Congress

Van Hollen blasts AIPAC, crypto spending for Hoyer’s chosen successor

Published

4 weeks ago

June 4, 2026

Sen. Chris Van Hollen is slamming the pro-Israel lobby and crypto industry for pouring millions of dollars into the race to replace retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer, accusing the special-interest groups of trying to “buy this congressional seat” in their state.

“Voters need to understand that these groups are not investing in this race out of charity,” the Maryland Democratic senator said in a virtual press conference Thursday. “They are spending because they believe the beneficiary of their spending — in this case, one candidate, Adrian Boafo — will be a dependable vote in support of their special interests.”

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, has spent over $1 million on ads and mailers boosting state Del. Adrian Boafo, a former Hoyer aide who the retiring member has endorsed, in Maryland’s 5th District. A pro-crypto super PAC, Protect Progress, has spent over $3 million, per federal campaign finance filings.

Both groups have run ads promoting Boafo’s roster of high-profile endorsements, including Hoyer, Gov. Wes Moore and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), along with his legislative efforts around immigration and affordability. None of the ads mention Israel or crypto.

Van Hollen, who is considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate, criticized those omissions. He said he has “nothing against” Boafo but that “voters need to be aware of the fact that these outside groups do not have the voters’ interests at heart.” And he called on candidates benefitting from outside spending to release any “questionnaires or other communications they’ve had with these groups.”

Candidates cannot coordinate with super PACs. Boafo, in a statement, said he agrees with Van Hollen that “big money has no place in politics. It’s why I’ll work with him in Congress to end Citizens United once and for all.”

Patrick Dorton, a spokesperson for United Democracy Project, said in a statement that Van Hollen is “deliberately misrepresenting our views and discriminating against millions of pro-Israel Democrats who are members of AIPAC.”

Van Hollen has not endorsed in the Democratic primary for Hoyer’s seat, which also includes Nancy Pelosi-backed former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn. But he has become critical of dark money in Democratic primaries. He has also been an outspoken critic of the Israeli government and has pushed his party to condition arms sales to the country.

AIPAC has spent heavily in Maryland before. Asked specifically why AIPAC’s interventions have become such a lightning rod in Democratic politics, Van Hollen, who has close ties to rival organization J Street, said that while AIPAC remains a “formidable force” on Capitol Hill, its pro-Israel positions have become “discredited” with voters.

“It’s no secret that AIPAC’s position of providing unconditional American taxpayer support for the government of Israel is not a popular position,” he said.

Congress

Mitch McConnell is still in the hospital after medical episode, his office says

Published

16 hours ago

July 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized, his office said in a statement Thursday — without offering details about a recent medical episode that has renewed concern about the health of the former Republican majority leader.

McConnell “continues his recovery in the hospital” and “continues to improve,” his office said.

“Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital,” the statement said. “The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”

The statement did not explain why he was hospitalized last month.

The update comes after multiple outlets reported details of a first responder dispatch call indicating emergency medical personnel responded to McConnell’s home last month to treat an unconscious person who had experienced “cardiac arrest.”

Blue Light News has not independently verified the dispatch call.

The 84-year-old senator, who is retiring at the end of this term, has experienced multiple medical incidents in recent years. On two occasions in 2023, he froze while speaking with reporters. He has also suffered multiple falls and temporarily used a wheelchair, a move his office described at the time as a precautionary measure.

Congress

House Ethics says it doesn’t have information to share on lawmaker sexual misconduct settlements

Published

24 hours ago

July 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The House adopted a resolution Tuesday requiring the House Ethics Committee to release information on taxpayer funds used to pay out sexual misconduct settlements with lawmakers — but the committee now says it has no information it can share.

In a statement Thursday, the committee reiterated it does not manage sexual harassment lawsuits or their settlements; taxpayers have not footed the bill for those payments since 2018.

Since that time, according to the statement, “the Committee has not been notified of any awards or settlements relating to allegations of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or other sexual misconduct by a Member.”

Instead, the bipartisan Ethics Committee said it was up to the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to publicly release a list of each member who has received settlements for sexual misconduct allegations, as mandated by the resolution championed by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.).

The committee, in the Thursday statement, said it “fully supports the release of information about sexual misconduct settlements and calls on OCWR to abide by [the resolution] and make publicly available information about Member sexual misconduct matters resulting in payment of taxpayer funds.”

Massie, in a text message Thursday, said “OCWR can release it.”

The OCWR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The bipartisan Ethics Committee has been under pressure in recent months to show it takes allegations of sexual misconduct against colleagues seriously. Two former House members — Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) — were forced to resign earlier this year amid serious accusations against them.

The renewed reckoning has prompted new questions about whether the House is up to the task of policing its own. The resolution earlier this week was adopted nearly unanimously, with just one member, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), voting “present.”

House Ethics Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) said in an interview earlier this week that while he would support Massie’s resolution, the relevant “information was already out in the public domain.”

Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

Congress

AOC endorses El-Sayed in Michigan Senate race

Published

1 day ago

July 2, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) endorsed Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign for Michigan’s open Senate seat on Thursday, a decision that comes as progressives look to capitalize off a series of recent high-profile primary victories in New York, Colorado and elsewhere.

Her endorsement could provide El-Sayed with a critical boost just over a month before the state’s Aug. 4 primary. The former public health official is locked in a heated contest against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow for the right to take on Republican Mike Rogers in the general election.

It also comes as El-Sayed has risen to the top of the pack in recent public polling.

Virtually any Democratic path to flipping the Senate in this year’s midterms would see the party hold the open Michigan Senate seat, with two-term Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) retiring at the end of his term.

The race has emerged as perhaps the largest battleground over the ideological future of the party. El-Sayed, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2018, has collected endorsements from progressives, while Stevens has the tacit backing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, with AIPAC also boosting her candidacy.

El-Sayed, Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview with The New York Times, is her party’s best chance.

“Despite our ideological differences and whatever disagreements there are in the party, every single one of us sees this moment as existential,” she said. “And I think many people are willing to put aside differences in order to give us the best chance at winning. And I think that Abdul gives us that right now.”