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Seven Primaries That Could Tear Democrats Apart In 2026

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With the 2026 midterms fast approaching, seven intense Democratic primary contests are taking shape across the country and highlighting divisions regarding the future of the party.

As Democrats look to reclaim control of Congress after Republican gains in 2024, several key battles could play a decisive role in determining the party’s chances at earning a majority in either chamber.

In California, the race to replace Governor Gavin Newsom is heating up, with a matchup between former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter and current Rep. Eric Swalwell taking center stage.

Porter opted not to seek reelection to her House seat in 2024, instead running for Dianne Feinstein’s open U.S. Senate seat. She finished third behind Democrat Adam Schiff and Republican candidate and former professional baseball player Steve Garvey. She is now mounting a statewide comeback with a bid for governor.

A series of videos showed Porter lashing out at a reporter during an interview and berating a staff member, opening the door for another Democrat to enter the race. California Rep. Eric Swalwell stepped into the breach in November, positioning himself as the candidate that will be a “fighter and protector.”

The two, however, risk splitting the Democratic vote, as California uses a top-two open primary system. All candidates appear on the same ballot and the two highest vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party. A recent poll showed how the intra-party fight between Porter and Swalwell is benefiting Republican candidates.

An Emerson College poll from December shows two Republican gubernatorial candidates, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News host Steve Hilton, in a virtual three-way tie with Swalwell. It’s possible that if Democratic support doesn’t coalesce around either Porter or Swalwell, voters in the deep blue state could be choosing between two Republicans in the general.

Just north of Sacramento, another competitive race is emerging to fill Democratic California Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat, after she announced she will not seek reelection ahead of the 2026 midterms. Pelosi has represented the San Francisco area for 20 terms and has served twice as Speaker of the House.

Pelosi served as a key foil to the Democratic ‘Squad’ while serving as speaker, and her exit opens the door for the far left of the party to consolidate more power. Neither candidate vying to replace her carries the experience of a longtime political tactician like Pelosi, and both boast far more progressive policy platforms.

California State Senator Scott Wiener, who has represented much of San Francisco in the state Senate since 2016, has announced his candidacy for the 11th congressional district.

Wiener previously authored a 2019 bill aimed at reducing certain sex offender registry requirements in the state, calling the existing policy “blatant discrimination against LGBT young people regarding California’s sex offender registry.”

Wiener initially said he would not challenge the former speaker for her seat, yet he announced a campaign shortly before Pelosi revealed she would be retiring. He explained that the move was necessary after Saikat Chakrabarti — former chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and co-founder of Justice Democrats — launched a self-funded bid for the seat, reshaping the primary dynamics, according to a CNN report.

Chakrabarti had announced his challenge to Pelosi earlier in 2025, campaigning on a progressive platform that includes Medicare-for-All, affordable housing, and higher taxes on billionaires.

The former chief of staff had previously helped orchestrate Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 upset victory, played a key role in drafting and promoting the Green New Deal, and worked on Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign — experience he now highlights as central to his political credentials.

On the East Coast in Maine, a heated Democratic Senate primary is underway between establishment party candidate and current Maine governor Janet Mills, who has the backing of the Democratic political machine, and “working-class” candidate Graham Platner. Both are aiming to unseat current incumbent Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins.

Mills, if elected, would be one of the oldest freshman senators at 77 years old, and is currently under fire for supporting taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants and defying President Donald Trump’s executive order to prohibit men from competing in women’s sports.

Platner, a political first-timer who has become a progressive darling, is angling his campaign around Democratic populist policies like Medicare-for-All, labor protections, climate action, and anti-corruption reforms.

He’s been drawing large crowds, even as he faces controversies over past social media posts and a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol which he had covered up.

In Maine, another significant race is unfolding in the state’s 2nd Congressional District following Rep. Jared Golden’s surprise announcement that he will not seek reelection.

Before Golden bowed out on Nov. 5, State Auditor and former Secretary of State Matt Dunlap had already launched a primary challenge on Oct. 6, criticizing Golden’s moderate record and his frequent alignment with Republicans. It marked the first primary challenge Golden had faced since 2018. 

Prior to ending his campaign, Golden released polling indicating that he had the best shot at holding the seat for Democrats — and his exit suggests Democrats will have to dump a lot more money into the race than anticipated.

In that poll, Dunlap was trailing former Republican Maine Governor Paul LePage by 10 points, according to a NOTUS report.

Dunlap is not the only Democrat trying to replace Golden. Jordan Wood, a former chief of staff to Katie Porter and vice president at End Citizens United, initially launched a campaign for Collins’s Senate seat, but shifted to the race for the 2nd Congressional District on Nov. 12 shortly after Golden announced he would not seek reelection.

He comes to the race with Washington experience and is significantly younger than the 61-year-old Dunlap.

The first-time candidate has centered his campaign on economic issues affecting working families and already has a $1 million war chest from his Senate campaign.

Down in the Longhorn state, Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett announced her run for Republican Sen. John Cornyn’s seat in the final hours of the filing period. Her entry into the Democratic primary roiled the party, with former Rep. Colin Allred suspending his campaign and opting to run for a North Texas congressional seat against an incumbent Democrat.

Crockett will go up against State Rep. James Talarico, a former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian.

Talarico’s campaign platform is based on his fight as a state representative leading the “fight against the billionaire mega-donors and puppet politicians.” He says he is now running to fight against “corruption” in Washington and “win back power for working people,” according to his campaign website.

Crockett’s entry into the race threatens to take a potentially competitive state off the table for Democrats. She has expressed that she has no intention of trying to win over Trump supporters and is running on an unabashedly progressive platform, compared to Talarico’s left-populist agenda. Yet her loyal left-wing base makes her a strong contender to win the primary.

In fact, Crockett is seen as so toxic that Republicans reportedly goaded her to run so they could better protect the seat.

The National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC) began testing Crockett’s name in internal polling in July, as first reported by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The results showed her leading a hypothetical Democratic primary. In the months that followed, the NRSC quietly encouraged Crockett to enter the race, a push that ultimately led her to join the Senate Democratic primary at the last minute.

GOP insiders believe either the incumbent Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton would breeze to victory against Crockett, allowing them to save valuable resources for other races throughout the country.

In Massachusetts, Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton, is making generational change the centerpiece of his campaign against incumbent Sen. Ed Markey. Moulton argues that Democrats need new leadership after the 79-year-old senator’s nearly half-century in Congress — Markey would be 86 at the end of another term if reelected.

Moulton, a 47-year-old former Marine, previously beat incumbent Rep. John Tierney in 2014 and voted to block Democrat California Rep. Nancy Pelosi from becoming speaker of the House in 2018, according to a Politico report.

Moulton has faced backlash in his overwhelmingly blue state for tacking to the center. He suggested that his party’s recent electoral setbacks were tied to its stance on allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports, according to a New York Times report.

His comments prompted his campaign manager to resign, drew a public rebuke from the state’s Democratic governor, and even led a Tufts University political science chair to threaten to stop sending students to intern in his office.

Markey — often viewed as more progressive than the moderate, reform-minded Moulton — has indirectly rejected claims he is too old to run for reelection, highlighting his alleged energy, fresh ideas, and commitment during crises like the government shutdown.

Following mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City, Democrats are now turning their attention to holding the governor’s office in the Empire State.

Incumbent Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who previously served as lieutenant governor under former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and assumed the governorship in August 2021 following his resignation, is running to maintain her residency in Albany.

She made a late appearance alongside Mamdani in his mayoral campaign, publicly throwing her support behind him and pointedly snubbing Cuomo, who had launched an independent bid after losing the primary to Mamdani.

Hochul is facing a primary challenge from her own lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, who launched his bid in an effort to unseat Hochul in June.

Delgado spent three years in the U.S. House before Hochul tapped him in 2022 to serve as lieutenant governor, making him the first Latino to hold statewide office in New York.

In a video previewing his announcement, he appears speaking to New Yorkers across the city while calling for “universal health care,” “universal pre-K,” and pledging to fight “the Trump administration’s attacks” on deep-blue New York.

Although Hochul and Delgado began their tenure on good terms and were elected to full terms together, their relationship has cooled as they diverged on key issues, even as the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) has signaled its full support for Hochul heading into the 2026 primary.

Delgado’s public divergences with Hochul began to surface most clearly when he urged President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. After the election, he reinforced that message in a New York Times op-ed calling for the Democratic Party to change direction, concluding with the line: “A new path is both necessary and possible, but we will not chart it with the same politicians telling the same old stories. We are ready for the next generation.”

He later deepened the divide by calling for New York City Mayor Eric Adams to resign, even as Hochul adopted a more measured approach. The split over Adams prompted spokesperson Avi Small Hogrebe to issue a statement underscoring that “Lieutenant Governor Delgado does not now and has not ever spoken on behalf of this administration.”

These tensions — driven by disagreements over party loyalty, political strategy, and generational change — ultimately led Hochul to remove most of Delgado’s staff and resources, underscoring the widening rift between them, according to a Politico report.

Over the past year, Delgado has gone from a somewhat reluctant lieutenant governor to a political outcast who is no longer on speaking terms with Hochul.

Polls show the Republican frontrunner, Rep. Elise Stefanik, performing slightly better against Delgado, though neither matchup appears to be particularly competitive.

Recent special election and off-year victories for Democrats have the party convinced they’re looking at a blue wave in the 2026 midterms. Even if they are able to regain the majority in Congress, the tense fight between progressives and moderates and younger and older candidates threatens to severely bruise the Democrats in the process.

AUTHOR

Ashley Brasfield

Reporter

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

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.

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.

Senate Passes Trump’s ‘Beautiful’ Bill After Holdout Supplies Critical Vote

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The Senate approved President Donald Trump’s landmark bill largely along party lines Tuesday morning after senators took dozens of votes on amendments and procedural motions in a marathon session that lasted more than 24 hours.

Senators voted 51 to 50 with Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine opposing the president’s sweeping domestic policy legislation. The bill’s passage is a massive victory for Senate GOP leadership who were able to keep defections to a minimum and convince one holdout, Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, to supply a critical vote to pass the president’s tax and immigration bill.

Vice President JD Vance, who arrived in the Capitol shortly after 6 a.m. Tuesday, cast the tie-breaking vote. The Senate-amended bill now heads to the House for consideration where lawmakers are racing to meet Trump’s July 4 deadline.

Given Senate Republicans’ 53-47 majority, Thune could afford to spare just three votes. Every Senate Democrat, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, voted no on the Senate version of the president’s “big, beautiful” bill.

The “vote-a-rama” that preceded the vote on final passage was one of the longest voting sessions in American history. Senators cast more than 45 votes in a session that started at 9 a.m. Monday as Senate GOP leadership lobbied holdouts to support the bill.

The Senate agreed to pass just a handful of amendments to the bill during the course of voting. Senators overwhelmingly backed a measure offered by Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn to eliminate a provision freezing state and local AI regulation.

The Senate also approved a “wrap-around amendment” immediately preceding to a vote on final passage that incorporated last-minute changes to the bill. Vance cast the tie-breaking vote.

Tillis and Collins justified their opposition to the president’s domestic policy bill, citing the proposal’s aggressive reforms to Medicaid.

Paul, a fiscal hawk who almost never supports bills that increase budget deficits, also voted against the president’s budget bill. He said he could not support the legislation given a provision that would raise the debt limit by $5 trillion.

The president notably criticized Tillis and Paul for voting against starting debate on Trump’s megabill Saturday.

“Thom Tillis has hurt the great people of North Carolina,” Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social Tuesday. “Even on the catastrophic flooding, nothing was done to help until I took office. Then a MIRACLE took place! Tillis is a talker and complainer, NOT A DOER! He’s even worse than Rand ‘Fauci’ Paul!”

Congressional Republicans are using the so-called budget reconciliation process to circumvent Democrat’s opposition and pass tax and spending legislation by a simple majority vote.

The upper chamber’s bill combines a staggering number of Trump’s policy priorities into one budget package. It would permanently extend the president’s 2017 tax cuts, temporary eliminate taxation on tipped wages and overtime pay for certain Americans and restore several business tax breaks sought by the private sector

The budget package would also boost immigration enforcement and defense spending by hundreds of billions of dollars while achieving the largest cut to mandatory spending in American history, including slowing the rate of federal Medicaid spending by roughly $1 trillion over a decade.

The final bill is the product of Republicans’ legislative ambition that was years in the making. The last time Republicans had a trifecta in Washington to pass a budget reconciliation bill was nearly a decade ago during the start of Trump’s first term in office.

“This is Republicans fulfilling our promise of growth and prosperity for the American people,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, the second-ranking Senate Republican, said Monday on Fox News. “It’s more money in people’s pockets for gas, groceries, for rent. All of those things, and as the president said, we need to stop this $4 trillion tax increase, which would be the biggest increase in taxes in the history of our country.”

The combined effects of these tax provisions are projected to result in $7,800 to $13,000 higher take-home pay for the average family with two children, according to a White House report analyzing the initial House-passed bill that was published in May.

The Senate bill now heads to the House where it faces uncertain prospects. A flank of House conservatives have pledged to tank the upper chamber’s proposal for violating a framework in the House to pair tax cuts with dollar-for-dollar spending reduction. A cohort of moderate GOP lawmakers have signaled they will vote “no” on the Senate bill, citing opposition to aggressive reforms to Medicaid.

Any changes the House makes to the Senate’s bill would have to pass the upper chamber for a second time before Trump can sign the measure into law.

AUTHOR

Adam Pack

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.

Senate Republicans Lobbying For Green Energy Tax Credits Raked In Donations From Industry

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Phasing out Biden-era green energy tax credits is dividing Senate Republicans as they push their latest version of the “big beautiful bill,” and some members of the GOP have a financial incentive to keep the credits rolling.

The Senate’s draft represents a substantial cut to the existing climate-friendly energy tax credits, but some Republicans are pursuing a less aggressive rollback than their House counterparts, according to a report from The Hill.

Several GOP senators who oppose a full repeal argue that even the Senate’s scaled-back proposal goes too far in dismantling the clean energy tax credits established under the Biden Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Republican Senators who have voiced concerns or pushed back against a “full-scale” repeal of energy tax credits include Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran, Utah Sen. John Curtis and West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito.

Republican West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, whose state hosts one of the “hydrogen hubs” created under the Biden administration, expressed concern over the bill’s deadline requiring projects to begin construction by the end of the year to qualify for tax credits.

Capito said she’s working to delay that deadline, calling it “a pretty tight timeline,” and adding, “I’m trying to get the date pushed back. I don’t know if I’ll be successful,” according to another report from The Hill.

She has also received $49,200 in campaign contributions from Williams, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based energy company with significant investments in hydrogen infrastructure during the 2024 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets data.

Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford likewise received $54,500 in contributions from Williams during the same time period.

Capito also took $45,325 during the 2024 election cycle from First Energy, an electric utility that has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

A group of four Republicans — Sens. Murkowski, Curtis, Moran and Tillis — have jointly cautioned against a “full-scale” repeal of the energy tax credits enacted by Democrats in 2022.

In their message, they called for each credit to be assessed based on its potential to boost U.S. manufacturing, lower utility costs — particularly in rural communities — and provide stability for businesses that have already made investments under the current framework.

“The United States produces some of the cleanest and most efficient energy in the world, and an all-of-the-above approach — including support for traditional and renewable energy sources — has long been a hallmark of our energy strategy,” the senators wrote.

“To that end, many American companies have made substantial investments in domestic energy production and infrastructure based on the current energy tax framework. A wholesale repeal, or the termination of certain individual credits, would create uncertainty, jeopardizing capital allocation, long-term project planning, and job creation in the energy sector and across our broader economy,” their letter read.

Tillis, has advocated for a “targeted, pragmatic approach” to the energy tax credits, rather than supporting a full repeal.

He also received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions during the 2022 and 2024 election cycles — both individually and through political action committees — from major financial institutions including Blackstone Group, Apollo Global Management, Truist Financial and Goldman Sachs, according to OpenSecrets (OS).

The firms have collectively invested millions of dollars in clean energy initiatives and companies in recent years.

Collins received tens of thousands of dollars in contributions during the 2022 and 2024 cycles from Blackstone, Goldman and Nextra Energy, which reports to have 55% of its portfolio invested in renewable energy.

Capito also received tens of thousands of dollars from Blackstone during the 2022 and 2024 election cycles.

OpenSecrets also shows Murkowski received tens of thousands of dollars through PACs or individually over the same two cycles from companies like ConocoPhillips, a company dedicated to be the first in the U.S. oil and gas company to set a goal of reaching net-zero operational emissions.

This follows Capital Group Companies‘ announcement in March that it was committing $30.57 million to fossil fuel investments, including a stake in ConocoPhillips.

Curtis has likewise received $59,700 in contributions during the 2024 election cycle from Sunrun, which markets itself as “the #1 home solar and battery company in America.”

“I think that Senator Crapo did a really good job, but there’s more work to be done,” Curtis told The Hill when asked about the big beautiful bill, referring to the Idaho Republican who chairs the Senate Finance Committee. Curtis offered no further details.

Moran adjacently received $38,500 in campaign contributions during the 2024 election cycle from Kit Bond Strategies Group, according to OpenSecrets records.

The firm actively lobbied on behalf of multiple renewable energy companies throughout that time. 

The draft text of the bill, released Monday by the Senate Finance Committee, maintains credits for nuclear, hydropower, and geothermal energy, and does not immediately eliminate subsidies for solar and wind, disappointing Republicans who sought a more aggressive rollback of Democratic climate policies.

The Daily Caller reached out to Tillis, Murkowski, Curtis, Capito, Moran and Lankford for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.

AUTHOR

Ashley Brasfield

Reporter.

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Tulsi Gabbard Reveals Plans To ‘End Politicization’ Of Intel Agencies On Day One In Office

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President Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, will prioritize ending politicization of the Intelligence Community (IC) and restoring transparency, according to a list of priorities obtained by the Daily Caller.

The Senate confirmed Gabbard as DNI on Wednesday. Her day one priorities highlight politicization and the need for unbiased intelligence collection.

“End politicization of the IC and ensure clear mission focus to the IC on its core mission of unbiased, apolitical collection and analysis of intelligence to secure our nation” the document reads.

She assailed weaponization of the intelligence community during her confirmation hearing’s opening statement, citing Trump’s reelection as a “clear mandate” to end weaponization of the intelligence agencies.

She specifically pointed to the 51 former national security officials who signed a letter implying the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story was a “Russian information operation.” That was proven false and Trump recently revoked the officials’ security clearances.

Gabbard will also work to restore trust “through transparency and accountability,” the document said, calling the priority a “national security imperative.”

Two Republican senators who were initially hesitant to support Gabbard, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins, cited the ODNI’s bloated size in their endorsements of Gabbard.

Collins said in a statement that the ODNI is too expansive and that Gabbard shares her “vision of returning the agency to its intended size.”

Gabbard will also work to “address efficiency, redundancy, and effectiveness across ODNI to ensure focus of personnel and resources is focused on our core mission of national security” on day one.

Gabbard will also prioritize assessing threats and identifying gaps in intelligence.

“Assess the global threat environment and where gaps in our intelligence exist, integrate intelligence elements, increase information-sharing, and ensure unbiased, apolitical, objective collection and analysis to support the President and policymakers’ decision-making,” the document reads.

She also plans to collaborate with Congress, specifically the Senate Intelligence Committee, on these issues. Senators expressed frustration about intelligence failures during her meetings, citing a “lack of responsiveness” to information requests, according to the document. There have been several major intelligence blunders under past DNIs, including the Afghanistan withdrawal and terrorists taking over Syria after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The document also referenced “failures to identify” the origins of COVID-19. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said in January that it now believes the virus came from a lab in China, according to The New York Times. The agency reached this determination with “low confidence.” This typically indicates that the agency making the determination lacked sufficient credible information or had concerns or issues regarding their sources, according to the DNI’s website.

“Lt. Col. Gabbard looks forward to working with Senators and the Intelligence Committee directly on those issues,” the document concludes.

AUTHOR

Eireann Van Natta

Intelligence state reporter.

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