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{"id":27044,"date":"2026-09-08T12:02:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-republicans-hope-trump-wont-dominate-dallas\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T12:02:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:02:41","slug":"capitol-agenda-republicans-hope-trump-wont-dominate-dallas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-republicans-hope-trump-wont-dominate-dallas\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitol agenda: Republicans hope Trump won\u2019t dominate Dallas"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Republicans are hoping President Donald Trump won\u2019t make this week\u2019s GOP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/09\/08\/gop-midterm-convention-trump-message-01066258\" target=\"_blank\">midterm convention all about himself<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The president \u2014 with his approval rating at record lows for his time in office amid the conflict in Iran, trade wars and inflation \u2014 is slated to be at the center of the two-day spectacle in Dallas beginning Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>GOP lawmakers, candidates, donors and party officials said in interviews they are counting on Trump to draw a contrast with Democrats rather than prosecute his personal grievances.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Riley Moore said in an interview the event is a \u201cscene-setter\u201d that should stay laser-focused on \u201cwhat\u2019s on the line\u201d for voters in the election:<\/p>\n<p><b>\u2014 GOP WINS:<\/b> Republicans are eager for fresh promotion of the tax cuts in last year\u2019s \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill\u201d, even if some don\u2019t think Trump is the right spokesperson.<\/p>\n<p>Though the first national TV ads funded by the president\u2019s cash-rich political operation place him at the center, <a href=\"https:\/\/host2.adimpact.com\/admo\/viewer\/d64ff5ae-20a2-437b-a76f-6fe2a7a7abb6\/\" target=\"_blank\"><u>one touting provisions<\/u><\/a> in the megabill was more up congressional Republicans\u2019 alley. Several are hoping for that kind of focus at the convention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly important that we highlight what we\u2019ve accomplished,\u201d said Rep. Derrick Van Orden. \u201cThat\u2019s the perfect venue for that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>\u2014 DINGING DEMS:<\/b> One consensus message Republicans want the convention oriented around is the choice between their legislative record and a Democratic Party they argue has moved way too far left.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ve got Republicans that are campaigning on commonsense ideas. You\u2019ve got Democrats that are being drawn to the absolute most extreme left of their party,\u201d said Rep. Brian Jack, a deputy chair of the House GOP campaign arm. \u201cSo I expect each night to see that on full display.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Democratic Party has taken a turn for the worse recently,\u201d added Rep. Nick LaLota. \u201cAmerica needs to be quite aware of that as they make their decision here in November.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>LaLota is just one of scores of Republican members who are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/09\/02\/gop-midterm-convention-attendance-01061286\" target=\"_blank\"><u>choosing not to travel<\/u><\/a> to the convention \u2014 which has a price tag of $25,000 and up for lawmakers attending. Some of those Republicans said they have scheduling conflicts or simply want to campaign back home.<\/p>\n<p>But they still have an interest in how the event goes off and what impression it gives voters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m going to look forward to listening to it on the radio as I\u2019m driving down the road, going from one spot in my district to another,\u201d Rep. Morgan Griffith said.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>What else we\u2019re watching:\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>\u2014 TRAHAN BYPASSES LEADERSHIP BID FOR AI \u2014- <\/b>Rep. Lori Trahan\u2019s decision last week to forgo a leadership bid and instead <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/09\/08\/lori-trahan-ai-regulation-01065989\" target=\"_blank\">focus on developing artificial intelligence policy<\/a> surprised some of her colleagues. But in an interview Friday, Trahan brushed off the idea that efforts to broker a bipartisan AI deal thwarted her run to serve as Democrats\u2019 vice chair. Instead, she said her work in the complex policy space had drummed up support from many House Democrats, but she ultimately wants to prioritize regulating the issue next year.<\/p>\n<p><b>\u2014 ROUNDS AIDE\u2019S SIDE GIG RAISES EYEBROWS<\/b> <b>\u2014<\/b> A senior staffer for Sen. Mike Rounds has quietly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/09\/07\/senate-staffer-robert-skjonsberg-mike-rounds-lobbying-01065715\" target=\"_blank\">worked as a lobbyist for Meta<\/a> and other high-profile clients. The unusual agreement for Robert Skjonsberg, who has worked for Rounds for over a decade, has raised questions from watchdog groups about ethics and possible conflicts of interest. Rounds spokesperson Dezmond Ward told Blue Light News his office\u2019s general counsel consulted with the Senate\u2019s ethics panel, \u201cwhich provided guidance to make certain there was and is no conflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>Mia McCarthy, Riley Rogerson, Kelsey Brugger and Jacob Wendler<\/i> <i>contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republicans are hoping President Donald Trump won\u2019t make this week\u2019s GOP midterm convention all about himself. The president \u2014 with his approval rating at record lows for his time in office amid the conflict in Iran, trade wars and inflation \u2014 is slated to be at the center of the two-day spectacle in Dallas beginning [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}