US politics – Congress matters

The White House is stepping up its efforts to sell the GOP megabill ahead of an impending Senate vote. The legislation is far from finalized, but the Council of Economic Advisers is sending its first analysis of the Senate bill to Congress Wednesday. The report obtained by POLITICO is based on the Senate Finance Committee draft released last week. The analysis contrasts the economic and fiscal impact of the party’s signature domestic policy legislation with letting President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts expire at the end of the year — a cliff Senate GOP leaders and the White House are leaning into as they try to sway their holdouts. “The [One Big Beautiful Bill Act] will establish a strong foundation for economic prosperity by increasing investment, raising GDP, and boosting resources for American families in the form of higher wages and a lower tax burden,” the CEA wrote in its analysis. The Senate tax plan would create more than $100 billion in investment and more than 1 million new jobs over the 10-year budget window, according to the report. It’s also estimating the economic growth sparked by the tax plan would create between $2.1 to $2.3 trillion in deficit reduction, as well as help decrease the overall debt. The analysis is significantly rosier than projections from most other economists, who doubt that the Republican plan will do much for growth because the tax breaks for businesses — which have the most potential economic oomph — are relatively small, especially compared to the 2017 bill. Their tax package this time around is much more focused on cutting taxes for individuals while piling on debt that most economists believe will push up interest rates and create a drag on growth. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office hasn’t yet released a full estimate for the Senate legislation, but it recently analyzed the economic effects of the House-passed bill and concluded that any government revenues sparked by growth due to the bill would be swamped by higher debt-service costs prompted by higher interest rates. In a boon for Majority Leader John Thune, Finance Chair Mike Crapo and other Finance Committee Republicans, the White House analysis found that making some of the business tax cuts permanent would boost investment and increase wages. Permanency is a top priority for Thune, Crapo and others, who have made the case to both the House and the White House that it is worth including even though it comes with a higher price tag. Senate Republicans are likely to use the analysis to tout their legislation — and to rebut CBO when it releases its own findings. The CEA gave a similarly positive overview of the House’s bill earlier this year, which Speaker Mike Johnson has frequently used to argue that the bill won’t add to the national debt. That has not prevented House fiscal hawks from finding fault in it, even as they voted for it; Thune & Co. are facing similar doubts from their own conservative bloc. Brian Faler contributed to this report. 

With President Donald Trump’s July 4 deadline drawing near, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told POLITICO on Tuesday night he believes the Senate is “on a path” to start voting on the megabill Friday. But he’s got several fires to put out first. For one, he’s under immense pressure to water down the Medicaid provisions the Senate GOP is counting on for hundreds of billions of dollars worth of savings. Speaker Mike Johnson is warning in private that Senate Republicans could cost House Republicans their majority next year if they try to push through the deep Medicaid cuts in the current Senate version, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the matter. That comes as Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) cautions GOP senators that those same cutbacks could become a political albatross for Republicans just as the Affordable Care Act was for Democrats. “[Barack] Obama said … ‘if you like your health care you can keep it, if you like your doctor we can keep it,’ and yet we had several million people lose their health care,” the in-cycle senator told reporters Tuesday. “Here we’re saying [with] Medicaid, we’re going to hold people harmless, but we’re estimating” millions of people could lose coverage. GOP leaders are trying to ease concerns by preparing to include a fund to help rural hospitals that could be harmed by the reductions, even as Thune insisted Tuesday “we like where we are.” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who’s been pushing for the fund, said while that “helps lessen the impact,” she remains “concerned about the changes in the funding for Medicaid in general.” The other drama hanging over the bill are several imminent, critical rulings from Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. Several committees that already have rulings in hand are due to release revised text as soon as this morning, according to a person familiar with the plans. And Republicans could know as soon as Wednesday whether MacDonough will clear major parts of their tax package. As of late Tuesday, the parliamentarian had not yet ruled on provisions linked to the so-called current policy baseline, an accounting maneuver that zeroes out the costs of $3.8 trillion of expiring tax cuts, according to two people granted anonymity to disclose the private discussions. Make no mistake: Adverse rulings could send Republicans back to the drawing board on making their tax plan permanent or otherwise force them to go nuclear and override or ignore MacDonough altogether. There’s uncertainty from all sides about how that would play out, given the gambit has never been tried before with tax legislation. This much is already clear: With the tax package in flux and Medicaid savings under threat, GOP leaders have a major math problem on their hands. And House fiscal hawks are watching to see, regardless of the accounting method, whether the Senate sticks to the budget deal they agreed to with Johnson earlier this year. What else we’re watching: — Bove on the Hill: Senate Judiciary lawmakers will convene the first blockbuster judicial hearing of the second Trump administration later Wednesday, where they will grill Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official and former criminal defense lawyer for Trump who has a shot at a lifetime appointment on the federal bench. Some even see him as a potential future Trump Supreme Court nominee. — Vought testifies on rescissions: OMB Director Russ Vought will testify in front of the Senate’s full bench of appropriators Wednesday afternoon to justify the White House’s request for $9.4 billion in cuts of previously approved money. Expect pointed questioning from various Republicans on the panel, including Collins, who has publicly opposed cuts to PEPFAR, the HIV and AIDS foreign aid program. — Iran briefings incoming: Senators will have a postponed briefing on the situation in Iran on Thursday, after which Democrat Tim Kaine (Va.) is aiming to call a vote on his resolution seeking to block further U.S. military action against Iran. On the House side, Speaker Johnson said that members will now be briefed Friday. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday there had been no Gang of Eight meeting yet. Jordain Carney, Meredith Lee Hill and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.

Even as Donald Trump has fumed at the conservative legal group, it remains the most influential player in Republican judicial nominations.

GOP leaders appear ready to dare fiscal hawks to stand in the way of Donald Trump’s top legislative priority.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Tuesday appeared to suggest in a post on X that former President John F. Kennedy was assassinated over his opposition to Israel’s nuclear program. “There was once a great President that the American people loved. He opposed Israel’s nuclear program. And then he was assassinated,” Greene posted on X as she defended her dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump’s weekend strike on Iran. Greene’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment asking for clarity on the remarks. In the early 1960s, Kennedy was an ardent opponent of Israel’s nuclear program, worried it was a serious proliferation risk, according to declassified documents published in 2016 by the National Security Archive. At the time, Kennedy insisted that Israel permit periodic inspections to mitigate the danger. Israel has remained ambiguous about whether it has a nuclear program. Wild conspiracy theories have proliferated in the years since Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, but both the FBI and the Warren Commission, a presidential commission set up to probe Kennedy’s killing, found that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the murder. Greene posted her claims in response to conservative commentator Mark Levin, who on X called the Georgia representative “stupid” and told her to “keep banging your head against the wall” over her objections to the Trump administration’s weekend strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites. “I’m not going away. You’re on my radar,” Levin said. “This is extremely sick and disturbing,” Greene said in her post before accusing Levin of using the same tone and language as the “psychopaths” that send her death threats “every single day.” She continued on to discuss Jesus and his teachings, including to “pray for your enemies.” “I will do my best to pray for you. But I will be watchful now,” Greene said before launching into the Kennedy section. “I am for peace. I oppose war including wars Israel wages. Should I feel that my life is in danger now too? What about President Trump who strongly rebuked Israel this morning for continuing to attack Iran?” A representative for Levin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It is not the first conspiracy theory related to Jews or Israel that Greene has espoused. In 2018, Greene promoted a conspiracy theory on Facebook where she speculated California wildfires could have been caused by lasers shot from space generators funded by the Rothschild investment group. The comments were condemned by Jewish groups as antisemitic.

Most House Democrats joined with Republicans on Tuesday to quash an effort to impeach President Donald Trump over his weekend Iran strikes. Rep. Al Green’s impeachment resolution was tabled on a 344-79 vote, with 128 Democrats joining all 216 Republicans to kill the measure. Those included House Democratic leaders, who have been wary of pursuing new impeachments after two prior Trump impeachments failed during his first term. Still, dozens of Democrats voted to keep Green’s resolution alive. Green introduced the measure lambasting Trump for striking Iran without congressional approval Tuesday and used a fast-track process to force a quick vote. GOP leaders moved first with the motion to table. Some Democrats — most prominently New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — called for Trump’s impeachment in the aftermath of the strike, though there’s little appetite in the rest of the caucus for impeachment. Michigan Rep. Shri Thanedar yanked a prior impeachment measure he sponsored last month before it even came up for a vote after facing fierce blowback in the caucus.

A pair of planned congressional briefings on the volatile situation in the Middle East have been postponed, according to four people granted anonymity to describe the private plans. The House and Senate were set to receive separate all-member briefings Tuesday afternoon from a group of top aides to President Donald Trump, including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs Chair Dan Caine. Speaker Mike Johnson announced the House briefing will now happen Friday. He previously told reporters the “tentative plan” was for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to participate. Both Cabinet secretaries are with Trump at the NATO Summit in the Netherlands. The Senate briefing will happen Thursday, according to one of the four people. “There’s a lot going on right now, and I’m sure the Situation Room in the White House is a flurry of activity, and I think it may be that some of the folks that were going to come over here and brief us have been or otherwise engaged,” Johnson said, adding that it was not guaranteed that Hegseth or Rubio would actually appear. The rescheduling comes as a Trump-brokered cease-fire between Iran and Israel hangs by a thread, and Democratic leaders reacted angrily to the move. “This last-minute postponement is outrageous, evasive and derelict,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “Senators deserve full transparency, and the administration has a legal obligation to inform Congress precisely about what is happening.” Johnson said “nobody should read anything into” the postponement and that the White House has respect for Congress’ war-making powers under the Constitution. Still, the delay adds insult to injury after the administration skipped the customary congressional notifications ahead of its airstrikes on Iran. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it was not essential for the two secretaries to attend. “We had already scheduled a group of people who have as much access to the information as Rubio and Hegseth,” Reed said in a brief interview. “What we wanted was a timely [briefing]; now it’s been delayed.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries chided the administration for pushing off the briefing, adding that a request for a classified briefing for the Gang of Eight — the top party leaders and Intelligence Committee chairs and ranking members in both chambers, who are typically first informed of military operations or covert matters — hasn’t yet been fulfilled. “What are the facts that the Trump administration is trying to hide?” Jeffries said in a statement. “The American people deserve to know the truth.” The top Democrats on the House Armed Services, Intelligence and Foreign Affairs panels — Reps. Adam Smith, Jim Himes and Gregory Meeks, respectively — similarly blasted Trump. The trio has filed legislation that would block further military action against Iran unless Congress votes to grant Trump that authority, and could force a vote in the coming weeks. “The Administration must be forthcoming in terms of what was accomplished by the unauthorized strikes and how much of Iran’s nuclear program has been impacted,” they said in a joint statement. “These are the questions the White House does not want to answer because to do so honestly would likely not align with President Trump’s declarations of victory.” Connor O’Brien and Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.

California Rep. Robert Garcia will be the next top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee after beating Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch in a 150-63 caucus vote Tuesday. Garcia, 47, won a first-ballot majority after winning the backing of the caucus’ powerful Steering and Policy Committee on Monday evening. “We’ll get immediately to work,” he told reporters following the vote. First on the agenda, Garcia added, was meeting with the Oversight Committee staff “to let them know that we’re ready for consistent leadership.” He then left to attend a previously scheduled closed-door committee interview with Neera Tanden, a former aide to President Joe Biden whom panel Republicans summoned as part of a probe into Biden’s mental abilities. Serving just his second term in Congress, Garcia has quickly risen through the ranks. He’s currently a member of Democratic Caucus leadership and served as a co-chair of Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign. In a contest that had tested House Democrats’ desire to set aside its penchant to reward seniority in favor of promoting younger voices, Garcia had pitched himself to his colleagues as a consensus candidate with managerial experience as a former mayor of Long Beach. In a previous interview with POLITICO, he called it “premature” to impeach President Donald Trump without buy-in from other Democrats — a contrast with other young progressives who have sought to kick-start the process. And he’s emphasized that the committee under his leadership would do more than probe the Trump administration. Democrats have been maneuvering for the top Oversight job since April, when Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly announced he would step aside from the job amid a battle with cancer. He died in May at 75. For weeks, the race pitted two senior Democrats — Lynch, 70, and Maryland Rep. Kweisi Mfume, 76 — against two insurgent young progressives — Garcia and Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, 44. Crockett and Mfume dropped out of the race Tuesday after falling short in the Steering test vote. “If you are going to be in leadership, you need to know that you have a team that is ready and willing to work with you,” Crockett told reporters Tuesday. “It was clear by the numbers that my style of leadership is not exactly what [Democrats] were looking for, and so I didn’t think that it was fair for me to push forward and try to rebuke that.” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s decision not to run a second time for the Oversight post and to instead stay on the Energy and Commerce Committee helped open up the field. Connolly’s race last year against the 35-year-old Ocasio-Cortez was similarly seen as a generational challenge within the caucus. But senior Democrats — including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi — lined up behind Connolly, quashing efforts for a changing of the party’s old guard. This time, the party’s elders were split in the race. Pelosi never endorsed Garcia, but she had met with her fellow Californian as the contest ramped up and was widely seen in the caucus as a Garcia ally. Behind the scenes, she whipped votes for Garcia, according to a person granted anonymity to describe her private efforts. “I’m a Californian,” she said as the voting was underway Tuesday. “I’m partial to mayors.” Some of the most powerful blocs in the party opted to remain on the sidelines. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus endorsed Garcia, who was the sole Latino candidate in the race and will be one of two Latino committee leaders along with Rep. Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.). But groups like the Congressional Black Caucus, New Democrat Coalition and the Congressional Progressive Caucus did not make endorsements. Although Garcia downplayed the generational undertones of the race, other Democrats privately see the decisive votes in both the leadership-aligned Steering panel Monday and the caucus vote Tuesday as a potential turning of the tides in the party’s longtime adherence to the seniority system in choosing caucus leaders. Democrats opted to challenge several committee leaders last year and believe more challenges could come in the future. Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.

Senate GOP leaders want to start voting on the “big, beautiful bill” in just two days. Right now, they’re scrambling to rewrite critical pieces of it while major policy disputes remain unresolved. Catch up quick: Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) met separately with Donald Trump at the White House on Monday as the president ramps up pressure on fiscal hawks to fall in line. Trump told Scott he wants a repeal of green credits under the Biden-era climate law and supports a balanced budget, the Florida senator said. The trio relayed Trump’s message to House Freedom Caucus members Monday night but were publicly mum on other details. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) signaled progress in closing the chasm between chambers over the state and local tax deduction, suggesting the Senate could keep the $40,000 cap negotiated in the House but change the income threshold. The rub: That combination was publicly rejected by the House’s SALT Republicans days ago. Meanwhile, Senate GOP leaders are floating a fund to help offset the effects of Medicaid changes on rural hospitals — a major pain point among “Medicaid moderates” balking at Senate Finance’s push to slash the provider tax. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told reporters he’s “absolutely happy with a rural fund” but cautioned, “I don’t know” if it will solve the issue. House GOP leaders are also warning it won’t pass their chamber. GOP senators also have to keep in mind the 38 House Republicans who recently warned that Senate Majority Leader John Thune must adhere to a strict linkage between spending cuts and tax cuts in the bill. House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) told POLITICO on Monday he thinks Senate Republicans are already straying from the House-passed plan. “It looks like right now, with some of the scoring, it’s not working out,” Harris said. “If it should pass the Senate in its current rumored form, it probably would have trouble in the House.” What to watch Tuesday: Committees will finish holding meetings with parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. Her last rulings on what can skirt the filibuster are expected as soon as Wednesday. Final text will follow once that process — known as the “Byrd bath” — wraps up. Those Byrd droppings have multiple committees racing to redraft their portions of the megabill. Senate Agriculture Republicans believe they can salvage their cost-sharing plan for food aid. Senate Banking Republicans are reworking a proposal to cut funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And Lee is now floating a narrower version of his plan to sell millions of acres of public lands after MacDonough deemed his initial proposal — which had drawn fierce opposition from a quartet of western-state GOP senators — noncompliant. Lee’s effectively halving his old proposal by removing Forest Service lands. Thune still hopes to hold an initial vote on the megabill Thursday, but acknowledged the parliamentarian’s process is “taking a little bit longer” than anticipated. The raft of unresolved policy disputes have some senators openly doubting he can pull it off, with some predicting the first vote could slip to Friday. “We’ll eventually pass something,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters Monday. “I just can’t tell you when.” What else we’re watching: — Dem Oversight election: Democrats will vote Tuesday morning to decide the top Democrat on the Oversight committee. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) is the front-runner after the Californian clinched a majority of votes from the steering committee on the first ballot. — War powers resolutions: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) told Speaker Mike Johnson that he will no longer advance a resolution seeking to block U.S. involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict if the ceasefire that Trump announced holds. But in the Senate, Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he’s forging ahead with forcing a vote on a similar resolution regardless of the ceasefire and expects a vote sometime between Wednesday and Friday. — Cassidy’s latest vaccine push: Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) criticized the top vaccine advisers of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday for lacking experience and urged the agency to delay a scheduled meeting with them. Cassidy said a meeting with the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices scheduled for Wednesday should not proceed “with a relatively small panel, and no CDC Director in place to approve the panel’s recommendations.” Garrett Downs, Nicholas Wu, Hailey Fuchs and Kelly Hooper contributed to this report.

A multitude of unresolved issues has left Republicans unsure when the bill will get to the Senate floor.

Rep. Robert Garcia won the approval of a key panel Monday to become the next top House Democrat on the Oversight Committee, according to two people familiar with the matter. The 47-year-old Californian is in just his second term in Congress. But he pitched himself as a consensus candidate who could bridge the divides between Democrats seeking confrontation with President Donald Trump and the sensibilities of party elders. Garcia, who previously served as mayor of Long Beach, California, also touted his management experience to colleagues. He quickly rose through the ranks in Congress and served as a co-chair of Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign. He’s currently a member of Democratic Caucus leadership. The unofficial maneuvering for the top Democrat on Oversight began in April, when Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly announced he would step aside from his post in wake of the return of his esophageal cancer. He died in May at the age of 75. The race became a litmus test for the party over questions of age and seniority. Two senior members — Reps. Kweisi Mfume, 76, and Stephen Lynch, 70 — faced off against two insurgent young progressives — Garcia and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, 44. Connolly had triumphed over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 35, in a race for the post late last year that was similarly seen as a proxy fight over tensions around seniority in the party. Ocasio-Cortez’s decision to pass on a second bid opened the field for the handful of candidates that spanned different corners of the caucus. The full Democratic Caucus will vote Tuesday on the Oversight post. Members usually, but don’t always, follow the Steering panel’s recommendation. “I’m very grateful to the Steering and Policy Committee,” Garcia said after the meeting. “There’s still an election tomorrow, and there’s still obviously an important case to be made in the morning, and that’s a case I’m planning on making, and so we’re going to run through the tape.”

Rep. Thomas Massie told reporters Monday evening he won’t advance a measure to block U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict if an apparent cease-fire announced by President Donald Trump holds. “I talked to the speaker on the floor just now and told him we wouldn’t push it if the cease-fire holds, so it’s really in their court,” the Kentucky Republican told reporters, adding that he would “wait and see” before making a final call. Speaker Mike Johnson separately told reporters the measure is “‘moot” in light of the cease-fire news and has no chance of passing regardless. He called on Massie “to do right by the country and do right by the Republican team here” in dropping the measure, adding that “he plays almost every day on the other team, and that’s a deep regret.” Massie is the sole Republican sponsor of the bill, which has picked up substantial support from Democrats. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), the lead Democrat on the bill, wrote on X that he and Massie were “not looking to score political points, but to reassert the role of Congress & prevent wars of choice with disastrous consequences.” Khanna said Monday that “we need to make sure we don’t get into a war” but that he wanted to speak to Massie before commenting further. Massie was targeted by Trump on social media following Saturday night’s U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities for his criticism of U.S. involvement in the conflict, and the president has threatened to support a primary challenge. He’s largely shrugged off the threat. “I’ve raised $120,000 in the last 24 hours,” Massie said. “And ultimately, the president hates to lose. And I think what he’ll do probably is that time draws near, he’ll do some polling and see that he’s going to lose and maybe not get in the race.” Meredith Lee Hill and Calen Razor contributed to this report.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Monday shared with GOP colleagues results from a new poll that showed overwhelming support among Republicans for President Donald Trump’s strikes in Iran. The poll is the first conducted of Trump voters since Saturday night’s efforts to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities. Nine in 10 respondents support the airstrikes on the three facilities, according to the poll from GrayHouse, the polling and data analytics firm that has become a go-to for Senate Republicans. The survey included 450 people who voted for Trump last year. The numbers are meant to undercut the idea that Trump’s hawkish pivot is dividing the Republican base, which has taken on an increasingly isolationist flavor since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a Senate GOP conference spokesperson. Cotton is chair of the Senate Republican Conference. Trump and Vice President JD Vance have repeatedly criticized past leaders for bogging down the United States in foreign conflicts, and some on the right, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Tucker Carlson, voiced concern that the president was making a similar mistake. But only 10 percent of respondents thought Saturday’s strikes were the same kind of military intervention that has led to long-term problems in the U.S. and only 13 percent thought strikes constituted a “war” with Iran. The spokesperson said one goal of the poll is to show that the isolationist influencers “don’t remotely speak for Republican voters who back Trump’s effort as close to unanimously as you can be.” Cotton, along with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), have emerged as two of Trump’s chief defenders, arguing that a nuclear-armed Iran posed an existential threat to America and its allies.

GOP Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Rick Scott of Florida are separately headed to the White House Monday afternoon to meet with President Donald Trump about the pending Republican megabill, according to two people granted anonymity to describe the private plans. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, another conservative Republican who has aired issues with the legislation, was also set to meet with Trump earlier Monday. It’s a sign that GOP leaders are already working to keep their most vocal conservative critics behind the “big, beautiful bill” ahead of expected Senate votes later in the week.

Attorney General Pam Bondi came under bipartisan pressure Monday from lawmakers who argued that proposed funding cuts to the Justice Department, including the FBI, are unwise as the conflict between the U.S. and Iran intensifies. During Bondi’s first congressional testimony since her confirmation hearings, House members said the threat of attacks in the U.S. had risen significantly in the wake of President Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites and Iran’s apparent retaliation with a missile attack Monday on a U.S. base in Qatar. “When the DOJ submitted their budget, the United States was a nation at peace, and now we’re a nation at war,” Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) said. “I want us to, as much as we can, get ahead of it to give you the resources, the instruments that you need to go out and make sure that we’re preventing things from happening, not waiting until after the fact.” Bondi was testifying before a House Appropriations subcommittee on DOJ’s budget request proposing $33.6 billion for fiscal year 2026 — a $2.5 billion or roughly 7% decrease compared to the current year. About one-third of the total request would support programs directed at reducing violent crime. The difference in funding year over year would also represent a reduction of about 5,000 positions. However, Gonzales noted that Trump’s budget reduces DOJ funding for national security, counterintelligence, counterterrorism, threat screening and efforts to counter weapons of mass destruction. “Those are the programs that we need more resources [for], more manpower,” he said. Bondi, who used part of her opening statement to urge Americans to “pray for our troops in Qatar,” was noncommittal about any budget changes related to the intensifying conflict between the U.S. and Iran. Of course, you can always do more with more, but we’re doing more with less,” the attorney general said. “It’s a frightening time in which we live right now but President Trump is committed to keeping all Americans safe.” Bondi also said the FBI is on guard against potential Iranian sleeper cells in the U.S., including Iranian citizens who entered the U.S. via the border with Mexico during the Biden administration. “We are on high alert, and everyone is looking at that very closely,” she said, without elaborating. Democratic Reps. Glenn Ivey of Maryland and Frank Mrvan of Indiana similarly urged Bondi to take another look at her department’s budget request in light of escalating tensions with Iran. “Taking FBI agents off the street now … there isn’t a worse possible time you could do it,” Ivey said. Mrvan said the U.S. needs to be bracing for potential Iranian attacks on banking systems and the electric grid. “That is a new threat,” he said.CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post misspelled Tony Gonzales’ surname.

The hotly contested House seat will host a crowded GOP primary.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal critics in the Senate GOP, said in a podcast on Monday that there are certain situations in which she’d consider becoming an independent and caucusing with Democrats. “There may be that possibility,” she told Galen Druke in an interview excerpt of his GD Politics podcast, scheduled to post in full on Tuesday. Druke asked Murkowski how she’d respond if Democrats won three seats in the 2026 midterm election, “and they say, we’re gonna let you pass bills that benefit Alaskans if you caucus with us.” “You’ve started off with the right hook here, is ‘if this would help Alaskans,’” she told Druke. Murkowski has clashed with Trump several times since he returned to the White House, including accusing him of “walking away from our allies” after the president’s February fight with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. And in May, she criticized the administration for revoking the temporary protected status of Afghan immigrants, calling the move “a historic betrayal.” In March, Murkowski told reporters her Republican colleagues were “afraid” of going against Trump and then-ally Elon Musk, and said the pair’s work reducing the federal workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency was “traumatizing people.” “There is some openness to exploring something different than the status quo,” she told Druke. But switching parties likely isn’t the answer, she said in the podcast. “My problem with your hypothetical is that as challenged as I think we may be on the Republican side, I don’t see the Democrats being much better,” Murkowski said. “And they’ve got not only their share of problems, but quite honestly, they’ve got some policies that I just inherently disagree with.” Murkowski’s office was unable to provide a comment for this post before publication.

Several House Democrats are posting replicas of a commemorative plaque for police officers who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection — needling Speaker Mike Johnson for the prolonged delay in installing the official plaque that was commissioned by Congress more than three years ago. The plaque honoring U.S. Capitol Police and other law enforcement officers was mandated in a 2022 spending bill. It was created, then put in storage after Republicans took the majority later that year. Democrats have since urged House GOP leadership to follow the original law, which ordered it to be mounted inside the Capitol within a year of enactment. Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) led the effort to create the replicas and asked Democratic colleagues earlier this month if they wanted one to put outside their office, according to a Dear Colleague letter obtained by POLITICO. They started appearing in Capitol office buildings — and House Democrats’ social media feeds — on Monday. “If you’re frustrated, like we are, with this embarrassing violation of law and spectacular disregard for the valor, honor and sacrifice of our police officers who responded on that day, please join us by displaying a poster replica of the plaque outside of your office,” the Democrats wrote in the letter. The same day, two Capitol Police officers who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6 filed a lawsuit seeking for a court order to hang the plaque. Democrats are also pushing for the plaque’s installation as part of the fiscal 2026 spending process. The House Appropriations Committee is debating the bill funding the legislative branch this week, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the panel’s top Democrat, bashed Republicans for “failing to call for the immediate installation of the completed January 6 plaque honoring law enforcement” in their draft legislation. A spokesperson for Johnson did not respond to a request for comment on the replicas. “President Trump incited a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol—and yet the plaque honoring the officers who defended us sits forgotten in the basement,” Morelle said in a post on X. “If Speaker Johnson won’t display it, then I will.” Nicholas Wu, Meredith Lee Hill and Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.

CMS chief Dr. Mehmet Oz just indicated to a group of GOP chiefs of staff that they should stick with language closer to the House megabill’s Medicaid language, especially on the politically explosive provider tax, according to two people granted anonymity to speak about a private meeting. It’s a warning that the Senate should avoid deeper cuts, which House GOP leaders have privately said won’t pass the House. People in the room also took that to mean the Senate should not pursue any politically explosive changes to the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP).

Emil Bove will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday for his nomination to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Trump nominated Bove, his principal associate deputy attorney general and former criminal defense attorney, to the federal bench in May, after Bove’s monthslong tenure at the Department of Justice implementing some of the most controversial Trump administration moves at DOJ. In his capacity at the department, he has helmed the dismissal of federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams and helped terminate staffers who aided cases tied to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. A news release from the office of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) noted Bove would appear before the Committee on June 25, and a person familiar with the schedule confirmed the date. The committee has noticed that it would hold a nomination hearing on Wednesday but did not specify which nominees would appear. If confirmed, Bove would hold a lifetime appointment on the 3rd Circuit, which has jurisdiction over appeals from Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Last week, Whitehouse asked DOJ for a host of documents about Bove’s work at the Department, including those related to his dismissal of charges against Adams. The decision to end the Adams case — which coincided with Adams’ commitment to cooperate with the administration on immigration enforcement at the Rikers jail — also shepherded the resignation of a number of DOJ attorneys.

Senate Finance Committee staff is expected to meet Monday with Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, with Republicans and Democrats presenting competing cases for whether health provisions of the pending GOP megabill comply with the chamber’s rules for party-line budget legislation. That means the critical debate over trillions of dollars worth of proposed GOP tax cuts won’t happen with MacDonough until Tuesday, according to a Senate Democratic aide who was granted anonymity to share details of the private meetings. Democrats will attempt to strip out a number of provisions from the legislation, arguing that they don’t meet the criteria for the filibuster-skirting reconciliation process. Among their many targets are provisions that would loosen regulations and eliminate taxes on firearm silencers and certain kinds of rifles and shotguns, the aide said. Democrats will also target GOP provisions that establish a new certification system for tax credits for low- and middle-income workers. Democrats also want to strip out a generous new tax credit for donations to private school scholarships, the aide said. Lastly, Democrats will raise a “long list” of issues associated with Republicans’ use of a new accounting method for their tax legislation, which would zero out the cost of extending trillions of expiring tax cuts from the GOP’s 2017 tax bill. The debate over the so-called current policy baseline will be consequential, with Democrats likely to sound the alarm that the unprecedented use of the maneuver would entirely erode long-standing budget rules.

Senate Republicans are unlikely to release full revised text of their sweeping domestic-policy bill Monday as they had hoped, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics, reflecting a behind-the-scenes scramble to finalize the legislation for passage this coming week. The timeline slip comes after GOP leaders saw setbacks over the weekend when Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that key pieces of their bill didn’t comply with the strict rules governing what can be included in a bill they are hoping to pass along strict party lines, skirting a 60-vote filibuster threshold. Republicans also still need to make final arguments to MacDonough on Finance Committee language, a key portion that touches on their tax plan and changes to Medicaid. That meeting is now set for Monday, and senators are not expected to get rulings any sooner than Tuesday. Senate Republicans will still meet Monday night to get briefed on the status of negotiations and what to expect as Majority Leader John Thune threatens to keep them in session until the bill clears the Senate. Republicans are currently aiming to take a first vote on the bill Thursday — a timeline POLITICO reported last week. Thune has been in active negotiations with his members, including over the inclusion of a fund to help offset any financial hit that rural hospitals could take because of the Senate GOP plan to curtail provider taxes, which many states use to help fund their Medicaid programs. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told POLITICO late last week that based on his conversations with House Republicans he did not believe the Senate provider tax language could clear the House, which included only a freeze on the tax in their version of the bill. In addition to internal negotiations, Senate Republicans also still need to work out a deal with the House on the state and local tax deduction, and they are facing pushback from House hard-liners over their softening of cuts to clean energy credits.

House Republicans are aiming to slash funding for the nonpartisan watchdog for waste, fraud and abuse within the federal government by nearly half in the next fiscal year, according to spending bill text released Sunday night. The House Appropriations subcommittee funding Congress and its support agencies, led by chairman David Valadao (R-Calif.), is set to mark up their fiscal 2026 measure Monday evening, with the full committee set to act Thursday. The Legislative Branch bill would provide $6.7 billion — $51 million below the current funding level, which was set in fiscal 2024. Per tradition, the House bill does not touch any Senate funding. “Chairman Valadao’s bill puts the American people first — in strengthening the institutions that represent them, protecting effective governance, and safeguarding taxpayer dollars,” said House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) in a statement. The deepest cuts in the bill are to the Government Accountability Office, an arm of Congress that would see a $396.5 million reduction from current levels to $415.4 million. GAO has served as the nation’s chief investigator of wrongdoing at federal agencies for more than a century, but has been fighting for months as Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration have attempted to undercut its legal conclusions and independence. Now, they are attempting to shrink the agency into submission as it pursues nearly 40 investigations into whether the White House is illegally withholding, or “impounding,” money Congress had previously approved. Also tucked into the bill is a major policy change that would eliminate the GAO’s ability to bring civil action against the executive branch over impoundments of funds. “GAO’s work makes it possible for the legislative branch to hold government accountable,” said Daniel Schuman, executive director of the American Governance Institute. “Congress needs independent expert advice, which is exactly what GAO provides.” Also on the chopping block is the Library of Congress, which is another legislative branch agency also engaged in a power struggle against intrusion by the Trump administration. The bill allocates $767.6 million for the Library of Congress, which is $84.5 million below the current funding level and $133.7 million below the FY26 request. “This bill does nothing to safeguard against the growing levels of executive overreach into legislative branch agencies,” said Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the legislative branch subcommittee. Some other key provisions in the GOP-written bill include: Capitol Security: U.S. Capitol Police would see a $84.4 million boost to their funding under the bill, bringing the total to $891 million. Some lawmakers had asked for an increase in office funding for use for security, but the bill flat-funds the Members Representational Allowance, which can be used for some member security purposes. USCP Oversight: The measure specifies that the Capitol Police chief may not designate anyone as a deputy chief or assistant chief without the approval of the Capitol Police Board, and that those serving in those positions serve at the pleasure of both the chief and the board. It also includes language asserting that the department’s chief administrative officer reports to the chief and can be terminated by the chief and the board. Member Pay: The bill would continue the member pay freeze that has been in effect since 2013, halting automatic cost of living increases that members of Congress are supposed to get under law. Gay marriage: The bill includes language that prohibits discrimination against any person who “speaks, or acts” in accordance with a “sincerely held religious belief, or moral conviction, that marriage is, or should be recognized as, a union of one man and one woman.”

President Donald Trump already had Republicans scrambling to get their “big, beautiful bill” to his desk by next week. Now he’s got Congress grappling with something even bigger: the aftermath of his airstrikes on Iran. The issue could come to a head with a vote as soon as this week. Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-Va.) resolution requiring congressional approval for military action in Iran ripens Friday but is expected to be on the floor sooner with the megabill set to eat up the back half of the week. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is pushing to move up the vote. He’s urging his party to support the measure, but Democrats expect to lose the vote of Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.). On the GOP side, keep an eye on Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), who said Sunday on X “Congress alone” has the power to authorize war. Lawmakers in both chambers are set to receive briefings Tuesday on the situation in Iran; they were on the books before the strikes. In the House, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna’s (D-Calif.) war powers resolution, which would block U.S. involvement in Iran, will not ripen until next week. But House GOP leadership is considering getting ahead of that: Speaker Mike Johnson could move this week to kill the effort with language getting rid of the privileged nature of the resolution, according to a person granted anonymity to relay the private discussions. Trump and GOP leaders are moving to unify the rank-and-file behind Trump’s decision to strike, even as Trump openly muses about pursuing regime change in Iran. Take note of Trump’s renewed attacks on Massie — a person familiar with the conversations who was granted anonymity to discuss them tells POLITICO it’s part of an effort to keep members in line. Adding to the chaos for Republicans is Trump’s Sunday evening musing about pursuing “regime change” in Iran if its current leaders can’t “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN.” “This is not America First folks,” Massie said in response to Trump’s Truth Social post. House Democrats are less unified. Most are questioning the constitutionality of the strike, but the party is split on where to go from there. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) has brought up impeachment. Others, like Rep. Steny Hoyer (Md.), were more supportive of the strike. That could be a problem for Democrats trying to strengthen their opposition. The top Democrats on Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Armed Services are drafting their own resolution in response to the strikes, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the plan. There are likely a handful of pro-Israel Democrats who will vote against any war powers resolution. Even if the bill makes it to a House floor vote there likely won’t be enough Republicans. What else we’re watching: — Megabill’s big week: Republicans will hold a closed-door meeting Monday night after votes for leadership to update members on the GOP megabill and its outstanding issues. Full bill text could land Monday, though it may also slip. While the “big, beautiful bill” could hit the floor as soon as Wednesday, Thursday is looking more likely. — First Dem oversight vote: House Democrats’ steering committee will vote this evening on who should be the party’s leader on the Oversight Committee, followed by a full caucus vote Tuesday. California Rep. Robert Garcia, 47, is seen as the favorite in a field split along generational lines. He’s running against Reps. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, 44; Kweisi Mfume of Maryland, 76; and Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, 70. — Slashes to GAO funding: House Republican appropriators are proposing to cut funding for the Government Accountability Office by nearly half. It’s the latest in a series of flash points between the GOP and the watchdog agency, which has been involved in clashes this year over DOGE, regulatory rollbacks and Trump’s incursions into the power of the purse. Meredith Lee Hill, Jordain Carney, Nicholas Wu and Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.

The progressive from California said in a POLITICO podcast that Democrats’ stance on Israel hurt their chances with young voters.

Ed Artau was already meeting with Senate staff about securing a nomination to the federal bench when he sided with Trump in a case, according to a new Senate disclosure obtained by POLITICO.

Police arrested an Ohio man in their investigation into a Thursday road rage incident in which Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) said he was “run off the road” by a person with a Palestinian flag. Rocky River, Ohio, police said on Friday that Westlake, Ohio, resident Feras S. Hamdan, 36, voluntarily turned himself in after the Rocky River Municipal Court issued an arrest warrant for aggravated menacing. “The deranged hatred in this country has gotten out of control. Today I was run off the road in Rocky River, and the life of me and my family was threatened by a person who proceeded to show a Palestinian flag before taking off,” Miller, who is Jewish, wrote in a Thursday afternoon post to his X account. The incident has drawn condemnations from lawmakers in the House and Senate, including House Democratic leadership and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.). The U.S. Capitol Police, Ohio State Patrol, FBI, Rocky River prosecutor’s office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio are also investigating the incident.

GOP Sen. Rand Paul is throwing his support behind a home-state judicial pick that he stalled three years ago as part of a feud with his fellow Kentuckian Mitch McConnell. Trump said this week he will nominate Chad Meredith to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Paul’s office said the libertarian-leaning GOP senator is giving his blessing this time around. “Dr. Paul gladly recommended Chad Meredith to the White House alongside Sen. McConnell. He appreciates President Trump nominating Chad and looks forward to voting for him in the Senate,” his office said in response to a question about whether he would return his “blue slip” — that is, give the assent that has traditionally been required from home-state senators for trial-judge nominees. It’s a U-turn from 2022 when then-President Joe Biden intended to nominate Meredith for a federal judgeship but pulled the plan after Paul indicated he wouldn’t give his support. Had Paul continued to oppose Meredith’s nomination, it would have been the latest breach with his party and the White House — he’s currently deeply at odds over the GOP megabill. But Paul’s position in 2022 wasn’t, he emphasized at the time, based on opposition to Meredith but on his belief that McConnell, who was then the minority leader, had effectively cut him out of the nominating process. Paul said at the time he learned of Meredith’s nomination through an FBI background check and that “McConnell’s to blame for tanking this because he tried to do it secretly.” McConnell told The New York Times that Paul’s position was “utterly pointless.”

The Senate parliamentarian ruled Thursday that several key provisions in Banking Chair Tim Scott’s proposed contribution to the GOP’s “big beautiful bill” violate the upper chamber’s rules for the budget reconciliation process, according to Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Merkley’s office. Scott’s proposals to zero out funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, slash some Federal Reserve employees’ pay, cut Treasury’s Office of Financial Research and dissolve the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board are all ineligible to be included in a simple-majority budget reconciliation bill. The ruling from Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough is a major blow to Scott and Banking Committee Republicans, who will be forced to go back to the drawing board on the core pieces of their proposal for the GOP megabill. The panel is required to find $1 billion in cuts over the next 10 years under a budget resolution adopted by both chambers of Congress — a narrow fraction of the overall bill. Scott said in a statement that he remains “committed to advancing legislation that cuts waste and duplication in our federal government and saves taxpayer dollars.” Only measures that are aimed at changing spending or revenues are allowed under the strict rules governing the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process. MacDonough is responsible for determining which proposals comply with the body’s rules. Banking Committee staffers from both parties met with the parliamentarian’s office earlier this week to discuss Scott’s plan. The proposal, which went further than the House-passed version of the megabill, had been facing skepticism even from committee Republicans about whether it would comply with the body’s rules. Banking Republicans will now have to strike or scale back some of the biggest cost-savers in their proposal. Several provisions remain untouched, including language that would cut all unobligated funds authorized for a green housing program under the Inflation Reduction Act, delay implementation of a Dodd-Frank provision that allows the CFPB to collect demographic data from lenders and sweep all unused funds from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Technology Reserve Fund. “My colleagues and I remain committed to cutting wasteful spending at the CFPB and will continue working with the Senate parliamentarian on the Committee’s provisions,” Scott said. The top Banking Committee Democrat, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, said in a statement that the GOP “proposals are a reckless, dangerous attack on consumers and would lead to more Americans being tricked and trapped by giant financial institutions and put the stability of our entire financial system at risk–all to hand out tax breaks to billionaires.” “Democrats fought back, and we will keep fighting back against this ugly bill,” she said.