votes needed to ultimately pass.
Publicly, however, Husted is trying to keep the pressure on Democrats, telling reporters Thursday “everybody is going to get a chance to decide whether they’re for the American consumer.”“This would require data centers to pay for their own electricity rather than pass it on to the consumers,” he said. “That’s something the American public wants. That’s something that everybody in Congress says they’re for. They say they’re for more affordability. This is a chance for everybody to prove it.”
Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) is so far the only Democrat to say publicly he will support Husted’s bill — though he added that “the bill didn’t go far enough,” echoing House Democrats who overwhelmingly backed the measure despite similar concerns.
“I’d like to help,” Welch said. “I’d like to protect ratepayers.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said he would support a procedural motion to take up the bill but would then try to attach his own Power for the People Act, a more aggressive effort to address the data center issue.
He said he would support advancing the bill further “only … if they agree to allow amendments.”
Several other Senate Democrats — including in-cycle Jon Ossoff of Georgia and known bipartisan dealmakers such as Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Mark Warner of Virginia — said Thursday they hadn’t yet made up their minds on the bill.
The Ratepayer Protection Act would require states to “consider” — but not mandate — a framework ensuring data centers pay for all energy costs and grid updates. Senate progressives and Democratic party leaders have spent the past week amplifying concerns that the bill does not go far enough in enforcing protections for ratepayers. Some have pushed a more forceful bill from Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).
Husted’s bill is “voluntary,” Schumer told reporters Wednesday. “No company has to do it. The bill we have is mandatory. It is much stronger and is what is needed.”
Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, the Democrats’ deputy whip, said in an interview Thursday that he found the bill “kind of weak” but that he didn’t have an announcement about whether party leaders would whip against it.
The bill has already seen its share of drama in the Senate, when Husted last week tried to follow up a resounding 417-3 House vote on the bill by passing the bill by voice vote on the Senate floor. Heinrich, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, shot down that request, claiming that the Senate needed to pass legislation with “real teeth.”
Heinrich repeated those concerns Thursday as GOP leaders moved toward a roll call vote on the measure next week. He urged lawmakers to instead pass his own legislation or await a broader energy permitting reform package that could include data center provisions.
“There’s a reason why we’re working on these kinds of issues in permitting reform right now,” he said in an interview. “It’s because we’ve already seen electric rates go up for consumers as a result of the increased demand from data centers. So we should pass something, but it should have teeth in it.”
Anthony Cruz contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson will meet at the White House Tuesday with the executives of top artificial intelligence companies, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss private plans.
The meeting comes as Congress is coming under increasing pressure to put federal guardrails on AI development, as fears mount that technological advancements could soon spiral beyond human control.
Responding to some warnings that AI development was on track to cause human extinction by the end of the decade, Johnson has said he wants Trump and AI CEOs to “go in a big room, close the door and sort this out.” He has yet to endorse major legislative action to address the issue, as Trump has resisted calls for government regulations, citing concerns about lagging behind China.
The president and speaker were in attendance at the State Dinner on Thursday night in honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, as were OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. It was not immediately clear which of these executives would be invited to next week’s meeting, and who will be participating.
News that the meeting had been scheduled was first reported by Axios.
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