Tag Archive for: Senate

Michele Tafoya Wins GOP Nomination for Senate Contest in Minnesota

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The former NFL sideline reporter for ABC and ESPN and, more recently, conservative podcaster with Salem Media has secured the nomination for Republicans, looking to be the next Senator for the Land of 10,000 Lakes. She’ll be facing the liberal Democrat and sitting Senator Amy Blobuchar.

Tafoya: Thank you, Minnesota! I am honored to be the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. Tonight’s results show Minnesotans are ready for a new direction. Together, we will bring common sense back to Washington, fight fraud, hold those responsible accountable, and win in November. Let’s get to work!

Decision Desk: Tafoya dominated the GOP contest—with over 50 percent of the vote.

From the Michele TaFoya website:

Michele Tafoya is a four-time Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, record-setting NFL sideline reporter, and now a political and cultural commentator focused on accountability, integrity, and family-first leadership.

For nearly three decades, Tafoya built a reputation for calling it like she sees it on the biggest stages in sports. She worked her final NBC Sunday Night Football broadcast at Super Bowl LVI on February 13, 2022 — her fifth Super Bowl — retiring the following day after covering 327 NFL games, the most national primetime games of any sideline reporter in league history.

Over the course of her career, Tafoya became the most-honored national television sideline reporter in U.S. sports history. She earned four Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Personality – Sports Reporter and is the only finalist for that award every year since its inception in 2011. She was also twice honored with Gracie Awards from American Women in Radio and Television and was consistently ranked among the most respected and trusted figures in sports media. The San Francisco Chronicle famously called her “widely recognized as the best sideline reporter in sports.”

But after years on the sidelines, Tafoya felt called to step into a new arena.

Axios: Name recognition and a big fundraising advantage helped propel Tafoya to victory despite losing the Minnesota Republican Party endorsement this spring.

ON X: Tafoya will face leftist and sitting Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were first to the parade celebrating Flanagan’s win.

Decision Desk: Also in Minnesota: Sitting Speaker of the state House of Representatives Lisa Demuth secured the GOP nomination for governor, defeating Mike Lindell. Both Tafoya and Demuth nominees can carry this swing state and help usher in a new era for Minnesotans.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Senate Confirms Todd Blanche After Handful Of GOP Holdouts Threatened His Nomination

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The Senate confirmed acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to be the next attorney general after holdouts threatened his nomination process.

The upper chamber confirmed Blanche 50-49, with every Democrat and two Republicans, Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, voting against him. Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis had been hesitant to support Blanche over a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization package, though they later reached a deal with Blanche and voted to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Cornyn and Tillis demanded that the Department of Justice (DOJ) provide written proof that the fund was rescinded and rewrite language in an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) settlement to ensure that audit immunity for President Donald Trump and his family did not extend beyond the plaintiffs. The DOJ sent a written proposal to Cornyn on July 27, though Cornyn returned it and argued they had not met his demands. (RELATED: Trump AG Nominee’s Confirmation In Limbo)

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley scheduled the markup for July 30, though he postponed it because Cornyn had not reached a deal with Blanche. The acting attorney general released documentation confirming the fund had been rescinded, which caused Cornyn and Tillis to support his nomination.

The committee advanced Blanche’s nomination Tuesday in a 12 to 10 vote.

Collins and Murkowski declared they would oppose Blanche’s confirmation.

Collins argued in a Tuesday statement that the DOJ had become “too political” under his leadership. She cited the fund, the attempted indictments of Democratic Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona and his promise to prohibit the mailing of abortion pills as her reasonings.

“While I believe Mr. Blanche is a capable lawyer, the Department of Justice has become increasingly political. Mr. Blanche has taken several actions that have further eroded the Department’s independence, and that is the basis for my vote to oppose his confirmation … More than 1,200 former Department of Justice employees have opposed his nomination, arguing that he has undermined the institution. For these reasons, I will vote against this nomination,” Collins said.

Murkowski criticized Blanche’s handling of the files surrounding the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and accused the DOJ of being weaponized.

“Ultimately, however, I will oppose his nomination,” Murkowski said Thursday. “The politicization—even weaponization—of the Department did not start with this administration but has accelerated during it. I take issue with the handling of the release of the Epstein files; the sweeping immunity protections granted to the President, his family, and their businesses; the statements that have been made to anti-abortion groups; and the repeated targeting of individuals ranging from former administration staff to sitting U.S. Senators.”

Collins and Murkowski had voted for former Attorney General Merrick Garland’s confirmation.

Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy had been undecided on how he would vote, though he later declared on the Senate floor Friday he would vote in Blanche’s favor.

Cassidy met with Blanche Wednesday to talk privately about their concerns. During a SiriusXM interview Wednesday, Cassidy worried that Blanche would serve as “Trump’s personal attorney who is now the attorney general.”

Blanche could only afford to lose two Republican votes unless Republican Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell returned. Democratic Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego said Thursday he would miss a few votes to be with his wife during an emergency.

During Blanche’s July 15 confirmation hearing, Cornyn questioned Blanche about whether the fund could be revived. Blanche insisted the fund was “dead,” though he acknowledged there was no written agreement formally ending it.

During the hearing, Tillis demanded that Blanche meet with alleged victims of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in exchange for his support. Blanche complied with the demand and met with several of the alleged victims at the DOJ headquarters in July, which appeared to satisfy Tillis.

Some of the alleged victims criticized the meeting as dismissive and unproductive.

Blanche became the acting attorney general on April 2 after Trump fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi.

AUTHOR

Nicole Silverio

Capitol Hill Reporter

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Senate Holding Slew Of Confirmation Hearings For Trump Nominees As Time Runs Short Before August Recess

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The Senate scheduled several confirmation hearings starting Monday to confirm many of President Donald Trump’s nominees before the August recess.

The Senate will move to confirm several nominees to serve in key positions, including the next director of national intelligence (DNI) and a new attorney general. Senate Republicans are hopeful they can fill the vacant government positions while time is running out.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton, Trump’s pick to be the permanent DNI, is expected to attend his confirmation hearing Wednesday. The Senate initially scheduled Clayton’s hearing for June 17 just days after Trump nominated him to replace former DNI Tulsi Gabbard, though the hearing was suddenly postponed after Trump called on the Senate to not move forward with the nomination.

Trump said on Truth Social that Clayton’s nomination would not move forward until Jamie McDonald was approved to be the next attorney for the Southern District of New York. Following Trump’s statement, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Tom Cotton confirmed the postponement of the hearing after initially planning to move forward with it.

”It’s regrettable that the president has directed Jay Clayton not to appear at his confirmation hearing today,” Cotton said. “Mr. Clayton is a patriot and a highly qualified nominee, as the president has said repeatedly. While today’s hearing is now unfortunately postponed, I look forward to proceeding with his confirmation in the near future.”

The Senate attempted to rush Clayton’s confirmation after Section 702 of the Foreign Relations Intelligence Act (FISA) expired on June 12. Section 702 allows the government to collect and search American citizens’ data without a warrant if they were in contact with targeted noncitizens located outside of the U.S.

Senate Republicans largely praised Clayton in statements to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Democrats appeared to have nothing negative to say about Clayton and instead criticized acting DNI Bill Pulte, who Trump nominated to temporarily serve in the role.

“I think he’s a really good pick. He’s obviously very capable and competent and [has] a great record. So, my assumption is, and I would certainly hope that Democrats who are being objective about it are going to come to the same conclusion,” Thune told the DCNF on June 11.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he supported “getting rid of Pulte” when the DCNF asked if he supported Clayton.

The Senate will also hold a hearing Wednesday for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who Trump nominated to replace former Attorney General Pam Bondi. Blanche became acting attorney general on April 2 after Trump fired Bondi.

Blanche worked at the Department of Justice (DOJ) for 15 years in a variety of roles, including as a contractor, a paralegal in the Criminal Division and at the United States Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, according to the DOJ. He also served as a defense attorney for Trump in three of his legal cases between 2023 and 2024.

Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn said he would not commit to supporting Blanche unless he committed to “further briefing” on the tax audit issues involving Trump and his family.

Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said in June he would not commit to supporting Tillis if there was any hint that the DOJ would not be independent from Trump’s influence.

Blanche engaged in heated conversations with Senate Republicans over a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund aimed at compensating victims of government weaponization, which raised concerns that defendants convicted of violent crimes during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot would receive these funds. Many Senate Republicans staunchly opposed the fund and could have supported a Democrat-led amendment to kill it, which raised the likelihood of Trump vetoing a $69.5 billion reconciliation package that Trump ultimately signed into law on June 10.

The acting attorney general testified to the House of Representatives on June 2 that the DOJ dropped the fund.

Deputy Surgeon General Erica Schwartz is scheduled to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Wednesday in hopes of being the next leader of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Trump fired former CDC Director Susan Monarez in September after she refused to resign over her clashes with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over vaccination policies.

Monarez’ firing left the CDC without a leader for nearly a year. Trump’s previous CDC nominee, Dr. David Weldon, withdrew his nomination in March 2025 after he was expected not to garner enough votes in the Senate HELP Committee, who raised questions about his past statements questioning vaccine safety.

Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling is expected to appear for his confirmation hearing Thursday before the HELP Committee. If confirmed, Sonderling would replace former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who resigned on April 20 amid a monthlong internal investigation by the Labor Department’s inspector general into allegations of misconduct, including workplace drinking and an affair with a subordinate.

Trump appointed Sonderling as acting secretary following Chavez-DeRemer’s resignation. Senate Republicans moved quickly to schedule Sonderling’s hearing, indicating they are confident he can secure his confirmation.

On Tuesday, acting Pentagon Comptroller nominee Jay Hurst will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee for his confirmation hearing after Trump nominated him in May to permanently serve in the role. Hurst would become the administration’s first Senate-confirmed Defense Department chief financial officer since Trump’s second term began in January 2025.

Hurst would likely provide the first public testimony on the Iran strikes since they restarted Tuesday, which broke the 60-day ceasefire from mid-June. The committee will likely press Hurst on the Iran war and the overall cost of the conflict.

AUTHOR

Nicole Silverio

Capitol Hill Reporter

RELATED ARTICLE: Here Are All The Times Congressional Lawmakers Gave Themselves A Vacation In Past Year

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

EXCLUSIVE: Ken Paxton Wants Texas To Know That James Talarico Is ‘Weird’

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WASHINGTON — Republican Texas Senate nominee Ken Paxton said he hopes to raise awareness about Democratic opponent James Talarico’s “weird” statements in an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation on Saturday.

The Republican attorney general is seeking to cut through Talarico’s well-funded rebrand as a moderate by highlighting his embrace of left-wing identity politics, including his past remarks about there being six genders and his “love” for trans children.

“We have a saying in Austin. We call it weird. Well this guy’s weird. His positions are weird,” Paxton told the DCNF during the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference in Washington D.C. “He went to San Francisco to raise money. In my opinion, those are his people. They’re not in Texas.”

Paxton weighed in on Talarico’s statement that “God is nonbinary,” which he made during an October 2021 speech in the Texas House opposing a bill to reserve girls’ school sports for biological females. Talarico had described the legislation as “hateful” at the time.

“I think if you look at the scripture it’s pretty clear God is not ‘nonbinary.’ He is expressed in three forms in the trinity, and not as James Talarico is suggesting,” said Paxton.

WATCH:

Talarico has recently come out in opposition to child sex changes and now describes himself as a “border security Democrat,” portraying himself as moderate in high-profile appearances on the Joe Rogan podcast and the Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Paxton argued that Talarico probably sounds like his prior, more progressive self in behind-closed-doors fundraisers in Chicago and the Bay Area in California.

“There is no genuineness to it,” Paxton told the DCNF. “None of his past statements, none of his voting record matches up to what he’s now saying.”

Talarico is a former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian. He now admits the “God is nonbinary” comment was “cringey” but insists it is a distraction from Paxton’s record, emphasizing the Attorney General’s 2023 impeachment. Paxton was acquitted on all of his charges.

Paxton conceded that his GOP primary battle against longtime incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn — who he trounced by 28 percentage points in a May runoff — had been bruising. The prolonged nomination contest also shortened his runway to fundraise. By Election Day, Paxton will have had just five months to raise money as his party’s nominee compared to Talarico’s eight months of fundraising.

But Paxton has made headlines for years by launching lawsuits on behalf of Texans against Big Pharma, against Big Tech and against blue cities for evasions of immigration law — among many other issues.

Talarico raised $11 million through the controversial Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue in one month, Paxton said.

Paxton said his team is “suspicious” of the sourcing of all of that money in light of revelations about the collapse of the company’s legal and compliance team and illicit foreign donations flowing through the platform.

But being outspent is a familiar predicament for Paxton.

Paxton defeated Cornyn in a May runoff despite being outspent by roughly 15 to 1 in the $120 million race, including an onslaught of outside money from the senator’s Washington network.

Paxton received an endorsement from President Donald Trump one week before the runoff. Trump broke with the typical Washington protocol to endorse the challenger, with whom he has a close relationship. Paxton spoke about his relationship with Trump in his remarks to the conference Saturday, sharing that the president was his first call after his 2023 acquittal.

Asked how he plans on replicating his success in the general election if he finds himself massively outspent, Paxton insisted that as long as he successfully defines what he and Talarico stand for, he will clinch the election in November.

“As long as we have enough resources and money to define him … who he really is, with his own words, not me saying anything, just him, we will win this race,” he said.

Paxton’s advantage over Cornyn in part stemmed from Cornyn’s position on gun rights. Cornyn supported a bill signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022 to fund state red flag laws and tighten background checks on gun buyers under 21, leading to consternation within the Texas Republican Party.

Talarico said in a podcast interview earlier in June that he supports the Second Amendment “with limits,” likening it to the First Amendment.

“You have the right to protest, but you need a permit before you go start a rally on a street corner somewhere,” he said.

In 2020, Talarico said that Trump allows “weapons of war on our streets,” according to a clip unearthed by the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Paxton emphasized the importance of the Second Amendment to the DCNF.

“The Second Amendment was designed to protect citizens not just from bad people but also from their own government,” he said. “It was designed to have a backstop when the government gets out of control and becomes authoritarian. That’s something that’s happened historically in countries around the world. The Founders envisioned that, so it’s extremely important.”

AUTHOR

Emily Kopp

Senior Investigative Reporter

RELATED ARTICLE: James Talarico Conveniently Comes Out Against Child Sex Changes After Singing Very Different Tune

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Trump Makes Eleventh-Hour Endorsement Of Rep. Mike Collins In Crucial GOP Runoff For Senate

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President Donald Trump on Sunday endorsed Republican Georgia Rep. Mike Collins for the Republican runoff to challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.

Collins and former football coach Derek Dooley are set to face each other in the June 16 runoff. Trump posted his endorsement of Collins two Truth Social two days after early voting ended.

“It is my Great Honor to endorse ‘MAGA’ Mike Collins, a Highly Respected Congressman who has been with me from the very beginning, and is running for the United States Senate in Georgia, a very special place to me, and where we just had a BIG Presidential Election Win with the Most Votes Received by any single Candidate in Georgia’s History, for any Election,” Trump wrote. “Mike is strongly supported by the most Highly Respected MAGA Patriots in Georgia and beyond, and many Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate — He is a WARRIOR and WINNER!”

“A very successful Businessman prior to becoming a distinguished U.S. Congressman, Mike has brilliantly served his Community, during a career loaded with accolades and wins, always fighting tirelessly for our America First Agenda,” Trump continued. “As your next Senator, Mike will continue to work hard to Grow the Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Promote MADE IN THE U.S.A., Champion American Energy DOMINANCE, Strengthen our incredible Military/Veterans, Advance Election Integrity, Keep our Border SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, Murderers, and other Criminals from illegally entering our Country, Ensure LAW AND ORDER, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment.”

Collins was a prominent supporter of the Laken Riley Act which Trump signed into law Jan. 29, 2025. It requires illegal aliens be held by federal authorities if they are accused of theft.

Trump also took aim at Dooley in his lengthy post.

“Mike has to beat a Republican Opponent before he gets to Ossoff. I don’t know Derek Dooley, and neither does anyone else, but he seems like a nice person,” Trump posted. “Unfortunately, he has lived outside of Georgia for most of his life, didn’t vote in 2020 or 2016, and said that I lost Georgia in 2020 when, in actuality, the facts have now proven that I won by a lot!”

Collins led Dooley by 12.7% in the Real Clear Politics average of polls. Trump-endorsed candidates have won the vast majority of primary elections in 2026.

AUTHOR

Harold Hutchison

Second Amendment Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

EXCLUSIVE: Trump To Crack Down On Mail-In Voting With New Executive Order

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President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Tuesday cracking down on mail-in voting across the country, the Daily Caller learned first.

The executive order will require the Secretary of Homeland Security to create a list of verified U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state with the Social Security Administration’s help, according to a fact sheet shared with the Caller. The presidential action will also require that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) only send absentee ballots to those on each state’s approved mail-in ballot list. Ballots will now have specific secure envelopes, with unique barcodes for tracking, the order mandates.

States will be provided with their revised list of confirmed voters no less than 60 days before each federal election under the order.

The executive order also tells the U.S. Attorney General to prioritize investigating and prosecuting anyone accused of sending ballots to ineligible voters, the Caller learned. States that disobey the order may lose federal funds under the presidential action.

“Election integrity has always been a top priority for President Trump, and the American people sent him back to the White House because they overwhelmingly supported his commonsense election integrity agenda,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman told the Caller in a statement.

“The President will do everything in his power to defend the safety and security of American elections and to ensure that only American citizens are voting in them. Congress should also expeditiously pass President Trump’s SAVE America Act to protect elections for generations to come,” she added.

The action comes as the U.S. Senate continues to debate the SAVE America Act. Under the legislation, voters would be required to provide proof of U.S. citizenship and ID, states would be required to clean up their voter rolls and approved reasons for mail-in ballots would be restricted.

The bill was brought to the Senate floor debate on March 17.

The president previously told the Caller he was in favor of using the standing filibuster to pass the legislation. He added that the White House was working very hard to get the legislation through.

Trump has also said he will veto any other legislation until the SAVE America Act is passed.

“It must be done immediately. It supersedes everything else,” Trump wrote in a TruthSocial post.

Election integrity has become a focal for the president and his base. The Republican National Committee has built up its election integrity branch over the last few election cycles. In the 2024 election cycle, the RNC filed more than 100 election integrity lawsuits across over 20 states.

The RNC has filed several lawsuits related to regulating mail-in voting over the last year. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Watson. v. Republican National Committee, which debates whether federal law requires mail-in ballots to be received by Election Day.

AUTHOR

Reagan Reese

White House Correspondent

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

DHS Funding Drama Pits House against Senate

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The Senate and the House of Representatives are still sparring over funding for a critical federal agency, even as air travel is crippled and the threat of terrorist acts looms large. In the earliest hours of Friday morning, while much of America still slept, Senate Republicans attempted to end the impasse they had reached against their Democratic counterparts and end the longest Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown in U.S. history.

The deal was met with outrage by House Republicans, however, as the bill provided funding for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Coast Guard, and other DHS components, but deliberately excluding funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the two DHS agencies responsible for immigration enforcement and border security, labeled problematic by Democrats.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) touted the bill’s passage as a win for Democrats, charging that Senate Republicans “caved to our demands to fund DHS without a blank check for ICE and CBP.” He added, “Democrats held firm in our opposition that [President] Donald Trump’s rogue and deadly militia should not get more funding without serious reforms, and we will continue to fight for those reforms.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) lambasted the funding bill as a late-night “gambit” and a “joke,” suggesting that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and other Senate Republicans likely hadn’t even read the text of the bill they approved. “I’m quite convinced that it can’t be that every Senate Republican read the language of this bill,” Johnson quipped. “It’s pretty alarming.” He cited a portion of the bill clarifying that there will be no funding provided to ICE and CBP, commenting, “We’re not doing that.”

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) spoke forcefully against Senate Republicans for passing the bill and then immediately leaving Washington, D.C. for the Easter recess period. “It is absolutely offensive to the people that we represent that the Senate would send over a bill that doesn’t fund Border Patrol and the core components of ICE,” he told reporters Friday. “It’s absurd. And the fact that they would expect us to take that up and pass it today, as they leave town — I mean, could the Senate be any more lazy than to send to us a bill that doesn’t do the job and then leave town? We’re going to stand up and say no to that. We’re going to send back a bill that’s responsible to the American people.”

Accordingly, House Republicans passed their own funding bill to ensure that the entirety of DHS receives federal funding, faulting Democrats for allowing the agency to be shut down for nearly 50 days now, even as war with Iran heightens national security concerns. “Is our border secure? Are our airports safe? Will hardworking personnel receive their paychecks? Can Secret Service plan for the security of upcoming national events? Do Americans have confidence that their government is doing its job to protect the country? This bill answers those questions with certainty,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) in a statement. “It ends the Democrat shutdown, restores full funding for the Department of Homeland Security, and ensures the men and women on the front lines of safeguarding our nation are paid, supported, and able to carry out their duties without continued disruption. It brings stability back to DHS now — and makes clear where the House stands: with our citizens.”

The House bill is a stopgap measure intended to fund DHS fully for a 60-day period while lawmakers continue battling over long-term funding. Congressional Democrats originally refused to fund DHS starting February 14, in an effort to halt ICE and CBP operations, maligning the immigration agencies as lawless and aggressive following controversial operations in Minnesota earlier. Since then, travelers have been waiting longer and longer periods of time in line at airports as unpaid TSA staff either quit or refuse to show up for work. Late Friday, 209 House Republicans were joined by three House Democrats and one Independent to pass the funding measure, while 203 Democrats voted against it. Eight Republicans and eight Democrats did not vote.

Schumer pledged that Senate Democrats would shut down the House bill, just as they have killed previous House efforts to fully fund DHS, describing the new bill as “dead on arrival.”

In a “Washington Watch” interview Friday night, Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) suggested that the House bill will likely fail in the Senate, instead recommending that DHS be funded through the budget reconciliation process, a theory floated previously by Thune. “The good news is ICE and CBP were funded by the One, Big, Beautiful Bill for a period of time. So we have a way to cure this. What we need to do is get this behind us, get on the same page,” he said. Through the reconciliation process, Johnson suggested, Republicans can pass “a very focused and very rapidly-passed reconciliation bill. My suggestion is let’s pass all of DHS for the Trump term and beyond.” He continued, “Again, it’s going to be a big price tag, but it’s going to be in lieu of appropriations, so Democrats can never use DHS and the men and women of DHS as pawns in their political games.”

Johnson shared that he was “disappointed” that the House rejected the Senate funding package, noting that friendly mainstream media coverage largely protects congressional Democrats from being held accountable by voters. “We can’t force Democrats to do certain things when you have no accountability, no pressure by the mainstream media. So that’s the pickle we’re in as Republicans. It’s not a fair fight. It’s not a level playing field,” he said. “I mean, if we could have passed something we would have done that. We would have done that days ago, weeks ago. But it’s not going to pass. So it’ll be right back in this House’s lap.”

Also on “Washington Watch” Friday, Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) addressed many of the points raised by Johnson. Grothman said that Republican senators who backed the funding bill isolating ICE and CBP “would tell you … we have enough money available right now that we can do a reconciliation package and get the money to fund these two vital organizations before they run out of money.” He continued, “The problem is we have a very slim majority in the House of Representatives, and there is no guarantee that we can put together any package that will only cause us to lose two votes and could easily be one vote.” The congressman added, “Therefore we feel it would be reckless not to pass a bill that is fully funding both ICE and Border Patrol right now.”

In response to the funding crisis, the president issued an executive order demanding that DHS use funding already available to it in order to pay TSA agents. “As the Democrat-caused shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues well into its sixth week, America’s air travel system has reached its breaking point. This is an unprecedented emergency situation,” the president wrote. He added that the approximately 50,000 TSA agents who have gone unpaid for weeks have been denied funds by “Democrats’ reckless decision to prioritize criminal illegal aliens over American citizens and shut down DHS until their demand to prohibit enforcement of Federal immigration law is met.”

“If Democrats in the Congress will not act to honor the service of our TSA officers, who are now performing their critical public safety responsibilities without knowing whether they will be able to buy food for their families or pay their rent, then my Administration will take action,” the president announced. “As President of the United States, I have determined that these circumstances constitute an emergency situation compromising the Nation’s security.”

Grothman commented, “Donald Trump solved the biggest problem by … announc[ing] that he is going to fund the people at the airports. And I think that of all the things that Homeland Security does, that’s the one thing that has to get done and the people care about.” He suggested that without the public pressure resulting from the lapse in TSA funding, congressional Republicans may be more likely to fight Democrats to fund ICE and CBP. “So since he has just announced he is going to fund that, I think the other parts of the law, well, hopefully we’ll be able to come to a compromise on them.”

Some Senate Republicans have voiced that they would like to fight Democrats on the issue. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), for example, said in a Sunday night social media post, “Waiting for a deal to materialize with Chuck Schumer applies no pressure on Senate Democrats to fund DHS. Interrupting their recess and forcing them to debate DHS funding on the Senate floor *would* apply pressure. We can’t reward unprecedented obstruction with two-week recesses.” He further suggested that the president could exercise his constitutional authority to convene an “extraordinary” Senate meeting in order to force debate and a vote.

AUTHOR

S.A. McCarthy

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2026 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

EXCLUSIVE: Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett Once Rented Car With Convicted Robber — It Didn’t End Well

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Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett co-rented a car in 2006 with a previously convicted robber whose car crash caused her to be sued for damages at the start of her law career, records obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.

Crockett and Texas resident Soweto Hoilett rented the vehicle from Budget Rent A Car System after Hoilett was convicted of two robberies and possession of a controlled substance, according to court documents obtained via public databases and records requests. Hoilett’s relationship with Crockett, who declared a run for Senate on Dec. 8, is unclear based on the documents, and the two simply noted their use for the car was “personal.” Hoilett’s car wreck then prompted Crockett to defend herself in court, marking one of her earliest cases as a licensed attorney.

Budget Rent A Car sued Crockett in 2007 for refusing to cough up money over an accident involving Hoilett, citing her rental agreement that she claimed was “invalid.” Crockett settled with the company for roughly $10,400 the following year.

The court records show how a repeat offender receiving light punishment sowed chaos in the future congresswoman’s life. In Congress, she later advocated for reducing incarceration and declining to prosecute low-level theft and other offenses people commit “to survive.” She also frames the justice system as prejudiced against black people and the poor, citing her work in the Bowie County Public Defender’s Office from 2007 to 2010. 

Crockett’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and an attorney who assisted her is no longer licensed in Texas.

The DCNF also reached out to an email address listed for Hoilett in public records and the attorney who represented Budget Rent A Car and did not receive responses. Hoilett could not otherwise be reached.

Hoilett pleaded guilty to robbing two people in February and September 1998, with the county dropping a third robbery case against him that year. Hoilett received probation sentences that were later revoked in favor of five years behind bars, the lowest possible sentence for his first-degree felony robbery and slightly above the two-year minimum for the other robbery offense. He was credited with time served.

Oklahoma police later charged Hoilett in June 2005 with drug possession and obstructing an officer after catching him speeding at 91 miles per hour without a valid driver’s license, according to court records. Prosecutors dropped the obstructing charge for a guilty plea on the drug charge, leading to a probation sentence, which a court later accused him of violating.

Hoilett’s attorney in the Oklahoma case told the DCNF he could not recall details.

Eight months later, Crockett rented a Hyundai Sonata with Hoilett as an additional driver in Harris County, a rental agreement shows — setting the stage for her to get wrapped up in his legal troubles.

Crockett called Budget on Nov. 6, 2006, to let them know Hoilett had taken the car to Louisiana and a friend of his ended up finding the vehicle, according to the company’s accident report. Documents from the lawsuit give conflicting dates and scant details for the accident, but Budget said the car was totaled from the damage.

Hoilett was also charged in Harris County with resisting and evading arrest in August 2006, according to police reports. Prosecutors dropped one of the cases over a plea deal, giving him 120 days in jail for a crime that could have brought up to a year.

Budget and Crockett, who became a licensed attorney in November 2006, argued in court filings over whether Crockett should have allowed Hoilett to drive and how much she owed in damages. Crockett accused Budget in court filings of trying to “obtain money by false pretenses and fraudulent representations.”

The company also blasted Crockett for missing multiple filing deadlines in the case, including by not checking her mail.

“Defendant did not intentionally miss the deadline, but instead made a miscalculation of the deadline due to a mistake regarding the Good Friday Holiday,” Crockett’s response to one motion reads.

A judge approved a $10,407.12 settlement in October 2008, forcing Crockett to pay around $4,000 more than what she initially offered, records show.

Hoilett, meanwhile, was arrested in Harris County again in April and November 2007, according to police affidavits. Authorities said he first trespassed into someone’s vehicle and then refused to return a van from Dollar Rent A Car.

The district attorney’s office scrapped the first case after claiming a lack of probable cause to detain Hoilett, while the theft case gave Hoilett seven months behind bars instead of what could have been up to two years.

AUTHOR

Hudson Crozier

DCNF Crime and Extremism Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

GOP Launches Rival Healthcare Plan As Obamacare Showdown Hits Senate Floor

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Senate Republican leadership announced Tuesday that they will bring their own healthcare proposal to a floor vote, running in parallel with Democrats’ push for an extension of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies.

The Senate is scheduled to vote Thursday on a Democrat proposal for a three-year extension of the boosted subsidies, which Democrats secured as part of the deal that ended the record-breaking government shutdown. Following internal debate over several Republican healthcare proposals and whether to schedule a side-by-side vote, GOP senators have coalesced around a health savings account-based approach.

“It actually does make health insurance premiums more affordable,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters at a news conference Tuesday. “It delivers the benefit directly to the patient, not to the insurance company, and it does it in a way that actually saves money to the taxpayer. That is a win-win proposal.”

The Health Care Freedom for Patients Act— sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Mike Crapo, chair of the Senate Finance Committee — is pitched as an “alternative to Democrats’ temporary COVID bonuses, which send billions of tax dollars to giant insurance companies without lowering insurance premiums.”

Under the plan, roughly $1,000 to $1,500 would be deposited into HSAs paired with bronze or catastrophic plans on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges.

The idea of redirecting federal subsidies from insurance companies directly to individuals has the backing of President Donald Trump, who has warned that extending the boosted Obamacare subsidies would hand insurers “another huge payday at the expense of the American people.”

Democrats, meanwhile, are pressing ahead with their three-year extension of the soon-to-expire subsidies, despite the near certainty that the measure lacks the 60 votes needed to pass.

The enhanced subsidies — enacted by Democrats in 2021 without GOP support — removed the upper-income cap and increased subsidy amounts, dropping premiums to zero for many enrollees. They are set to expire at the end of 2025.

A clean three-year extension with no eligibility changes would add $350 billion to the national debt over the next decade, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates.

Republicans argue that Democrats’ plan, which goes even further than the one-year extension Democrats demanded during the shutdown, is primarily a political maneuver.

“I am absolutely open to a pathway forward, but what we’re seeing from Democrats is completely disingenuous,” Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama told the Daily Caller News Foundation Tuesday. “They know that a flat three-year extension will not pass, so they’re intentionally putting something on the floor for politics, not for the people they serve.”

Concerns about fraud are also fueling GOP resistance to the extension of the enhanced Obamacare subsidies.

Research has shown that fraud is especially widespread among zero-premium plans, which critics say create opportunities for bad actors to enroll unsuspecting individuals without their knowledge. Moreover, the Government Accountability Office recently uncovered rampant fraud and systemic failures in the ACA marketplace, including fictitious identities, invalid Social Security numbers, and even deceased individuals being frequently approved for taxpayer-funded subsidies.

“This program desperately needs to be reformed, the Democrats have decided, ‘We’re not going to do anything to reform it,’ and so we’ll see where the votes are on Thursday,” Thune said

Republicans also point to rising costs, noting that Obamacare premiums have increased twice as fast as employer-based premiums — evidence, they say, that the program is not delivering on promises of affordability.

“Money should go directly to patients so they can make their own decisions, and that will drive down costs,” said Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso of Wyoming, adding that taxpayers should not be “held hostage in the straitjacket of the one-size-fits-all that is Obamacare.”

However, Senate Democratic leadership has already dismissed the GOP plan.

“Their phony proposal is dead on arrival,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “Their bill is junk insurance; it’s been repudiated in the past. The American people will repudiate it once again.”

Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Tuesday that Republicans are “forcing a false choice on the American people.”

Even within the GOP, some are doubtful that the proposal has the votes to advance.

“In my opinion, trying to take the longer view — and also being as objective as I can — I think the only way that there will be a bill put together reforming the Obamacare exchanges is through the reconciliation bill,” Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told reporters shortly before the GOP announcement.

Although Republican leadership selected Cassidy’s proposal for a vote on Thursday, others — including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Bernie Moreno of Ohio — have introduced a two-year extension with income restrictions and minimum premium payments.

“I think we need to do everything we can to bring down the cost of premiums, so I’m happy to take a vote on any of these plans,” Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said Tuesday, adding he is inclined to vote yes on all of them. Hawley has also introduced a bill to allow taxpayers to deduct out-of-pocket medical expenses up to $25,000 per individual or dependent.

In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson said that Republicans will vote on a healthcare proposal by the end of December and continue working on healthcare legislation into early 2026, according to Punchbowl News.

Caden Olson contributed to this report.

AUTHOR

Melissa O’Rourke

Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Maine Mamdani: So-Called ‘Grassroots’ Oyster Farmer Has Deep Connections To Far-Left

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Graham Platner, an oyster farmer running as a Democrat in the Maine Senate primary, is being propped up as a “grassroots” candidate who can win over Trump supporters. His record tells a more complicated story.

Platner, a former Marine who served three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, is described as a “political novice” who has centered his pitch against Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins on “making life better for his state’s working class,” according to a New York Times (NYT) report.

“I’m a veteran, oysterman, and working class Mainer who’s seen this state become unlivable for working people,” Graham wrote in a post on X.

Platner stated in an interview with the NYT that he does not consider himself a progressive or a centrist.

“He laughed at the idea that he would have any challenge in connecting with supporters of President Trump. Half of his friends and colleagues at the dock voted for Mr. Trump, he said,” according to the NYT.

The former George Washington University student and State Department employee’s limited social media history, however, shows him repeatedly retweeting Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and mocking President Donald Trump. He has previously given political donations to former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sanders.

Screenshots from Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s X profile. (X/Screenshot/Public — User: @GrahamPlatner)

Platner’s platform reveals more of his progressive bonafides; he wants to force corporations to pay reparations for climate change, supports universal health care, and accuses Israel of carrying out “genocide” in Gaza, according to Zeteo.

His affiliations with notable left-wing consultants raises further questions about his pitch to the politically homeless. Platner’s first campaign ad was produced by “Fight Agency,” a Democratic media firm that has created content for Democratic New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, Democratic Georgia Rep. Lucy McBath, and Sanders.

Morris Katz, a member of the firm and senior advisor to Mamdani, described Platner as the “real fucking deal.” Katz was considered part of Mamdani’s “inner circle,” according to the NYT.

Another senior advisor to Platner’s campaign is Joe Calvello, whose work history includes being a communications advisor for 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, a campaign spokesman for Sanders, a communications official for Planned Parenthood, and chief strategy officer for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Calvello was also a communications director for Fetterman but was part of the staff exodus amid progressive backlash against the senator’s pro-Israel views.

Platner, a “competitive pistol shooter” on weekends, said he finds it “fairly amusing” to be called a liberal, according to a Politico report.

“I’m a firearms instructor. I spent multiple years, obviously, in the service utilizing firearms. I also grew up in rural Maine, where guns are a part of our existence,” he stated.

But just hours after his campaign launch, noted gun control supporter and former Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg posted a picture with Platner, also calling him the “real deal” who would “make an incredible Senator.”

Platner was also seen at a No Kings rally in Ellsworth, Maine, in June wearing a yellow construction vest with a piece of paper labeled “peacekeeper” taped to it. The No Kings group that organized the mass nationwide protests called the Trump administration “fascist” and “authoritarian.”

The oyster farmer and now senatorial candidate is from Sullivan, Maine and returned home in 2016 after becoming disillusioned with his job as a State Department security contractor in Afghanistan, partially because of the misuse of taxpayer money.

He left the military and contracting behind and began working in aquaculture. Platner bought a boat and began expanding his business with support from friends and family in the hospitality industry.

A large part of Platner’s campaign rests on blaming billionaires for the problems of the working class. His campaign ad is emblazoned with phrases like, “the enemy is the oligarchy” and “the enemy is billionaires.”

But in early 2021 when Platner was seeking additional funding options for his business, he settled on a fund established by a globalist billionaire.

Platner applied for the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Small Business Growth & Recovery Grant, which aims to “help U.S. small businesses — especially those owned by people of color, women, and veterans and those in lower-income communities — find their footing in a challenging economy.”

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation was founded by Greek billionaire shipping tycoon Stavros Niarchos, the founder of Niarchos Group and Hellenic Shipyards.

Niarchos’ bio states that he “understood what it meant to think and act globally long before the term ‘globalization’ came into wide use.”

Platner secured a $20,000 grant — the full amount available — from the organization.

His growing business earned him a visit from Democratic Maine Rep. Jared Golden, who toured Platner’s farm off Hancock Point by boat and later joined him “and several other small business owners for lunch in Ellsworth” in 2024. The coincidental meeting between the two former Marines came years after Platner’s $1,000 campaign donation to Golden in March 2018, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) data.

Platner’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Democrats are looking to 2026 for a chance to unseat Collins, a moderate Republican and Maine’s longest serving member of Congress. Several other previously unknown candidates have jumped into the Democratic primary, but the party is hoping Democratic Governor Janet Mills, who is term-limited from running for reelection, will jump in the race.

However, Mills has not yet committed to challenging the incumbent. Collins in 2020 breezed by Sara Gideon, the Democratic speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, with a nine-point win, despite trailing in pre-election polling and being outspent 2-1.

AUTHOR

Ashley Brasfield

Reportler

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Senate Confirms Trump’s Vatican Pick

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The United States Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican on Saturday.

In a 49-44 vote, Brian Burch was confirmed as Trump‘s pick to the Holy See.

“CatholicVote co-founder Brian Burch has been CONFIRMED as Ambassador to the Holy See in a 49-44 Senate vote,” Catholic Vote posted to X on Saturday.

“Burch, who resides in Chicago and served as CatholicVote’s President for seventeen years, will now represent the United States government to Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope and a Chicago-native himself,” CatholicVote said in a statement on Saturday.

Burch also issued a statement expressing his gratitude for the confirmation vote.

“Words cannot express my gratitude to all those that have helped me achieve this important position, most especially my wife Sara, my 9 beautiful children, my CatholicVote team, and all those who supported me in this journey,” Burch said. “I am especially grateful to the example of my father, who passed to eternal life last year, who taught me to love the Church and the profound blessings and responsibilities of being a citizen of the United States.”

He went on to talk about the important role the Catholic Church plays and his commitment to promote dignity and the common good.

“The Catholic Church is the largest and most important religious institution in the world, and its relationship to the United States is of vital importance. I am committed to working with leaders inside the Vatican and the Trump administration to promote the dignity of all people and the common good,” Burch said.

Burch helped start CatholicVote in 2005 to encourage Catholics to live out their faith in public and political life, according to the company.

AUTHOR

Timothy Sekerak

Contributor

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Senate Confirms Joe Kent As Director Of National Counterterrorism Center

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The Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee, Joe Kent, as the next Director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

Kent was confirmed by the Senate in a 52–44 vote late Tuesday, according to the chamber’s roll call website.

He previously served as an infantryman in the U.S. Army before joining the elite Ranger Regiment and the Special Forces.

His wife, Shannon, was killed in Syria on Jan. 16, 2019, during operations against ISIS — just weeks after the Trump administration announced plans to withdraw U.S. troops from the region.

Kent also served as acting chief of staff to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, according to a Washington Post report.

Before his nomination, Kent twice ran as a Republican candidate for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, first in 2022 and again in 2024.

In his most recent bid, he lost to Democratic Washington Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

Kent’s initial campaign in 2022 gained national attention after he unseated incumbent Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler in the primary, capitalizing on conservative anger over her vote to impeach President Donald Trump in 2021.

Editor’s note: Updated with Senate website’s count of the vote.

AUTHOR

Ashley Brasfield

Reporterr

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EXCLUSIVE: Congressional Republicans To Unveil Bill Stripping National Education Association’s Federal Charter

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Congressional Republicans will unveil a bill Wednesday aimed at revoking the federal charter of the National Education Association (NEA), the largest labor union in the United States, the Daily Caller has learned.

Republicans Rep. Mark Harris of North Carolina and Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee will introduce the National Education Association Charter Repeal Act in their respective chambers, aiming to sever the union from its congressional ties, a congressional aide told the Caller. Founded in 1857, the NEA received its charter from Congress in 1906 and now represents over 3 million educators nationwide.

The NEA has a “long list of egregious violations of public trust,” including an Open Secrets report finding that 98 percent of NEA political donations went to Democratic candidates during the 2024 election cycle, Harris said in a statement obtained by the Caller.

More recently, the NEA has faced controversy for passing a resolution that “pledges to defend democracy against Trump’s embrace of fascism by using the term facism [sic] in NEA materials to correctly characterize Donald Trump’s program and actions,” the New York Post reported, citing documents obtained by conservative education expert Corey DeAngelis.

Tina Descovich, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, praised Harris’ move in a statement obtained by the Caller. “It’s incredibly sad that the nation‘s largest teachers’ union has put woke politics before America’s children. The NEA’s embrace of radical left policies and antisemitism, combined with their rejection of parental rights, has forced moms and dads across America to condemn this organization,” she said.

The NEA’s operations rely primarily on member dues, not support from the federal government, according to Influence Watch. However, the bill could sever the organization’s congressional ties and eliminate certain property tax exemptions, according to the statement obtained by the Caller.

Similar bills to revoke the NEA’s charter, including one proposed by Blackburn in 2022, have struggled to gain traction, stalling in committee or merely being introduced on the floor.

The Caller has reached out to the NEA for comment but has not received a response at the time of publication.

AUTHOR

Derek VanBuskirk

Reporter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Here’s What The Senate Changed In The ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill

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The Senate passed President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” on Tuesday morning, but only after senators spent hours negotiating changes to the near-1,000 page sweeping budget legislation.

Senate GOP holdouts, such as Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, were pushing for amendments to Medicaid provisions and clean energy tax credits, and using their leverage to strike deals with Senate Majority Leader Thune throughout the night. Here are some of the last minute changes that were made to the budget reconciliation package.

Medicaid

Collins — who ultimately was one of three Republican senators to vote against the bill — has been a staunch advocate of procuring extra funding for rural hospitals affected by the Medicaid provider tax legislation and initially pushed for a $100 billion rural hospital fund. Senate Republicans instead placed a $25 billion safeguard fund into the bill.

Collins introduced an amendment to raise the fund to $50 billion by raising taxes on billionaires, but the vote failed 22-78 with 18 Republicans and four members of the Senate Democratic Caucus voting in favor. Despite her failed amendment, Collins’ increased rural hospital fund was added into the bill without the need for taxes to be increased.

Green Energy Tax Credits

Senate Republicans made last-minute alterations to green energy provisions, striking a controversial excise tax and giving tax credits to solar and wind projects that begin construction within a year of the bill’s enactment. The amendment still requires projects with later construction dates than summer 2026 to produce electricity by the end of 2027 to qualify for the credits.

Republican Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, John Curtis of Utah and Murkowski all played key roles in negotiations over the energy amendments.

Other Tax Credits 

A new tax credit for contributions to nonprofits granting scholarships to elementary and secondary schools has been added to the budget bill. Taxable contributions include those made to scholarship organizations that provide funds to eligible students within the state of the organization.

Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly’s bill aiming to change the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 also made it into the reconciliation bill. Kelly’s measure would restore the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) subsidiary asset test by increasing the asset percentage threshold from 20% to 25%. It would provide REITs more flexibility in how they format their subsidiary holdings.

The added bill would take effect December 31, 2025.

The Bill’s Title 

The legislation’s former name, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” is officially no more. Democrats used special Senate budget rules to delete the Trump-given title on Tuesday, much like Republicans revoked the Inflation Reduction Act title in 2022. Democrats also pulled a similar move in 2017, removing the name of the Republicans’ Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Artificial Intelligence

In a 99-1 vote, the Senate removed a ten-year moratorium on state and local artificial intelligence (AI) regulation. Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn introduced the amendment to revoke the proposed ban after dropping out of a deal with Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to cut the moratorium from ten years to five.

Blackburn claimed she left the deal with Cruz due to the carveouts allowing states to regulate child sexual abuse content and children’s online safety, claiming the compromise could still “allow Big Tech to continue to exploit kids, creators, and conservatives.”

SNAP

Throughout hours of negotiation, Murkowski also secured changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for Alaska, claiming they will allow for “greater flexibility” for her constituents. Democratic Senators such as Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota took issue with the special Alaska-specific provisions, arguing other states should get SNAP carve outs also.

Even with the changes in the bill, Murkowski has still called on the House to send the bill back to the Senate to continue making alterations to the text.

“Do I like this bill? No. But I tried to take care of Alaska’s interests,” Murkowski told NBC News after the final vote on the bill. “My hope is that the House is gonna look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.”

AUTHOR

Andi Shae Napier

Congressional Reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

The 3 Most Important Votes of the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Vote-a-Rama

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President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” moved closer to adoption overnight, as Senate Democrats attempted to load the bill with poison pill amendments in the “vote-a-rama.” During the lengthy amendment process, which began at 9 a.m. Monday morning and continues as of this writing, anyone may offer amendments to the 940-page bill. Senate changes have already made the bill less attractive to pro-life, pro-family conservatives. Yet the revised text also removes a controversial, 10-year moratorium on states regulating artificial intelligence.

“The president’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ is quickly losing its glamour in the Senate. The bill now appears to be a contestant in a beauty pageant for a tractor pull,” said FRC Action Chairman Tony Perkins. “The Senate version currently defunds big abortion providers like Planned Parenthood for only one year, instead of ten. That’s a huge disappointment. The first Senate version defunded gender transition procedures in Medicaid (not in Obamacare, as the House did, nor in Medicare or in the tax code, as had been proposed). But the current version will subject even that slimmed-down provision to a 60-vote threshold, meaning the provision will not pass the Senate, and Americans will continue to pay for gender transition experimentation on vulnerable individuals.”

Perkins wondered only if Senate Republican leaders were “completely out-muscled by the parliamentarian, or worse yet, didn’t try to secure the key components of the House version.” Senate GOP inaction “shows an unacceptable lack of political will.”

“Will senators fight to defund abortion providers for the maximum-allowable 10 years? Will they fight to defund gender procedures that bring trauma and life-long harm, or will they be satisfied with a show-vote on gender transition procedures?” asked Perkins.

Here are three of the most important votes that took place over the last 24 hours.

1. The Senate Continues to Defund Planned Parenthood

The Senate version of the bill reduced the 10-year defunding of Planned Parenthood to only one year. But overnight, the Senate narrowly voted down an amendment to strike down even that brief funding interlude, on a 51-49 vote. Two “pro-choice” Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted with the Democrats to fund the nation’s largest abortion business, which committed 402,230 abortions and received $792.2 million in taxpayer funding in 2024.

“The Republicans’ bill will cut millions of women off from birth control, cancer screenings, essential preventative health care — care they will not be able to afford anywhere else,” alleged Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.). “It will take another step towards enacting the Republicans’ plan for a backdoor nationwide abortion ban. How does it do this? By defunding Planned Parenthood.” Republicans, she said, were “happy to cut off this life-saving care.”

But Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life, rebutted the talking point. “Defunding Planned Parenthood is not one of them. Community Health Centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) provide comprehensive healthcare, and there are more of them!” she said. “Let’s fully fund real healthcare.”

“Senate Democrats just failed in their attempt to remove the meager tip (10%) that Senate Republicans were offering to the taxpayers and pro-life Americans,” said Perkins.

Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America said, “Let me be clear: Defunding Planned Parenthood for one year would be one small step that we celebrate, while we will still fight for all those at risk by the Abortion Goliath’s predatory & violent business. One giant leap would be full debarment.”

2. Senate Nixes the 10-year Moratorium on States Regulating Artificial Intelligence (AI)

On a nearly unanimous vote, the Senate adopted a bipartisan amendment from Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) to eliminate the One Big Beautiful Bill’s controversial, 10-year moratorium on AI regulation. If enacted, the provision would have struck down an estimated 75 existing state laws and barred any further protections for the next decade, including laws against AI-generated child pornography.

Blackburn and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) had sought a compromise that would reduce the decade-long federal ban on state AI regulations to five years and allow states to protect children from exploitation, and safeguard people’s images and likenesses, provided those regulations did not impose an “undue or disproportionate burden” on artificial intelligence. “Find you a senator who looks at defunding gender transition procedures the way Ted Cruz looks at protecting AI,” joked Quena González, senior director of Government Affairs at Family Research Council, on social media.

But Blackburn eventually broke with Cruz, saying the proposed compromise did not do enough for “those who need these protections the most. This provision could allow Big Tech to continue to exploit kids, creators, and conservatives. Until Congress passes preemptive legislation like the Kids Online Safety Act and an online privacy framework, we can’t block states from making laws that protect their citizens.” On the House floor, Blackburn listed a litany of AI regulations Congress had failed to pass, which states have adopted. On Friday, 17 Republican governors urged congressional leaders to strike the AI moratorium, saying it “threatens to undo all the work states have done to protect our citizens from the misuse of artificial intelligence.”

Cruz withdrew his amendment a little after 4 a.m. Tuesday, paving the way for the House to adopt Blackburn’s amendment on a strongly bipartisan basis: 99-1. Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) cast the lone no vote.

3. Democrats Extend Taxpayer-Funded Benefits to Criminal Illegal Immigrants

Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) offered an amendment that would have reduced federal Medicaid funding to states that cover illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes. Under Senate parliamentary procedure, the measure needed to clear a 60-vote threshold but passed with only 56 votes. One Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, voted against the measure. Meanwhile, five Democratic senators voted in favor: Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada, and Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia. “Illegal aliens should be on a flight back to their home country, not on Medicaid (funded by American taxpayers)!!!” said Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas). On Monday, the Senate rejected an amendment from Blackburn that would have prevented states from allowing illegal immigrants to enroll in Medicaid.

The Senate also rebuffed numerous attempts to maintain or further extend Green New Deal tax credits and subsidies. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) spoke in opposition to many of the measures, branding taxpayer funding of “mature industries” as “wasteful.”

House conservatives laid much of the blame for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s lost beauty at the footsteps of Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, a former Al Gore adviser. “The Senate parliamentarian over the last few days has said that a lot of our deficit reduction measures were invalid under the Byrd rule. They’ll have to be changed and modified,” Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) told “Washington Watch” regular guest host Jody Hice on Friday. Many have asked for the Senate to overrule the parliamentarian, something Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has repeatedly and recently refused to do. “I’ve asked for her to be fired. I don’t know why you would be the Republican leader of the Senate and have a parliamentarian who was hired by Harry Reid 12 years ago,” Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) told “Washington Watch” Monday.

House conservatives said changing the original text of the bill too much risks upsetting the key agreements that allowed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to pass the House, where Republicans also hold only a three-vote majority. “It was a very carefully negotiated compromise. And as they wander away from that, it becomes less and less likely that it’s going to succeed when it comes back out to the House,” said Harris. “We want this to succeed. We want President Trump to succeed. But the safest thing they could do is take our House bill and just pass it the way we pass it, or make some very small changes.”

“If they try to send it over to the House with a large increase in the budget deficit, then I think we’re going to have to go back to the drawing board,” warned Harris.

House leaders want the bill to meet President Trump’s deadline of July 4, making a speedy House vote likely. “I’ve been talking with [Senate Majority] Leader Thune constantly through the process and with individual senators, encouraging them to change the House product as little as possible,” Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) told “This Week on Capitol Hill” Saturday.

“I will have to wait about 72 hours for the bill to lay over before we can vote. But the plan would be if it’s in shape that we could use it,” said Johnson. A prompt House vote “would also allow for the president to have a big, beautiful bill signing on Independence Day. And I certainly hope we can keep that deadline.”

As the Senate nears a final text, senators on both sides of the aisle can agree on one thing: They want the nearly day-long marathon known as “vote-a-rama,” to end. “It’s like an all-night party, but without the party,” quipped Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

“I just want to go home,” agreed Senator John Fetterman (D-Penn.). “I’ve already missed our entire trip to the beach.”

AUTHOR

Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson is senior reporter and editor at The Washington Stand.

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