Politics

(WASHINGTON) — As President-elect Donald Trump’s comments tanking House Speaker Mike Johnson’s short-term government funding bill sent House Republicans into a tailspin Wednesday night, Senate Republicans were left to try to make sense of the remaining pieces.

Congress must act to fund the government by midnight on Friday or risk a shutdown. With the House back at the drawing board, the clock is ticking.

The nature of government funding bills means that the Senate is usually in a wait-and-see posture until the House acts. That’s particularly true this time around, where Johnson has to wrangle his slim House majority into passing legislation that Trump will find palatable before the Senate decides whether they can accept it.

The looming funding deadline means that the Senate will in all likelihood be forced to stomach whatever Johnson manages to pass through the House unless it is so unacceptable that Senators are willing to shut the government down over it. Democrats still run the Senate for a few more days, and the 60-vote threshold in the Senate makes compromise essential.

During late votes Wednesday night, Senate Republicans weighed in on the current government funding situation with a little more than 48 hours until a shutdown.

Many say they weren’t happy with Johnson’s original proposal

Despite the challenges now facing Congress to finish up work on government funding, there are a number of Senate Republicans who concede they weren’t happy with the House proposal that Johnson put forward on Tuesday. Some are pleased that Trump got involved to encourage changes.

“This is supposed to be a CR that extends the status quo. And it’s supposed to be lean and mean,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-LA said. “Well, I mean, it may have been mean, but it wasn’t lean. And what I think we’re going to have to do to get it passed is go back to a real CR, which is just an extension of the status quo.”

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-SD, said all of the “crap” that was attached to the House CR was “very very disappointing to me.”

He signaled a willingness to support a clean CR with disaster relief.

There appears to be some eagerness to re-open discussion about a path forward, but the time is running out, and there are now a number of very thorny issues that will require a lot of negotiation with very little time.

Southern State Republicans draw the line at disaster relief

As House Republicans go back to the drawing board to try to satiate Trump’s demands, it’s clear they’ll have to balance them against all-out insistence from many Senate Republicans that billions in disaster relief remain tacked to this bill.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose home state of South Carolina was deeply impacted by Hurricane Helene, said he will vote against a funding bill that doesn’t include relief for his and other affected states.

He called it a “moral imperative to get money into the system.”

“We’ve got to have the disaster relief. I can’t go home and play like it didn’t happen,” Graham said. “To anybody who thinks that disaster relief is pork, come to where I live and see what happened in my state in North Carolina and Georgia.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC, whose home state was affected by both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, said he’d do everything in his power to slow down the passage of any government funding bill that doesn’t include funding for relief.

“I feel very strongly. [If] we don’t get disaster in the bill I’ll do everything to keep us there until we do,” Tillis said.

Tillis said he spoke with VP-Elect Vance Wednesday and said Vance “gets” the importance of disaster aid.

“JD gets it. I spoke with him this afternoon. He understands the need to get disaster follow-up in there,” Tillis said. “Most people, at least JD and others, believe that we have to do the disaster supplement.”

Republicans open to debt limit hike, but skeptical about accomplishing it on this timeline

Trump complicated government funding matters significantly with an eleventh-hour push to include a hike to the federal debt limit in this package. It has left some Republicans unclear on a path forward.

“I don’t think he’s wrong,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-LA, said when asked if Trump’s debt limit proposal was helpful. “But it complicates the matter.”

That’s an understatement.

Debt limit negotiations have in prior years taken months upon months to carefully weave together. A number of Senate Republicans conceded tonight that while they’d support raising the debt limit in this bill, getting to yes on it in the tiny window of time left will be a real challenge.

“I don’t know how we do that,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-SD, said. “I mean, I’m open to ideas on it but I don’t know how we do that.”

Graham said he’d leave decisions about the debt limit to Trump but conceded that Democratic buy-in would be necessary to do it.

“I don’t know how this plays into things. I do know this, we don’t want to default. There are a lot of Republicans who will never vote to raise the debt ceiling for ideological reasons,” Graham said.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, acknowledged that getting all Republicans on board a debt limit hike would be a challenge.

“I don’t know if Republicans are going to vote for that, particularly the Freedom Caucus, so I guess we’ll take it one step at a time,” Cornyn said.

Tillis also acknowledged that Democrats would have to buy into a plan to hike the debt limit. And with the deadline to do so still months off, he said he was unsure what would inspire Democrats to participate in eleventh-hour negotiations on the issue.

“I just think there’s got to be something more to it than a demand that it get in, because again there’s no burning platform,” Tillis said.

Calls with Trump

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO, said he spoke to Trump just before he issued his original statement today that discouraged Republicans from supporting the short-term government bill put forward by Johnson.

Hawley said that Trump thought Speaker Johnson’s CR was a “total disaster.”

Hawley criticized Johnson for what he said was “clearly” not reading Trump into the negotiation process of the bill.

“I made this point to him, to the president that is, about the House Leadership. I mean, is this going to be the norm? Is this how we’re going to operate? They’re going — is this going to be the standard that we are setting?”

ABC News asked Hawley if Trump expressed frustration with Johnson specifically, and Hawley said “yes.”

But that was refuted by Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-OK.

“I have spoken to the president several times today. I would not classify, I would not classify it as being frustrated with the Speaker,” Mullin said.

Mullin said that it was articulated to Johnson for “awhile” that Trump wanted a debt limit hike.

“He does want the debt limit included in whatever package they put forth, but he’s as far as being upset, I absolutely do not agree with that.

The Musk factor

Senators seemed to downplay the significance of Elon Musk’s influence on the current situation. Musk took to his social media platform X to repeatedly slam the Johnson-backed bill on Wednesday.

“I think there are people putting too much weight on Musk or anybody else opining. I think there were structural challenges to begin with,” Tillis said. “These outside influences have an impact, but I think that that came from within not from without. I’ve seen some of the reports about how Elon basically vetoed it. I’m sure his voice weighed in, but it had, it clearly had a structural problem before anybody opined on it.”

Hawley, when asked about Musk’s weighing in, seemed to push concerns aside.

“As somebody who doesn’t like the CR, I welcome the criticism,” Hawley said.

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(WASHINGTON) — Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk, chairman of the House Administration’s subcommittee on Oversight, in a new report suggests former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney should be investigated for alleged criminal witness tampering, claiming she played an “integral role” shaping key witness testimony before the Jan. 6 committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.

President-elect Donald Trump posted early Wednesday morning on his social media platform that “Liz Cheney could be in a lot of trouble based on the evidence obtained by the subcommittee, which states that ‘numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, and these violations should be investigated by the FBI.”

Earlier this month, Trump, speaking about Jan. 6 committee members, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that, “for what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.”

The House GOP report released Tuesday marks not only the latest effort by House Republicans to discredit the Jan. 6 committee, but also a possible preview of its oversight efforts in the next session of Congress beginning in January.

Cheney’s name appears in the report more than 120 times, excluding the table of contents, going line-by-line to blast her participation as vice chair of the Jan. 6 committee.

“Without authority and against House Rules — the role of ranking member, Congress itself must right its former wrongs and declare this appointment of Representative Cheney invalid now,” the report states.

The report alleges that as Cheney participated in the investigation, she colluded with Cassidy Hutchinson, the former Trump White House aide, about her testimony describing then-President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The report contends that Cheney not only “backchannelled” with Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump White House aide and a host of ABC’s “The View,” to get Hutchinson to change her narrative but also communicated with her “directly for days.” After that, the report alleges that Cheney also convinced Hutchinson to fire her attorney, Stefan Passantino.

“According to text messages, that appear to be from the encrypted messaging app “Signal,” between Hutchinson and Farah Griffin obtained by the Subcommittee, Cheney agreed to communicate with Hutchinson through Farah Griffin,” the subcommittee said.

“It is unusual — and potentially unethical — for a Member of Congress conducting an investigation to contact a witness if the Member knows that the individual is represented by legal counsel,” the report states. “This appears to be precisely what Representative Cheney did at this time, and within a matter of days of these secret conversations, Hutchinson would go on to recant her previous testimony and introduce her most outlandish claims.”

“What other information was communicated during these phone calls may never be known, but what is known is that Representative Cheney consciously attempted to minimize her contact with Hutchinson in her book, and the most likely reason to try to bury that information would be if Representative Cheney knew that it was improper and unethical to communicate with Hutchinson without her counsel present,” the report states.

“It must be emphasized that Representative Cheney would likely have known her communications without the knowledge of Hutchinson’s attorney were illicit and unethical at that time,” the report said. Farah Griffin indicated as much … in her … message to Hutchinson … when she wrote that Representative Cheney’s “one concern” was that as long as Hutchinson was represented by counsel, “she [Cheney] can’t really ethically talk to you [Hutchinson] without him [Passantino].” 

Despite Representative Cheney’s initial hesitation, the Subcommittee uncovered evidence of frequent, direct conversations between Hutchinson and Representative Cheney without Passantino’s knowledge, and also through their intermediary Farah Griffin.”Cheney responded in a statement stressing the testimony “was painstakingly” presented in thousands of pages of transcripts, made public along with a “highly detailed and meticulously sourced 800-page report.”

“Chairman Loudermilk’s ‘Interim Report’ intentionally disregards the truth and the Select Committee’s tremendous weigh of evidence, and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump did,” Cheney wrote. “Their allegations do not reflect a review of the actual evidence, and are a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth.”

Cheney also did not back off her role and the committee’s findings.

“January 6th showed Donald Trump for who [he] really is – a cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks to continue against our Capitol and law enforcement officers while he watched television and refused for hours to instruct his supporters to stand down and leave,” she noted. “The January 6th Committee’s hearings and report featured scores of Republican witnesses, including many of the most senior officials from Trump’s own White House, campaign and Administration.”

Farah Griffin also disputed the GOP report’s conclusions.

“This report is full of inaccuracies and innuendo,” she said in a statement. “The report wrongly states – and without any evidence – that I acted as an intermediary between Cassidy Hutchinson and Liz Cheney for “a month.” That is not true, and these messages demonstrate the full extent of my involvement. Further, these messages weren’t ‘obtained’ by the Committee – they were requested by the Committee and voluntarily handed over to the Committee. I believe in Congressional oversight, whether it be the January 6th investigation or this inquiry.”

Trump has denied any wrongdoing in relation to Jan. 6.

 

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(WASHINGTON) — The House passed the Paris Hilton-championed Stop Institutionalized Child Abuse bill on Wednesday, a sweet victory for the celebrity hotel heiress after the nearly three years she’s spent lobbying politicians in Washington on the issue of reform in the “troubled teen” industry.

The measure that would require more federal oversight into these facilities for troubled minors passed by a vote of 373-33.

All those who voted against the legislation were Republican, most from the far-right faction of the party, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar of Arizona, Byron Donalds of Florida, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, among others.

The Senate passed the bill a week ago with unanimous support. It now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.

“I am so emotional right now. I have never felt prouder in my life,” Hilton told reporters after the vote. “Just to be here today and see our bill pass in Congress has been one of the most incredible moments of my life and I just know that the teenage me would be so proud of the woman that I am today — turning my pain into purpose and being a voice for so many people who don’t have a voice.”

Hilton said she traveled to Washington every six to 10 months starting in October 2021 to push for a child abuse bill. She traveled back to the Hill on Monday and has spent the past two days meeting with representatives in order to get the measure across the finish line. She held a press conference outside the Capitol on Monday evening, urging the House’s passage of the bill.

Hilton was personally in contact with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise regarding movement on the bill this week.

Hilton for years has been an advocate for reform in congregate care facilities and residential treatment programs for “troubled” minors. She’s brazenly described her own traumatizing experience at Provo Canyon School in Utah when she was a teenager.

The legislation — which would ordinarily pass through the House Energy and Commerce committee before it could get called by leaders to the floor — was fast-tracked by bypassing that step, according to a source familiar with committee business.

“When the U.S. Senate came together in a rare show of unity to pass the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act unanimously on Wednesday December 11th, it was one of the best moments of my life. It was proof that when we listen to survivors and put politics aside, we can create real, meaningful change. But this journey isn’t over. I can’t celebrate until this bill becomes law, and now it’s up to the U.S House of Representatives to finish what the Senate started,” Hilton wrote in an open letter shared to her Instagram page on Monday.

“To Leader Scalise, Speaker Johnson, and every member of the House: I urge you to think about the children who can’t speak for themselves. They’re relying on us—on you—to stand up for their safety and dignity. Passing this bill would be a testament to what we can achieve when we lead with empathy and courage.”

Hilton has traveled to Washington every six to 10 months starting in October 2021, according to her spokesperson, each time asking Congress to reform youth residential treatment facilities.

She’s met individually with members like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who thanked Hilton after the bill’s passage last week for her work on the issue, and Republicans like Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Tim Scott of South Carolina.

Some of her biggest advocates have been the cosponsors of the bill: Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, along with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., Hilton said.

“A lack of oversight and transparency in residential youth programs has allowed for the abuse of children in facilities across the country for far too long,” Cornyn said in a statement after the bill passed.

“I’m proud that the Senate unanimously passed this legislation to ensure the vulnerable children in these facilities are protected, and I want to thank the countless advocates who have bravely shared their stories to help end institutional child abuse.”

Hilton also testified before the House Ways and Means Committee in June, emotionally recounting her experience being at Provo Canyon School as a teen.

“These programs promised healing, growth, and support, but instead did not allow me to speak, move freely, or even look out a window for two years,” she testified in 2023. “I was force-fed medications and sexually abused by the staff. I was violently restrained and dragged down hallways, stripped naked, and thrown into solitary confinement.”

The Provo school in Utah, which is still operating today, released an updated statement in June 2024 saying they couldn’t comment on the operations or student experiences at the school prior to August 2000, when it had changed ownership shortly after Hilton’s stint there. Provo said it did not “condone or promote any form of abuse,” in their statement.

Hilton has gone to the White House to advocate for child welfare, meeting with policy staff in May 2022.

“We have had some prior conversations with the White House about the bill, and we don’t have a reason to believe that they wouldn’t sign it into law,” Hilton’s spokesperson said.

The socialite’s push for congregate-care reform started in 2021, when she came to Washington in support of a similar measure, the Federal Accountability for Congregate Care Act, which was a different bill that was introduced in October 2021 and led by Khanna, Merkley, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and then-Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

Before her visit in 2021, Hilton had opened up about her 11-month experience at Provo Canyon school in her 2020 documentary “This is Paris,” and in a Washington Post op-ed.

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(WASHINGTON) — Federal prosecutors on Wednesday urged a federal judge to reject a request from a defendant convicted for participation in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next month, according to a court filing.

Cindy Young, of New Hampshire, was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of four misdemeanor charges earlier this year for joining the Capitol riot and was sentenced to four months incarceration as well as a term of probation — which included conditions that bar her from entering Washington, D.C., without approval from her probation officer.

Last week, Young requested permission to attend Trump’s inauguration in a filing stating she “poses no threat of danger to the community and she is not a risk of flight.”

Prosecutors with the Department of Justice, however, disputed that argument, pointing to repeated calls for “retribution” from Young in the years since Jan. 6 against jurors, judges and law enforcement involved in the Capitol breach cases.

“The risk Young presents to those in D.C. did not end with her exit from the Building,” prosecutors said in their Wednesday filing, also in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

They further noted that Young has publicly “mocked” officers who were attacked by the pro-Trump mob, many of whom “will, once again, be tasked in protecting the Capitol and Constitution on January 20, 2025.”

“As such, her presence at an event staffed by law enforcement would not only present a danger but would cause further victimization for the officers who Young has publicly mocked,” they said in the filing.

Young is just one among a number of Jan. 6 defendants who have requested permission to attend Trump’s inauguration.

Retired Republican Rep. Chris Stewart invited Russell Taylor, a California man who pleaded guilty to a felony for participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, to the inauguration. However, Taylor also must receive permission from a judge to travel to Washington, D.C., after he “repeatedly called for violence and a show of force” to overturn the election and on Jan. 6 led a mob that overran a police line near the inaugural stage while wearing “an exposed knife on top of a bullet proof chest plate and carrying bear spray,” according to his sentencing memo.

Taylor received credit from Judge Royce Lamberth, who oversaw his initial case and will determine his ability to travel Washington, for his agreement to enter into a plea deal, but he has not ruled yet whether he may attend the inauguration.

Another Jan. 6 defendant, Eric Peterson, also requested permission to travel to Washington for the inauguration.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Jan. 10 over TikTok’s effort to block a federal ban on the platform if it’s not sold by Jan. 19.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — Elon Musk, a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, came out against Speaker Mike Johnson going forward with a stopgap government funding bill on Wednesday, saying, “This bill should not pass.”

Johnson was asked about the Tesla CEO’s post during an interview on “Fox & Friends.” He appeared to not worry about Musk’s post influencing the ability of the funding bill to get through both chambers ahead of a partial government shutdown deadline at the end of the day Friday.

“I was communicating with Elon last night. Elon and Vivek [Ramaswamy] and I are on a text chain together and I was explaining to them the background of this. Vivek and I talked last night about midnight, and he said ‘look I get it.’ He said, ‘We understand you’re in an impossible position,'” Johnson said.

Johnson said Musk and Ramaswamy, the two DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) leaders, are aware of the tough spot the speaker is in with a slim majority and Democratic control of the Senate and White House. DOGE is an outside-of-government (or private) operation.

“We gotta get this done because here’s the key. By doing this, we are clearing the decks, and we are setting up for Trump to come in roaring back with the American first agenda. That’s what we are going to run with gusto beginning January 3 when we start the new Congress,” he said.

Johnson urged for Congress to pass this funding bill “so we don’t have a shutdown.”

“We get to March where we can put our fingerprints on the spending. That is where the big changes start,” Johnson said.

The push comes as Republicans and Democrats scramble to pass a bill before government funding expires Friday night.

Johnson, whose speakership has been characterized by beating back criticism from his far-right flank, had originally promised a clean bill that would solely extend current levels of government funding to prevent a shutdown. However, natural disasters and headwinds for farmers, necessitated additional federal spending.

In the end, the bill included $100 billion for recovery efforts from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and another $10 billion for economic assistance for farmers.

Johnson at a press conference said his hands were tied after “acts of God” necessitated additional money.

“It was intended to be, and it was, until recent days, a very simple, very clean [continuing resolution], stopgap funding measure to get us into next year when we have unified government,” he said. “We had these massive hurricanes in the late fall, Helene and Milton, and other disasters. We have to make sure that the Americans that were devastated by these hurricanes get the relief they need.”

Still, Republican spending hawks cried foul, accusing Johnson of stocking the bill with new spending without any way to pay for it and keeping the bill’s creation behind closed doors.

“We’re just fundamentally unserious about spending. And as long as you got a blank check, you can’t shrink the government. If you can’t shrink the government, you can’t live free,” Texas Rep. Chip Roy said.

Musk, too, mocked the size of the bill.

“Ever seen a bigger piece of pork?” he posted on X, along with a picture of the bill stacked on a desk.

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(WASHINGTON) — Democrats have a plan to take back power in Washington back from Republicans in two years: work with them now.

Democrats, who are already planning their comeback after being swept out of power in Washington last month, have said they’ll oppose President-elect Donald Trump and his allies when their values collide but are open to cooperation on a range of issues, including immigration, federal spending and entitlements.

The strategy marks a turnaround from 2017, when “resistance” to Trump was Democrats’ rallying cry. But, some lawmakers and operatives said, it also marks a challenge to Republicans for bipartisanship at a time when narrow GOP congressional majorities will likely mandate some level of cooperation.

“People want to see government work, and we’re going to hold Republicans accountable for whether they’re willing to help move things forward for the American people. So, if they aren’t, then absolutely, that will impact them at the ballot box,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., who led House Democrats’ campaign arm this year and will do so again for the 2026 midterms.

“I think we are telling them that we’re here to govern,” DelBene added. “And I guess the question is, are they serious about governing?”

Republicans are cobbling together an aggressive agenda that would extend Trump-era tax cuts, implement strict border measures and more once they take office next month. The efforts will either be split into two measures or combined into one — but Republicans’ intention is to pass them in a way that wouldn’t need to meet the 60-vote Senate filibuster rule.

However, for the rest of the upcoming 119th Congress, Republicans will have a 220-215 House majority, once vacancies are filled and barring any absences, and only 53 seats in the Senate, short of the 60 needed to unilaterally pass most legislation.

Democrats have already proposed potential areas of cooperation, even as they lick their wounds from a disappointing election and view Trump as anathema to many of their core beliefs.

“To win in 2026 and beyond, Democrats must focus on building an economic message centered on good-paying jobs and revitalizing manufacturing,” California Rep. Ro Khanna said. “But we have a responsibility now to try and find areas of common ground where we can deliver for Americans. I believe that starts with reducing the Pentagon’s oversized defense budget while strongly opposing any cuts to programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.”

“We are very open to working with the Trump administration,” added Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, the Democratic Governors Association chair. “But no doubt if there are things that they push us to do that that we think are wrong, legal, anything like that, we’ll draw the line.”

That attitude will leave Democrats, especially in purple states and districts, with some leverage — either to shape legislation, as they say they plan, or to hammer Republicans as obstinate, operatives said.

It’s very possible battleground Democrats are at times taken up on offers for bipartisanship or are made themselves to accept offers. Both chambers have their share of moderate Republicans, too, including Reps. Mike Lawler New York and David Valadao of California, and Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

But each chamber also boasts some Republican hardliners who view bipartisanship as a four-letter word and a sign that a piece of legislation isn’t conservative enough.

“This is how these battleground Democrats are anyway, but I think it will manifest itself in, ‘Take me up on this offer, let’s go.’ And if you don’t, then, ‘OK, I can work with that, too,'” said one Democratic strategist working on House races. “I think for a battleground Democrat, it’s a win-win approach. You have the possibility of working on a bill and a law which you can say, ‘I delivered,’ or you create receipts to bring back to voters to say, ‘I kept on trying.'”

However, some Democrats warned, the party must balance cooperation, even if just offering it, with attacks.

The base still finds Trump — and Republicans in Congress with similar brands — abhorrent, and the results in 2026 will be largely fueled by voter attitudes about the GOP’s control in Washington.

In 2018, Democrats took back the House in a wave largely fueled among their voters by antipathy for Trump. Capitalizing on that frustration could be key again, strategists told ABC News.

“The opportunity to work in a bipartisan way, to increase your own bipartisan credentials becomes very important,” said Dan Sena, the executive director of House Democrats’ campaign arm in 2018. “I just think it’s important at large for the caucus to pay attention to the fact that ultimately, in two years from now, the Republican trifecta is going to get a thumb up or a thumb down from the country, and that’s ultimately going to dictate who has control of House.”

“If I were the Democrats at large,” Sena added, “I would be pretty aggressive in holding the Republicans and then the Trump administration accountable.”

Still, nearly all Democrats agreed that the party should wage a two-pronged strategy, including both cooperation and criticism, and that each will go hand in hand when Democrats find themselves either in congressional majorities next month or having to deal with a Republican president even as they lead their states as governors.

“I think this openness to working with them is less that you are going to see actual collaboration, I think it’s that people are trying to set themselves up to have some credibility in other spaces to be against stuff that they’re doing,” said one former Democratic House aide. “It carries more weight and legitimacy if you’re someone who’s open minded to working with them, and then they take a hard right and you speak out.”

Either way, Democrats are ready to pounce heading into 2026, when both chambers of Congress and 36 governorships will be up for grabs.

“In politics, it’s always the right move to extend a hand,” said Jared Leopold, a Democratic strategist and former DGA staffer. “And if somebody chooses to slap you in the face instead, you better make sure you catch it on camera.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged disappointment around her election loss during her remarks on Tuesday, urging voters to “stay in the fight.”

The speech marks the vice president’s most extensive comments since her concession speech following her loss to President-elect Donald Trump in November.

“Over the past several weeks, since the election, I have received tens of thousands of letters from people across our nation, many of them young leaders, Americans from every walk of life, people of every age, race, faith and political party,” Harris said in Prince George’s County, Maryland,. “These letters share a common theme. Yes, there is disappointment, but there is also resolve for the future.”

“As we then approach the end of this year, many people have come up to me telling me they feel tired … maybe even resigned … that they’re not sure whether they have the strength, much less the desire, to stay in the fight. Let me be very clear: No one can walk away. No one can walk away,” she said. “We must stay in the fight, every one of us, including the fight for an economy that works, not just for those at the very top but for working people — for all Americans. To fight to make sure everyone has a fair shot to pursue their ambitions. The fight for our ideals, including the equality among us, the freedoms to which we are entitled, the dignity that we possess and is possessed by every one of us.

“So we must stay in the fight because that is the responsibility, in my opinion, that comes with the privilege of being an American,” she added.

Harris thanked the audience of “young leaders,” including high school and college students, recent graduates and apprentices who have been active in their local communities, in her remarks at Prince George’s Community College. She was joined by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller and Sen.-elect Angela Alsobrooks, all Democrats.

“Everyone, please, get some rest over the holidays and spend time with the people you love,” she concluded. “And then I urge you … I challenge you to come back ready, ready to chart our path into the future, chin up, shoulders back and forever impatient for change … and be ready to get back to work fighting for opportunity and freedom, fighting for fairness and dignity, back to work fighting for this country we love and the future we share.”

The speech followed remarks the vice president gave Sunday with President Joe Biden at the Democratic National Committee’s holiday reception and came amid questions about Harris’ political future after she leaves office on Jan. 20.

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(WASHINGTON) — Several House Republicans stormed out of Tuesday morning’s conference meeting furious over Speaker Mike Johnson’s handling of the government funding bill – which still isn’t ready and puts the federal government on the brink of a shutdown at the end of the week.

Republicans had initially promised to release bill text over the weekend with the aim of holding a vote early in the week, but outspoken criticism from within their ranks has continually delayed negotiators from finalizing the legislation.

Johnson denied that the evolving package amounts to a so-called “Christmas tree omnibus,” but confirmed that the measure is not a clean continuing resolution and will include a disaster relief package — reported to be more than $100 billion — as well as $10 billion for the agricultural community.

Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison called the speaker’s funding plan presented at the conference meeting a “total dumpster fire.”

“I think it’s garbage,” Burlison said, adding that he has conveyed his frustrations to Johnson, who is seeking to retain the speaker’s gavel in the new year.

“I’m disappointed,” Burlison said when asked about Johnson’s future. “I think that he can do better. He can communicate better. The fact that we haven’t seen the language today and we’re supposed to vote on it this week is unacceptable.”

South Carolina Republican Rep. Ralph Norman said he is frustrated with the funding plan as well.

“I’m not voting for the CR [continuing resolution],” he said.

Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy, a frequent critic of the leadership’s spending bills, said, “This is not the way to do business right.”

“We’re just fundamentally unserious about spending. And as long as you got a blank check, you can’t shrink the government. If you can’t shrink the government, you can’t live free,” Roy said.

The Texas congressman did not respond when asked if he’ll support the speaker in January.

Georgia Republican Rep. Rich McCormick said as he left the meeting, “I’m frustrated with the whole approach to this, because I think, once again, we’re just adding to the deficit without having any clear plan forward,”

After relying on Democrats for bipartisan support to pass the past five continuing resolutions, Johnson brushed off the criticism bubbling up within his ranks, stressing that the bill has not been released.

“I got a couple of friends who will just say that about any end of year funding measure,” Johnson said. “This is not an omnibus, OK? This is a small CR that we’ve had to add things to that were out of our control. These are not manmade disasters. These are things that the federal government has an appropriate role to do.”

Despite the growing tensions, Johnson expressed optimism that his speakership will overcome the challenges to buy the conference time until Republicans have unified control over Washington next year.

“I’m not worried about the speaker’s vote. We’re governing. Everybody knows we have difficult circumstances. We’re doing the very best we can under those circumstances,” Johnson said. “These are the hard choices that lawmakers have to make, but we will get the job done, as we always do. We will. We will keep moving forward, and in January, we have a new lease on all this.”

With government funding set to lapse at the end of the week, Johnson was steadfast that the House must abide by a 72-hour rule, where the clock starts to tee up a vote once bill text is released.

“I believe in the 72-hour roll rule,” Johnson said. “We’re committed to all of that. We’re going to take care of these obligations and get this done, and then we’re going to go to work in unified government in the 119th Congress. It begins in January.”

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(NEW YORK) — In a final lame-duck push, the Senate will attempt to pass legislation aimed at providing full Social Security benefits to millions of Americans this week.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in floor remarks Monday he’d push for a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act before the week is out.

“We will vote and every Senator will choose. Where are you? Do you stand on the side of public retirees who deserve their benefits, or bungle this golden opportunity by blocking this bill?” Schumer said in a floor speech.

The closely-watched legislation repeals provisions that limit the ability of some retirees who also collect pensions from claiming social security benefits. Among those impacted are retirees who at one time worked as firefighters, teachers, postal worker, a police officer, or in other public sector jobs. A provision that limits the benefits allotted to those workers’ surviving spouses would also be eliminated.

The legislation already passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support in November, but Congress would need to act this week to avoid having to restart the process of passing the legislation in the new year.

The bipartisan bill has 62 Senate cosponsors, all but ensuring that it would have the necessary 60 votes it needs to overcome the Senate filibuster and pass.

It has strong advocates on both sides of the aisle.

“It is unfair to penalize Americans who have taught our children, protected our streets, and ran into burning buildings,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate’s Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, said in a post on X earlier this month.

But there is some concern among Republicans about the cost of the bill and the increased strain it could put on the already underfunded Social Security trust fund.

The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated that the bill would increase the deficit by $196 billion and increase the rate at which the Social Security trust fund becomes insolvent.

As a result, there could be challenges on the floor that limit the ability to expedite passage of this bill. And there’s certainly a time crunch to consider.

The Senate isn’t short on things to accomplish during this last week of the lame-duck session. It is currently working to process the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act. Senators must also approve a government funding bill before the end of the week if they wish to avert a shutdown.

If the Social Security Fairness Act is challenged in a way that slows the process of its passage, the Senate may run short on time to get this done.

It is not yet known when the Senate will vote on this legislation.

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