Dems grapple with Trump resistance dilemma
Senate Democrats have a chance to show their voters they can effectively stymie President Donald Trump as Republicans work to advance spending bills and a flurry of nominations.
But publicly and behind closed doors, the Democratic Party is grappling with whether to resist or — in Minority Whip Dick Durbin's words — seek a 'quid pro quo,' Jordain Carney reports.
Inside Democrats' lunch Wednesday, senators talked through potential September strategies. Among the ideas they are floating is securing policy wins, like preserving soon-to-expire Affordable Care Act tax credits, or getting a commitment from Republicans not to pursue more rescissions.
Sen. Cory Booker's fiery protest on Tuesday, urging his party to 'have a backbone' in dealing with Trump, could preview the potential progressive backlash if they cut a deal. Some Democrats, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, are questioning why they should agree to help the administration fast-track filling its ranks at all, though plenty of other Democrats would disagree.
The party is pushing back at Trump in smaller ways as it tries to reach consensus. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Homeland Security Democrats invoked a little-known law this week trying to force the release of files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — an issue Republican leadership has avoided putting on the floor.
The immediate stakes of Democrats' strategy are limited to the fate of their August recess for the moment. But how they move now could set the stage for the bigger looming test: averting a Sept. 30 government shutdown. They don't want a repeat of the spring showdown where Schumer infuriated Democratic activists by helping to advance a GOP-written funding bill.
'The Republicans can roll us once, but we sure as hell shouldn't let them roll us a second time,' Warren said in a brief interview.
GOOD THURSDAY MORNING. If you have the pack of recalled Celsius, please share. Email us: crazor@politico.com, mmccarthy@politico.com and bguggenheim@politico.com. Follow our live coverage at politico.com/congress.
WHAT WE'RE WATCHINGWith help from Alec Snyder
The House is out. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is holding a news conference with Texas Democrats on Republicans' redistricting efforts in Texas at 11 a.m.
The Senate will vote to advance the nomination of Cheryl Mason to be inspector general at the Department of Veterans Affairs and to confirm Tyler Clarkson to be general counsel of the Department of Agriculture at 11 a.m. Lawmakers will vote to confirm Mason, Gadyaces Serralta to be director of the U.S. Marshals Service and Matthew Kozma to be an under secretary for intelligence and analysis at DHS at 2:15 p.m. More votes are expected later in the day.
— Senate Armed Services will hold a hearing on nominations, including for Michael Powers to be deputy Defense under secretary/comptroller at 9:15 a.m.
— Senate Appropriations will mark up the chamber's fiscal 2026 Defense and Labor-HHS-Education spending bills at 9:30 a.m.
— Senate Finance will advance nominations for Jonathan McKernan to be an under secretary of the Treasury for domestic finance and Alex Adams to be an assistant HHS secretary for family support at 9:45 a.m. The committee will hold a hearing on additional nominations at 10 a.m.
The rest of the week: The Senate will consider government funding bills and the president's nominations. The House will meet on Friday for a pro forma session at 10 a.m.
Pro subscribers receive this newsletter with a full congressional schedule and can browse our comprehensive calendar of markups, hearings and other notable events around Washington. Sign up for a demo.
THE LEADERSHIP SUITE
GOP leaders back Grassley over blue slips
Senate Republican leaders are siding with Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley despite attacks from Trump over his decision to uphold the so-called blue slip process, a practice that allows home state senators to object to some personnel picks in their state.
'I'm happy to hear what Senator Grassley and some of my colleagues say, but no, I don't think there's any strong interest in changing that up here,' Thune told reporters Wednesday. 'We used the blue slip process in South Dakota to get the first Republican judge confirmed in our state since the Reagan administration ... so it's, you know, like I said, it's a process both sides have used.'
Thune added that he would see where conversations go with other senators, but he didn't 'sense any rush to change it' and said the Senate is 'making good headway' on confirming judges from Trump's list.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso also said he supported Grassley.
Johnson pushes back on stock trading ban discharge
Speaker Mike Johnson has been privately pushing back on an effort from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna to force a vote on a bill banning stock trading for members of Congress, three people granted anonymity to discuss the effort tell our Meredith Lee Hill.
Luna said on Fox News Wednesday night she's 'taking a lot of heat' and 'a lot of pushback from leadership' for her discharge plan. She did not specifically name Johnson.
Meanwhile on the Senate side, Trump is attempting to quash a similar effort from Sen. Josh Hawley, who joined Democrats to help advance a bill banning trading for lawmakers, the president and vice president out of committee on Wednesday. Trump called Hawley a 'second-tier senator' afterward.
Hawley brushed off the attack and said he'd be willing to tweak his bill to get the president to sign it.
Growing support from Dems for Israel arms sales ban
Twelve new Democrats backed an effort from Sen. Bernie Sanders to block the sale of arms to Israel in a late-night vote Wednesday. The procedural vote failed 70-27, but a majority of Democrats opposed an Israeli arms sale for the first time since the Gaza War started nearly two years ago. Schumer voted against blocking the sale.
POLICY RUNDOWN
MAIN STREET CAUCUS CHAIR PREVIEWS UPCOMING POLICY FIGHTS: Meredith's wide-ranging interview with Rep. Mike Flood, the new chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus, is a must-read to understand the biggest policy battles set to play out later this year. Flood — who recently took over for outgoing chair Dusty Johnson as he prepares to run for South Dakota governor — said among other things that there would be 'severe pushback' if GOP leadership tries to further slash Medicaid in a second budget reconciliation bill.
Flood also said the 'overwhelming' majority of his 83-member caucus wants earmarks in any government funding deal in September. Here's what you need to know:
— The Main Street Caucus is meeting with the Freedom Caucus once a week to 'understand where everybody's coming from,' per Flood.
— Flood has told GOP leadership that earmarks must be included in any government funding bill, and he believes Main Street has an unlikely ally: 'Our members want community project funding ... and the Freedom Caucus agrees with us.'
— House Republican committee chairs will likely come forward with a menu of options for a second budget reconciliation bill, with Flood seeing some opportunities in the housing policy space.
— Speaker Johnson and Flood haven't yet discussed the looming expiration of Affordable Care Act premium tax credits yet, but Flood acknowledged it's an issue that the GOP will confront after lawmakers deal with government funding.
WINKLEVOSS BROS. VS. CFTC NOM: Cryptocurrency billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss pushed Trump this past weekend to sub out his nominee for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Declan Harty and Sophia Cai scooped.
The brothers told Trump that Brian Quintenz, the White House pick to head the CFTC, wouldn't do enough to shake up the agency, which oversees financial derivatives and has expanded its purview over digital assets. The pressure campaign prompted the administration to ask Senate Agriculture to scrap its planned Monday vote to advance Quintenz's nomination — though a White House spokesperson says he remains the nominee.
The Winklevosses previously had to pay a $5 million settlement amid charges from the CFTC that their company, Gemini, made misleading statements about a crypto investment product.
FACIAL RECOGNITION BILL COULD SOON BE REVIVED: A bill to put guardrails on TSA's facial recognition program will likely be back on the menu soon after it was unexpectedly dropped from the agenda during a Senate Commerce markup Wednesday, according to Democrat Jacky Rosen.
'We expect it to come up on the next markup,' said Rosen, who told Benjamin she's been working with Sen. Jeff Merkley, the chief sponsor of the bill, to make tweaks to the measure to ensure it wouldn't close down PreCheck or make airport lines too long.
Rosen noted that the legislation would affect the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, which sees 50 million visitors a year, and needs to be 'thought through a little bit more.'
Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz, who had previously expressed confidence in the bill's prospects before his panel, also told Benjamin Wednesday he intends to try again 'at a subsequent markup.' But the legislation has been the subject of intense lobbying by the travel industry, which had been warning in recent days the proposal was in trouble.
Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E:
THE BEST OF THE REST
How Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren agreed on a sweeping housing package, from Liz Goodwin and Rachel Siegel at The Washington Post
Tom Cole's Powerful Spot on the Appropriations Committee Is Motivating Him to Stay in Congress, from Em Luetkemeyer at NOTUS
CAMPAIGN STOP
TEXAS GOP UNVEILS NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP — Texas Republicans have unveiled a new proposed congressional map that would provide their party with five new GOP-leaning districts, Andrew Howard and Liz Crampton report.
The redraw would put more Republicans into districts held by Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, who both represent Latino-heavy areas of the Rio Grande Valley, and make some Democratic-controlled districts even bluer in an attempt to create GOP-leaning districts elsewhere.
Jeffries, meanwhile, was in Texas Wednesday and plans to be there today organizing an on-the-ground response with local legislators and stakeholders. He plans to hold a news conference with Democrats in the Texas House delegation at 11 a.m. As Democrats consider redistricting in bluer states like New York and California, their plans could collide with legal challenges — and in some cases, pose threats to lawmakers' career plans, Jeremy B. White reports.
DAVIS TO PASS ON REELECTION — Democratic Rep. Danny Davis, 83, is expected to announce today he won't run for reelection in 2026, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss his plans in advance, Shia Kapos reports.
The field is already heating up: State Rep. La Shawn Ford has already announced he's running and is expected to get an endorsement from Davis. Former County Commissioner Richard Boykin, businessperson Jason Friedman and Marine Corps officer-turned-comedian John McCombs are also running. Walter Burnett Jr., who until recently was a Chicago alderman, and state Rep. Kam Buckner are among the other potential candidates expected to enter the race.
CODEL CORNER
FIGHT ACROSS THE POND — Rep. Jamie Raskin found himself in a scuffle with Nigel Farage, the leader of the United Kingdom's conservative Reform party, during a bipartisan trip to the U.K., Anthony Adragna reports.
According to Raskin and three other Democratic lawmakers on the trip, Raskin had started talking about the history of free speech in the U.S. which led to current threats from Trump. That's when they said Farage interrupted him saying, 'We're not here to talk about Donald Trump,' and that Raskin was 'the most pig-headed person he'd ever met.'
The top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee clapped back to Farage: 'This is why we had a revolution against you guys.'
The trip was organized by Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan for Republicans to push back against the country's new Online Safety Act and free speech concerns in the U.K.
HOUSE MEMBERS MEET MILEI — A bipartisan group of seven House members traveled to Argentina to meet President Javier Milei Monday to discuss the country's financial landscape. Led by Financial Services Chair French Hill, the group included GOP Reps. Warren Davidson, María Elvira Salazar, Troy Downing and Tim Moore and Democratic Reps. Don Davis and Janelle Bynum, according to a statement from Hill.
The group also met with Minister of Economy Luis Caputo, head of the Argentinian Central Bank Santiago Bausili and Minister of Foreign Affairs Gerardo Werthein. In addition to discussing the relationship between the U.S. and Argentina, the group talked about digital assets' risks and opportunities.
TUNNEL TALK
ON ONE KNEE IN THE SPEAKER'S BALCONY—Timothy O'Neill, legislative director for Rep. Tom McClintock, and Ashtyn Rouland, comms director for Rep. Chuck Edwards, recently got engaged on the speaker's balcony, per Playbook. The couple met as staffers for Rep. Debbie Lesko.
JOB BOARD
Alley Adcock is joining the Treasury Department as deputy assistant secretary for legislative affairs, appropriations and management. She most recently was a professional staff member on the House Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee.
Emily Flower is joining the Kennedy Center as a director of PR. She was previously comms director for Sen. Roger Marshall.
Terrence Clark has joined Amazon's corporate comms team handling crisis, issues and reputation management. He most recently was senior comms adviser and spokesperson for the Justice Department and is a Raphael Warnock alum.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Rep. Joe Wilson … former Rep. Adam Putnam … Nelson Garcia … Todd Novascone of OGR … U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Lexi Branson … Matthew Ballard of Ballard Strategy Group … Micah Spangler … Lauren Allen … Dan McFaul … James Floyd of Durbin's office … Terry Schilling … former Massachusetts Govs. Bill Weld (8-0) and Deval Patrick … Dan Schnur … Alana Peisner of Rep. Mike Levin's office … Joe Novotny of HB Strategies
TRIVIA
WEDNESDAY'S ANSWER: Brad Fitch correctly answered that upon Theodore Roosevelt's death, the sitting vice president exclaimed, 'Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight.'
TODAY'S QUESTION, from Brad: Who was the first speaker of the House to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda?
The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com.
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