US politics – Congress matters

But he praised Fetterman for voting for the GOP stopgap.

Alex Acosta, in a closed-door interview with lawmakers Friday, defended the widely criticized plea deal he brokered with Jeffrey Epstein while a U.S. attorney in Florida. Acosta, who later served as Secretary of Labor during the first Trump administration, resigned from that post amid scrutiny of his handling of the Epstein case years earlier. He agreed voluntarily to sit with members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of the panel’s new probe into the circumstances surrounding the late, convicted sex offender. “Alex Acosta cooperated with our questions today and provided information that will help advance our investigation into the federal government’s handling of the Epstein and Maxwell cases,” said House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) in a statement. “This information will guide our next steps as we work to bring accountability, and we expect to announce new action soon.” Comer also said the panel would release a transcript of the hourslong interview. Earlier this week, FBI Director Kash Patel blamed Acosta for the “original sin” in the Epstein case: Many people have argued the non-prosecution agreement, signed in September 2007, was far too lenient, allowing the disgraced financier to continue to prey on young women and girls for years. The agreement with prosecutors precluded the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Southern Florida from pursuing future charges. Epstein was also ultimately able to take part in a work release program after being sentenced in state court. According to a summary of the conversation from the Oversight panel’s Republican majority, Acosta attested Friday that he never met Epstein or his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for her part in the sex trafficking scheme. Acosta also pointed to a statement from a prosecutor who questioned whether evidentiary issues could complicate Epstein’s conviction at trial; the plea deal was intended to circumvent those challenges. Acosta blamed Palm Beach County for Epstein’s work release and said his office would not have given up the case had they known how the state of Florida ultimately handled the Epstein matter. According to the GOP majority summary, Acosta expressed remorse — contrary to Democrats’ account, describing him as unrepentant. He also said he did not see President Donald Trump’s name in documents or materials related to the Epstein case. Democrats have repeatedly pointed to Trump’s long relationship with Epstein. The president has maintained he broke off their friendship prior to Epstein’s 2019 arrest for additional sex crimes, which led to apparent death by suicide behind bars.

Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said Alex Acosta took responsibility Friday for the plea deal he helped broker as the U.S. attorney in south Florida for Jeffrey Epstein. They also said, however, he was unrepentant for the arrangement many believe led the late, convicted sex offender being able to continue preying on women and girls for years. “It is clear that Alex Acosta holds no remorse and does not feel, even in hindsight, that Jeffrey Epstein received a sweetheart deal,” Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), told reporters on Capitol Hill. Ansari and other panel Democrats have, alongside Republicans, been meeting behind closed doors Friday with Acosta as part of House Oversight’s Epstein investigation. Acosta, who later served as labor secretary during President Donald Trump’s first administration, agrees to speak with lawmakers on his own volition — a departure from other witnesses who have for the past month and a half been giving depositions in compliance with Congressional subpoenas. During a break in the Friday proceedings, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) said that while Acosta said he “took responsibility” for the decision not to prosecute Epstein during the George W. Bush administration. “But,” she added, “when asked if he had directly reviewed the evidence itself in this case, he said that he had not actually read the statements of the victims.” “Mr. Acosta, at least to us in this deposition, essentially said he didn’t have faith in the victims, their stories and their ability to tell their own story and their own testimony,” Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost said. “It seems like Mr. Acosta really had no idea about what was going on in his own office during this investigation.” Democrats also said Acosta on Friday evaded questioning about whether the plea deal with Epstein ever came up when he was being vetted to join the first Trump administration. House Oversight Chair, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), however, offered reporters a different takeaway from the first portion of Acosta’s interview, saying Democrats’ focus on Trump during the interview took away from more substantial questioning. “They were battering around so many questions about Trump,” Comer said. “The members were talking over each other.” Comer also defended his committee’s work. “We’re trying to find out more. Who dropped the ball? Was it Acosta? Was it the FBI? Was it the local prosecutors? Was it the Department of Justice? Those are the questions I think we need to know, because that was part of what the victims asked us to do,” said Comer. “We’ll see at the end of this — and this will be public record … we’ll see where we need to go from here,” he continued, adding that Acosta still has “several hours of questions to answer.”

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus condemned a bipartisan resolution to memorialize conservative organizer Charlie Kirk on Friday, saying the measure validated Kirk’s beliefs, and legitimized “racist, harmful, and fundamentally un-American” ideals. In a statement following the House’s approval of the resolution, which received support from more than 90 Democrats, the caucus denounced political violence and the killing of Kirk, but said individuals must condemn violence “without abandoning our right to speak out against ideas that are inconsistent with our values as Americans.” “The resolution introduced in the House to honor Charlie Kirk’s legacy is not about healing, lowering the temperature of our political discourse, or even ensuring the safety of members of Congress, staff, and Capitol personnel,” they wrote. “It is, unfortunately, an attempt to legitimize Kirk’s worldview — a worldview that includes ideas many Americans find racist, harmful, and fundamentally un-American.” The caucus outlined some of Kirk’s past comments that they said they “strongly” disagreed with, listing “his belief that the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended racial segregation, was a mistake; his denial that systemic racism exists; his promotion of the Great Replacement theory; and his offensive claims about Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Michelle Obama, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee lacking adequate cognitive ability.” Forty-two members of the CBC voted against the resolution, according to a POLITICO analysis of Friday morning’s roll call vote, making up 72 percent of the 58 Democrats who opposed the measure. Five members of the caucus voted yes on the resolution, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Another four members of the caucus voted present and four members didn’t vote at all. Members of the caucus went on to denounce President Donald Trump’s actions since Kirk’s death, saying he has “threatened to go after the political left.” Trump earlier this week pointed to the “radical left” for doing “irreparable damage to this country,” and members of his Cabinet have made other sharp statements since Kirk’s death, like blaming “left-wing radicals” for the shooting. “It’s disheartening to see a tragedy used to further divide the country and suppress honest debate,” the caucus wrote. “As the conscience of the Congress, the CBC has a responsibility to speak out against this on behalf of our communities, and we are calling on each of our colleagues who share our values to follow suit. Enough is enough.”

“It’s this or a shutdown,” the Senate’s top Republican told Democrats Friday.

Senate Republicans voted Friday to reject a Democratic bill to fund the government past the end of the month in the first of dueling partisan votes on avoiding an Oct. 1 shutdown. Senators voted 47-45 to reject the bill, which pairs government funding through Oct. 31 with health care policies and restrictions on President Donald Trump’s ability to hold back spending approved by Congress. The Democratic proposal was widely expected to fail — it needed 60 votes to pass, which would have required support from more than a dozen Republicans. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed to get GOP senators on the record rejecting some of the health care ideas wrapped into the bill, including a permanent extension of soon-to-expire health insurance subsidies. Schumer on Friday said the two bills “truly crystallize the contrast between the two parties.” “Senators will have to choose to stand with Donald Trump and keep the same lousy status quo … or stand with the American people, protect their healthcare and keep the government functioning,” Schumer said. With the Democratic proposal being rejected, the Senate will now vote on the House-passed stopgap bill, which funds the government until Nov. 21. That GOP-led proposal is also expected to fail because it will need 60 votes, which would require help from at least seven Democratic senators. It won a single Democratic vote in the House, from Maine Rep. Jared Golden. Democrats have vowed to oppose the GOP bill because Republicans didn’t negotiate with Schumer or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who have repeatedly pressed their GOP counterparts for a meeting to no avail. Republicans, while suggesting they are open to talking, have bristled at the idea that they need to agree on a deal to extend the health insurance subsidies as part of the September funding bill since the credits do not expire until the end of the year. “The contrast between the Republican bill and the Democratic bill is glaring. The Republican bill is clean, nonpartisan, short-term continuing resolution to fund the government to give us time to do the full appropriations process. And the Democrat bill is the opposite,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said ahead of the vote. Republicans were initially loath to give Democrats a vote on their proposal, but Democrats played procedural hardball by objecting to the Senate’s ability to leave for a scheduled one-week break. Republicans agreed to the side-by-side votes Thursday evening, as first reported by POLITICO.

The House approved a resolution Friday to honor Charlie Kirk, a week after the conservative activist was assassinated at an event in Utah. Notably, Democratic leaders and nearly 100 rank-and-file Democrats joined Republican to adopt the measure on a 310-58 vote. The ceremonial measure, introduced by Speaker Mike Johnson, condemns the murder and praises Kirk as a “courageous American patriot … who boldly lived out his faith with conviction, courage, and compassion.” It also “calls upon all Americans — regardless of race, party affiliation, or creed — to reject political violence, recommit to respectful debate, uphold American values, and respect one another as fellow Americans.” “It would be it would be great for the country if Republicans and Democrats could stand together to call out political violence,” Johnson said before the vote. But there were clear concerns inside the Democratic ranks with some of the measure’s language praising Kirk “as a model for young Americans across the political spectrum” who was known for “engaging in respectful, civil discourse across college campuses, media platforms, and national forums, always seeking to elevate truth, foster understanding, and strengthen the Republic.” Fifty-eight Democrats opposed the resolution; another 38 voted present and 22 didn’t vote at all. (Only three Democrats had failed to vote on the measure taken up immediately prior to the Kirk resolution.) The Congressional Black Caucus said in a statement after the vote that the resolution was “not about healing, lowering the temperature of our political discourse, or even ensuring the safety of members of Congress, staff, and Capitol personnel.” “It is, unfortunately, an attempt to legitimize Kirk’s worldview — a worldview that includes ideas many Americans find racist, harmful, and fundamentally un-American,” the statement continued. Forty-two of the 58 Democratic opponents of the measure are CBC members. Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) introduced an alternative measure this week condemning political violence in general, citing Kirk’s murder and last year’s assassination attempts against President Donald Trump, as well as attacks targeting Democrats and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The measure garnered 118 cosponsors, all Democrats, as of Friday.

Federal funding is due to expire Oct. 1 if Congress can’t find an agreement.

Rep. James Comer, chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Friday his panel had begun receiving materials from the Treasury Department as part of its investigation into the agency’s handling of the case against Jeffrey Epstein. Some suspicious activity reports, which have been redacted, are already in the panel’s possession, the Kentucky Republican told reporters just before congressional investigators began their interview with Alex Acosta. Acosta, Trump’s former Secretary of Labor, brokered the controversial plea deal during his tenure as U.S. attorney in southern Florida that many believe allowed Epstein to continue to prey on women for years. Comer added that the panel had plans to see unredacted materials on site at Treasury. “The Trump administration is fully cooperating with us,” he told reporters, amid continued scrutiny of the administration’s slow release of additional materials in the Epstein case in compliance with a House Oversight subpoena. “We’re gonna continue to try to seek answers.” Earlier this week, Epstein’s victims were sharply critical of testimony from FBI Director Kash Patel to members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, during which Patel said there was no credible evidence in the FBI’s possession that Epstein trafficked women to other people. “We’ve expressed to the victims it would be helpful if if they would give us some names of some people,” Comer said. He added that, if a list exists of people to whom Epstein trafficked women and girls, his committee would find that list. If it doesn’t exist, said Comer, the panel would seek to compile its own. Acosta did not answer questions from reporters as he walked to his interview with committee members.

Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday teased passing a possible member security supplemental package in October, as he’s facing a handful of GOP members still balking over the issue ahead of the big funding stopgap vote later in the morning. Johnson said he expects a “standalone measure” to boost security, though he didn’t bring this up during a meeting last night on the topic — there, he discussed boosting the dollar amount for member security funding as part of the fiscal 2026 legislative branch spending bill, according to two people in the meeting. In the meantime, the Louisiana Republican said he thinks he has the votes to pass the GOP-led funding patch, though he conceded he still has to touch base with “a couple people, as always” beforehand. Johnson also told reporters he hadn’t yet decided whether the House will adjourn after the Friday morning vote series and not return until after Oct. 1, when government funding will expire if shutdown-averting legislation isn’t enacted. It would be a way to jam the Senate into taking the House GOP product, as Democrats are still insisting they won’t bite. He said he hoped the Senate will do “the right thing,” adding that the Democratic counteroffer “is not a serious one.”

Congress is barreling toward votes on stopgap funding bills Friday before lawmakers leave for recess. Here’s what to watch: IN THE HOUSE — The House will vote this morning on the GOP-led continuing resolution funding the government through Nov. 21. Expect nearly every Democrat to vote against it, though Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) have stayed quiet about their plans. (Golden was the sole House Democrat to break from his party in the March shutdown fight.) In an extended interview with POLITICO on Thursday, Whip Tom Emmer said he’s confident Republicans can muscle their CR through the House — though he declined to say whether leaders will need to call in President Donald Trump for backup. “I talk to the White House, I keep them advised as to where we are,” the Minnesota Republican said, when asked if they’re prepared to get Trump on the phone Friday if needed. “We’re going to pass this.” While the hard-liners appear on board, a few rank-and-file Republicans could cause headaches for GOP leaders. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) told POLITICO he’s “disappointed” there is no plan past the CR but declined to say how he’ll vote Friday. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is a likely “no.” Republicans can lose only two of their members with full attendance for party-line passage. If the funding patch passes, House GOP leaders are considering not coming back into session until after Oct. 1 — jamming Senate Democrats and daring them to vote against the CR right before the deadline. IN THE SENATE — The Senate will vote Friday on competing CRs, one led by Republicans and one led by Democrats. Both are expected to fail, raising the chances of a shutdown in less than two weeks. Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday it’s “unlikely” the Senate will come back next week. That means the next vote on the GOP’s stopgap bill would be the evening of Monday, Sept. 29 — less than 48 hours before a potential shutdown. “I do not believe that Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are actually going to shut the government down,” Emmer told POLITICO. “That would be one of the most foolish things you can do.” Read more from our sitdown with Emmer on Politico Pro. What else we’re watching:    — Schiff, Kaine to force war powers vote: Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff (Calif.) and Tim Kaine (Va.) will introduce a war powers resolution Friday blocking the use of U.S. armed forces to engage in hostilities against certain non-state organizations. It follows U.S. strikes on boats allegedly trafficking drugs from Venezuela, which Democratic lawmakers said they were not briefed on. — Senate tries again on NDAA: Senators failed to reach a deal Thursday to vote on amendments to the annual defense bill and ultimately pass the legislation. Thune said senators were optimistic they could wrap up the NDAA by Friday. — RSC hosts anti-abortion group: The Republican Study Committee will host influential anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America at a briefing Friday morning on the looming expiration of Obamacare subsidies. The meeting is a sign that abortion opponents are ramping up lobbying against continuing the subsidies, which they argue effectively subsidize abortion. — More en bloc nominees: Senate Republicans started the process Thursday night to confirm a second batch of nominees in a single vote. The new bloc has 108 nominees, including Herschel Walker to be U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, Sergio Gor to be U.S. ambassador to India, Hung Cao to be undersecretary of the Navy and Arch Capito to be U.S. attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia. Jordain Carney, Jennifer Scholtes, Calen Razor, Connor O’Brien and Benjamin Guggenheim contributed to this report.

Regardless of any agreement, Trump has been breaking the law all year.

The new GOP-led committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack is asking Attorney General Pam Bondi, the University of Virginia and other businesses for information from the previous Democratic-led panel that investigated the Capitol attack. The Republican leaders claim the information they’re pursuing was never disclosed by the previous panel. “This is an important first step in unraveling the predetermined narrative the former January 6th Select Committee crafted to hurt President Donald J. Trump,” Chair Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) said in a statement. “Why else would their committee delete or fail to properly archive more than a terabyte of data?” Many materials in the previous panel’s possession ultimately became public. But some were never released, including footage of witness interviews. Loudermilk and other Republicans have maintained that the previous panel’s probe was politically motivated. In creating the new GOP investigation, Loudermilk intends to rewrite the record of the Capitol attack. In addition to the University of Virginia and the Department of Justice, Loudermilk’s letters also went to Broadcast Management Group Inc., Polar Solutions Inc., PATCtech, Design in DC LLC, and Verbit.

The Senate greenlit a rules change Thursday night to allow senators to use official office funds for personal security measures — a move driven by concerns about lawmaker security in the wake of last week’s assassination of Charlie Kirk. Senate Majority Leader John Thune brought the proposal to the floor and it was approved by unanimous consent. “Every senator will now have additional flexibility to address the security concerns they face as public officials,” said Thune. He cited the additional $30 million for state and local law enforcement partnerships with Capitol Police that House Republicans included in their stopgap spending bill slated for a vote Friday in the House. “There’s ongoing bipartisan work to address member security in the legislative branch appropriations bill, which I hope the House and Senate will complete work on in the very near future,” Thune continued. This move was previewed earlier this week by Senate Rules Committee Chair Mitch McConnell, who told his GOP colleagues at a lunch meeting that he heard their concerns and interest in more flexibility on security expenses and outlined the path ahead for the rules change. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida also wrote a letter to Thune, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO, urging action to expand the use of Senate office accounts to pay for some security measures. But Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, indicated in a brief interview earlier this week that he believed simply changing the rules to allow existing funds to pay for security was insufficient. Padilla said in a statement Thursday he agreed to let the rules change go through based on commitments from Thune and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to work on “new security options” and get “real” funding for enhanced security. Without further action, Padilla added, the change would force senators to “choose between either paying for office staff and operations or paying for their own personal security.” The Senate-passed legislative branch spending bill would include funding for a pilot program for increased security for lawmakers in their home states and additional security investments are possible as the bill moves through a bipartisan and bicameral negotiation process in the wake of the Kirk assassination. Thune also said Thursday that he’s working with the Senate sergeant-at-arms to explore additional options for security for senators. Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.

The No. 3 House Republican said local entities should step up on crime as Congress discusses whether to pursue a nationwide crime bill. “I think every local jurisdiction should be doing this,” Whip Tom Emmer said in an extended interview Thursday, when asked if there was appetite from his conference to pursue legislation to implement new federal policing and sentencing standards. “You don’t need to wait for Congress,” the Minnesota lawmaker added. His comments come the week the House considered on the chamber floor that would impose new crime policies on the District of Columbia, over which Congress has control. The remarks also represent something of a reality check to President Donald Trump, who said around the time of his 30-day takeover of the D.C. police department that he wanted Congress to take up comprehensive crime legislation. Earlier this month, Speaker Mike Johnson also said a nationwide crime bill is “one of the things on the table.” Neither elaborated on what that bill might look like. Emmer, however, noted Thursday that Republicans believe in a division between national and local governments, and specifically called on local officials in his own state — including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Tom Frey — to crack down on crime and other violent offenses. “Look, President Trump, with his crime crackdown in the District, has proven that if leaders have the will to do this, they can accomplish amazing things,” Emmer said. “Donald Trump has taken the step and shown everyone across the country that this can be done.” The House this week passed four bills that would impose new laws on D.C., including by lowering the age at which a minor may be tried as an adult for certain criminal offenses. Emmer said it was his understanding that other D.C. crime bills recently approved by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee would come up for a vote on the floor when the House returns from the Rosh Hashanah recess — though deferred to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise on the schedule. “All of these things that are being done are to hold the criminals accountable,” Emmer said. “I expect there’s a huge appetite for that.”

Senators will vote Friday on competing plans to temporarily fund the government past the end of the month as a partisan standoff ratchets up the chances for a shutdown. Senate leaders finalized the plan, first reported by POLITICO, for side-by-side votes on Republican and Democratic stopgaps after Republicans huddled behind closed doors for a second time Thursday to talk about the path forward ahead of the Sept. 30 midnight deadline. It was a shift from just hours earlier when Majority Leader John Thune indicated that there wasn’t “much sentiment” inside the GOP for giving Democrats a vote on their alternative funding proposal. But Democrats played procedural hardball over the Senate’s ability to leave town for a scheduled one-week break, forcing the concession. Both votes are set to be held at a 60-vote threshold, meaning both will almost certainly fail. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer first floated the idea of voting together on the competing funding measures earlier Thursday morning. He touted the plan after it was finalized Thursday evening, saying that the outcome of the votes “will tell all.” “Tomorrow Republicans can choose: Either listen to Donald Trump and shut the government down or break this logjam by supporting our bill and keeping the government open,” he said from the Senate floor. But the gambit appears poised to push Congress down to the wire, with senators largely unclear on what off-ramps are available to avoid a funding lapse. Thune said he did not speak to Schumer as part of the negotiations to lock in the two-bill plan. Thune said that it’s “unlikely” the Senate will come back into town next week, meaning the next vote on the GOP’s stopgap bill would come on the evening of Monday, Sept. 29 — less than 48 hours before a potential shutdown.

Senate Republicans confirmed dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees with one vote Thursday, days after changing the chamber’s rules along party lines to allow group consideration for most executive branch picks. The first bloc included 48 Trump nominees for midlevel executive branch positions and ambassadorships. Had they been processed individually, their confirmations would have eaten up weeks of floor time. “If the Senate had continued at the pace that we’ve been proceeding at through the month of July there would still be hundreds of empty desks in the executive branch on President Trump’s last day in office in 2029,” Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Thursday. Those confirmed Thursday include Kimberly Guilfoyle to be ambassador to Greece, Callista Gingrich to be ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and Brandon Williams to be undersecurity for nuclear security at the Department of Energy. Guilfoyle is the ex-wife of California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and a former romantic partner of Donald Trump Jr., while Gingrich is married to former Speaker Newt Gingrich. Williams is a former Republican House member from New York. The party-line rules change — known as the “nuclear option” inside the Senate — came after Republican frustration boiled over about the slow pace of Trump administration confirmations due to Democratic opposition to their expedited consideration. Senate leaders and the White House engaged in negotiations over the summer about speeding up confirmations for a tranche of nominees in exchange for the administration’s agreeing to unfreeze certain agency funds. Those talks unraveled, however, and Trump sent Republicans home for the weekslong August break. Senate Democrats have defended their slow-walking of Trump’s picks, with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling them “historically bad.” They view the rules change as the latest instance of Republicans bending to Trump — and also a move that could benefit them the next time Democrats control the White House and Senate. The green light for group confirmations is the latest hammer senators have taken to the chamber’s handling of presidential nominees in recent years. In 2013, then-Majority Leader Harry Reid moved to lower the confirmation threshold for executive branch nominees and most judicial picks from 60 to 51. Republicans under Leader Mitch McConnell took the same step in 2017 for Supreme Court picks and then cut down on debate time for most other nominees two years later. Senate Democrats, when they were in the majority under President Joe Biden, discussed changing the rules to allow for a limited number of nominees to be confirmed in groups. That plan never came to fruition, though, and the latest rules change enacted by Republicans doesn’t limit the number of nominees who can be confirmed at once. Cabinet picks and judges, however, are not eligible. “One of the most important checks on executive power, given to the Senate in the Constitution, is the power of consent for nominees to high executive office. It prevents a president from installing in power unqualified or corrupt people,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in a recent floor speech, adding that with the rules change Republicans “effectively gave that power up.”

The top three elected officials in the District of Columbia were on Capitol Hill Thursday to defend their management of local law enforcement activities. They were also on hand to push back against Republican aspersions about crime in the capital city that President Donald Trump used to justify his takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department and deployment of the National Guard. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Council Chair Phil Mendelson and attorney general Brian Schwalb — all Democrats — were invited to appear before the GOP-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which last week approved a sweeping set of bills that would pare back the local government’s power to enact its law enforcement policies. “We are a city under siege,” said Mendelson. “It is frustrating to watch this committee debate and vote on 14 bills regarding the district without a single public hearing, with no input from District officials or the public, without regard for community impact nor a shred of analysis, including legal sufficiency or fiscal impact.” The officials emphasized that violent crime was down in the District and that there were things Congress could do to help achieve Trump’s goals of making the city safer and cleaner. Bowser said lawmakers could approve more funding to hire additional law enforcement officers, help with homeless services and accelerate economic development opportunities like the new stadium for the Commanders football team. Mendelson noted the Council had recently passed legislation to strengthen the District’s own law enforcement capabilities, such as implementing harsher penalties for some violent crimes and making it easier to prosecute car-jackings. Republicans have done none of those things, even as they are engaging in a larger conversation about how to crack down on crime in major, Democratic-controlled cities across the country. Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) said Thursday that Trump was “using DC as a test kitchen for all of the horrible policies that they’re cooking up.” Democrats also pointed out that violent crime in D.C. reached a 30-year low last year. GOP members of the panel, however, were unmoved, and defended their campaign to rewrite local laws by arguing D.C. was a unique jurisdiction. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) also said the District’s elected officials were out of touch with the majority of Americans: “We are constantly at odds with the leadership of D.C., as a body,” he said. At times, the exchanges between committee Republicans and the D.C. officials grew tense. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) brought up the $1 billion in locally raised funding Congress did not allow D.C. to access for fiscal year 2025 — and, if Congress gave it back to the District, would Bowser commit to spending all of it on hiring more police officers. Bowser replied that the money would be used, primarily, to boost spending that the District was forced to cut. Foxx demanded a yes or no answer to her question. “We want the money because it was approved by this Congress, and it’s our money,” Bowser said, to which Foxx said she interpreted that as a “no.” House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who has worked with Bowser in the past and been an advocate for restoring D.C. its budget shortfall, acknowledged that the mayor was “in a very difficult position.” “You’re doing a good job in a tough position,” he said.

D.C. Council member Robert White, a former Norton aide, said Thursday he will challenge her in 2026.

House Republican leaders are discussing a plan to pass a seven-week stopgap funding measure Friday then not bring the House back into session until after the Oct. 1 shutdown deadline, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the talks. No final decision has been made on House scheduling, but “that is the plan so far,” one of the Republicans said. The move would allow the House to “jam” the Senate, giving it no alternative to avoid a shutdown than to pass the GOP-led measure. Democrats there are pushing for a vote on an alternative measure that adds on the minority’s policy priorities. The Senate, meanwhile, is on track to vote on the House-passed continuing resolution no earlier than next Thursday, with Majority Leader John Thune saying there is “not much sentiment” for allowing votes Friday on the dueling Republican and Democrat stopgaps. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had floated voting on both bills, which would take buy-in from every senator, saying that senators “should take up the issue immediately” after the stopgap bill passes the House. But GOP senators see little political incentive for cutting that agreement, believing Democrats would use it to hammer them for voting against the health care proposals in the Democratic alternative. “There’s no reason in the world for us to give them a vote,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).

House Republicans have invited a leading anti-abortion group to brief GOP staffers on the looming expiration of Obamacare subsidies, according to an invitation for the event viewed by POLITICO. It comes as a growing number of congressional Republicans are calling for an extension before the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits expire at the end of the year, fearing political blowback for causing premiums to skyrocket and people to lose their health insurance. At least some of these lawmakers are members of the conservative Republican Study Committee, which is hosting the meeting with Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America — one of the most prominent organizations promoting anti-abortion candidates for elected office — and the Foundation for Government Accountability, a right-leaning think tank based in Florida. “The briefing will provide staff with the opportunity to learn more about the Biden-era health insurance COVID credits, the costs associated with the extension of the credits, and how the credits subsidize abortion nationwide,” the invitation says. Anti-abortion groups have been making the rounds to congressional offices in recent weeks to make the case that the enhanced credits subsidize elective abortion — in breach of long-standing restrictions enacted by Congress, under the so-called Hyde Amendment, that prohibit federal funds to be used for the procedure with few exceptions. Nearly 100 organizations wrote in a letter to members of Congressional leadership in early September that “Democrats wrote the ACA craftily to avoid the Hyde amendment” and that the enhanced tax credits reduce out-of-pocket premiums for individuals in plans that cover abortion. Democrats counter that the ACA does comply with the Hyde amendment because it requires insurance plans to segregate out premiums for abortion services and all other coverage areas. The argument from the anti-abortion advocates could become a major sticking point with conservatives, many of whom are already loath to extend the subsidies on grounds they are too expensive, wasteful and subject to fraud.

GOP Reps. Nancy Mace and Cory Mills are locked in an escalating personal clash over Mace’s failed effort to censure Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar for her response to the killing of activist Charlie Kirk. Mills was one of four Republicans to join all Democrats and kill Mace’s censure measure, which fell just one vote short of passing Wednesday. The Floridian cited “First Amendment” issues for his vote, prompting Mace (R-S.C.) to then accuse Mills and the other Republicans of stifling “free speech” by opposing her effort. In an exchange with Mills on X, she also claimed the Florida Republican “threatened” her by text message Wednesday evening. Mills denied threatening Mace in a brief interview Thursday. He said he reminded her about her previous position on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, saying: “What would have happened if you shared the video of you condemning President Trump over J6 for free speech?” “And so, if reminding someone of their own remarks is a threat, well, then that means everyone threatens each other every day to remind someone, ‘Hey, you voted for this, and you did this and you voted for this,’” Mills said. “This is typical, I’m sorry, but like, I respect Nancy, I like Nancy, I’ve always supported Nancy,” he continued. “But she’s upset that she didn’t get one thing passed because she has some back-and-forth with Ilhan that has nothing to do with me.” Mills did personally benefit from his vote to table the Omar censure: Democrats pulled back on a retaliatory effort to censure Mills over ethics and domestic abuse allegations that he has denied. Mills said he would “be fine” with Democrats pushing ahead on their effort to censure him. Mace said after the Wednesday vote that the GOP opposition was “really gross” and “very disappointing.” A reporter also overheard her telling a colleague that she had sent the four Republicans’ names to President Donald Trump.

Democrats are flirting with a shutdown. Their endgame is unclear. Democrats are rallying around a hard-line approach to try to bring Republicans to the table to strike a government funding deal but don’t have a clear view of what victory looks like. For now, it’s primarily about showing some fight. “We may not have the luxury of a victory scenario,” Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) said. “I think what we’re trying to do is avoid things getting worse. I don’t think victory is in anyone’s hopes and dreams in this moment.” Democrats on Wednesday night released their own vision of a stopgap funding bill that would extend health care subsidies and undo Medicaid cuts. It’s an attempt at a rallying cry for a party that’s not quite moving in lockstep on a shutdown strategy. “The Schumer Shutdown Plan reads like a draft of the platform for the 2028 Democrat National Convention,” Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso will say during a floor speech Thursday. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has already vowed to support the GOP’s funding patch, and several other Democratic senators have yet to commit to opposing it. Frontline House Democrats including Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) and Jared Golden (Maine) have also been cagey in recent days about whether they’ll oppose the Republican CR. Democrats will privately huddle in their respective chambers Thursday to discuss strategy. Speaker Mike Johnson is working to shore up his own ranks as he eyes a Friday morning vote on the GOP CR. Several Republicans are fighting to increase the bill’s allocation of $30 million for additional member security, among them Reps. Tim Burchett (Tenn.) and Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.). Republicans can lose only two votes at full attendance without Democratic support. GOP Reps. Victoria Spartz (Ind.), Warren Davidson (Ohio) and Thomas Massie (Ky.) have threatened to oppose it. What else we’re watching:    — Senate GOP to flex new rules for nominees: The Senate is set to confirm 48 nominees Thursday with a single vote, after Republicans changed the chamber’s rules to allow batch confirmations of most executive nominees and district court judges. The group includes picks from the Energy and Defense Departments. It also includes Kimberly Guilfoyle, who’s nominated to be ambassador to Greece, and Callista Gingrich, who’s nominated to be ambassador to Switzerland. — D.C. officials to testify on the Hill: The District of Columbia’s top elected officials are set to appear before Congress on Thursday for the first time since Trump temporarily assumed control of the Metropolitan Police Department and deployed the National Guard throughout the capital city. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Council Chair Phil Mendelson and Attorney General Brian Schwalb will face tough questioning from Republicans on their handling of crime in the District, even as it reported a 30-year low in violent crime last year. Nicholas Wu, Jordain Carney and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report. 

Party leaders hope a new offer will spark negotiations. That’s about as far as the plan goes.

Preparing to tank the Republican plan to avert a funding lapse on Oct. 1, Democrats are offering their own proposal.

The director of the Government Accountability office will step down in a few short months, leaving a void atop the agency that has found the White House guilty of violating congressional spending law.

Several Republicans joined all House Democrats in voting to sink a GOP-led measure to formally condemn Rep. Ilhan Omar and remove her from her committees. The 214-213 vote ended an effort by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) to censure Omar and strip her of all her committee assignments over her criticism of the late conservative political activist Charlie Kirk. Omar has strenuously denied directly making the comments cited by Mace, and House Democrats rallied behind her. “This is political theater. This is BS meant to bolster [Mace’s] gubernatorial bid,” House Minority Whip Katherine Clark told reporters earlier Wednesday. “And frankly, she’s trying to monetize this.” Four Republicans — Reps. Mike Flood of Nebraska, Jeff Hurd of Colorado, Tom McClintock of California and Cory Mills of Florida — supported the motion to kill Mace’s measure. Mace said the GOP opposition was “unbelievable” in comments after the vote. “It’s really gross, very disappointing,” she said. A reporter overheard her telling a colleague that she had sent the four Republicans’ names to President Donald Trump. Mills called his vote “a constitutional First Amendment issue,” while Flood told reporters he condemned Omar’s remarks but believed they should be investigated by the House Ethics Committee before any disciplinary action is taken. Flood also warned of the potential consequences for Republicans in a Democratic Congress if Omar was censured: “What goes around comes around.” Omar said she was “glad that there are at least four [Republicans] that are left that believe in the First Amendment and are willing to protect the rights of members to not be punished for things that they haven’t done.” Asked about Mace, Omar said, “I hope she does get the help she needs.” Mace brought up her measure through a fast-track process bypassing committees. Democrats immediately responded, with Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) calling up a retaliatory censure of Mills, who is subject to an ethics investigation and a restraining order proceeding. Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) also signaled he would file articles of impeachment against Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel in response. Omar, a Minnesota progressive, has long been a magnet for GOP criticism. The House GOP voted last Congress to boot Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. A small group of Republicans privately debated the potential fallout from a censure before Wednesday’s vote, aware it could trigger a deeper escalation of partisan censure efforts. “People forget that we can be in the minority someday,” one House Republican said. “But it’s also hard to defend her comments.” Democrats are now expected to pull back on their retaliatory measures. A similar Mills censure effort was dropped after a GOP-led effort targeting Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) was defeated on the House floor earlier this month. Ben Jacobs and Calen Razor contributed to this report.

The FBI director took oncoming during two days of oversight hearings on Capitol Hill.

GOP leaders believe they will need to heed the chamber’s 72-hour-review rule.