👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. The midterms are in 20 days.

VIEW FROM THE HILL

House Democrats are already laying the groundwork for investigations into President Trump and his administration if they win control of the chamber next month, with the Judiciary and Oversight committees beginning to coordinate their work as party leaders prepare to make good on a central campaign promise.

Preparations include discussions among committee members, plans to expand investigative staffs, and a post-election retreat for Judiciary Democrats when lawmakers return for the lame-duck session, according to a person familiar with the planning. Oversight Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) recently gathered Democratic staffers in Long Beach—the southern California coastal city he represents—to prepare for a possible change in control.

The work is taking shape even as Democrats insist they aren’t taking victory for granted. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has made lowering everyday costs, expanding access to affordable health care, and rooting out government corruption the party's three pillars for the midterm message. If Democrats regain the majority in January, they’ll have to pursue those priorities at the same time.

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👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. The midterms are in 21 days.

VIEW FROM THE HILL

Georgia Democrats are confident voters will have a free and fair election next month, even as they prepare for potential interference from the Trump administration in a state whose closely contested races could help determine the balance of power in Washington.

The assurance comes as early voting begins today in Georgia, where Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) is seeking reelection and both parties are competing for the governor’s mansion. Ossoff cast his ballot this morning as Democrats urged voters to turn out early amid concerns about the administration’s intentions.

Hakeem Jeffries has declared that Democrats have assembled the largest voter-protection effort in modern American history. In an Instagram post over the weekend, he offered an unequivocal prediction: “There will be a free and fair election.”

Four Democratic officials and voting-rights advocates endorsed that confidence during a Monday press call organized by the watchdog group Try and Stop Us. But their responses to questions from Once Upon a Hill made clear that the outcome Jeffries anticipates will require considerable preparation.

“Yes, we will have free and fair elections,” state Rep. Jasmine Clark, the Democratic nominee in Georgia’s 13th Congressional District, said. “But it is going to come with us preparing and doing what it takes to get us there.”

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👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. The midterms are in 22 days.

Reminder: Tonight’s Congress Nerd Daily is free for all readers, replacing my usual Sunday edition, which didn’t publish yesterday in observance of Indigenous Peoples Day. My regular publishing schedule and paywall will resume tomorrow evening.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Homeland Security Investigations agents searched the Washington-area home of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) this morning in an extraordinary federal enforcement action involving a sitting Democratic lawmaker three weeks before the midterm elections. The Justice Department confirmed agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant but has not disclosed the investigation’s focus or announced charges. Vice President JD Vance said in May that the administration would investigate longstanding immigration-fraud allegations against Omar, which she has denied. There is no official confirmation that the search is connected to those allegations.

Omar said she was unharmed and accused the administration of attempting to “target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.” She also used the raid to solicit political contributions in a fundraising email distributed by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, asking supporters to split donations between her campaign and the progressive group to help fight what she called President Donald Trump’s “abuse of power.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) called the raid “deeply disturbing,” demanded transparency and pledged accountability for what they described as an abuse of federal power. Other Democrats cast the search as part of a broader pattern of targeting Black women, citing the federal prosecution of Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) and cases involving Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Speaking of McIver, she asked the full Third Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday to reconsider an August ruling that allowed federal criminal charges against her to proceed. The charges stem from a May 2025 confrontation with federal officers during an oversight visit to an ICE detention facility in Newark. McIver argues the prosecution threatens Congress’s constitutional oversight authority and could chill lawmakers’ scrutiny of the executive branch. “Members of Congress have a right to do oversight even, and especially, when the administration does not like what they find,” she said. McIver faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted.

VIEW FROM THE HILL

A disagreement over what Democrats owe their party—and what the party owes them—is exposing tensions between progressives and the Democratic establishment in the final weeks before the midterm elections.

The dispute has gained new significance since the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added Tennessee Democrat Justin J. Pearson to its Red to Blue program last week, after progressives called for greater support of candidates aligned with their wing of the party. The designation came as some Democrats have privately expressed frustration with colleagues who expect institutional support but haven’t fulfilled their financial obligations to the committee.

“We should pay dues. Some of the far-left progressives don’t pay, and now that Pearson has been added, it’s like, see, that’s what dues are for,” one Democratic lawmaker told me. “I personally don’t think people should get anything if they expect others to do the heavy lifting.”

The lawmaker, granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal party dynamics, also questioned whether some progressives were committed to the party’s broader success, arguing that their priorities focused more on gaining influence within the Democratic coalition than on building it.

But the DCCC’s own financial records paint a more complicated picture.

According to a copy of the committee’s August dues report obtained by Once Upon a Hill, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) had contributed $265,000 toward a $260,000 goal, while former chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) had paid $192,500 toward a $190,000 target. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) had contributed $280,000 toward her $275,000 obligation.

Other prominent progressives were considerably further behind. Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Summer Lee (D-Pa.) had made no dues payments toward their respective goals as of August, while Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) had paid $100,000 of her $190,000 obligation.

The figures scramble any suggestion that progressives are uniformly unwilling to support the party’s campaign operation. They also don’t establish why individual members have fallen short or whether additional payments have been made since August.

When asked about the issue last month, Jeffries pushed back on the characterization of a dues crisis, saying the DCCC had broken records for member contributions over the previous two election cycles.

The top House Democrat also emphasized that members defending competitive seats are not expected to pay dues because their responsibility is to hold their districts. That includes several members of the Congressional Black Caucus, whose representation has expanded into districts where Black voters are not the majority.

He pointed to the DCCC’s partnership with the CBC’s political arm as part of the effort to grow Black representation in the House.

Jeffries was also asked about the lack of Black candidates from Red to Blue, which he largely attributed to the primary process and the limited number of candidates who entered competitive races.

“There are a couple of emerging opportunities in places throughout the South that we’re closely monitoring,” he said.

Five days later, the DCCC added Pearson and Arkansas Democrat Chris Jones to Red to Blue, making them the first two Black candidates selected for the program this cycle.

In announcing Pearson’s selection, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) accused Tennessee Republicans of attempting to silence Black voters through redistricting and praised Pearson as a proven advocate for his community.

I’m told the DCCC and Pearson’s campaign have worked closely since the primary and his addition to Red to Blue reflects the strength of his candidacy. The committee also considers input from outside groups and talks with campaigns before making such decisions, though it remains unclear how much progressive advocacy influenced Pearson’s selection.

The DCCC continues to see opportunities to compete in Republican-held districts and views member dues as an important resource for those efforts, especially as the election approaches.

The competing perspectives underscore a larger disagreement within the Democratic coalition. Some members see paying dues as a fundamental obligation to the party’s collective electoral effort, while progressive advocates have pushed the campaign committee to recognize and invest in candidates who represent their political priorities.

But the committee’s financial records suggest the dividing line isn’t as simple as progressives demanding support and establishment Democrats paying for it. The question is whether those disagreements over money, influence and institutional responsibility can be reconciled as Democrats approach Election Day.

Trump returns to Ohio to stump for Husted: President Trump will rally in Youngstown this evening for Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), who faces former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in one of the races that could determine control of the chamber. It will be Trump’s second Ohio campaign stop in 10 days, after Vice President Vance visited the state last week. Youngstown’s industrial working-class voters helped fuel Trump’s political rise, but Brown is trying to reclaim some of that support amid concerns about affordability, manufacturing jobs and the expansion of AI data centers. Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy is also expected to attend.

Craig to campaign for Flanagan after bruising primary: Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) will campaign this Saturday alongside Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who defeated her in Minnesota’s bitterly contested Democratic Senate primary in August. The race exposed divisions between the party’s moderate and progressive wings, particularly over immigration enforcement, with Flanagan attacking Craig’s vote for the Laken Riley Act. Now Craig is helping her former rival mobilize voters in the final weeks against Republican Michele Tafoya. The two will kick off a weekend of door-knocking in Craig’s suburban congressional district, where Flanagan’s campaign says Democrats have knocked on more than 1.9 million doors statewide this year.

Bipartisan senators challenge legality of Trump’s Russian diesel deal: Seven senators, including four Republicans, accused President Trump of violating a 2022 law banning Russian energy imports after his administration authorized Russian diesel shipments to ease soaring fuel prices. The group, led by Senate Foreign Relations Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), said the administration failed to consult Congress or provide the justification required by law. Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Thom Tillis (N.C.) and John Curtis (Utah) joined Democrats Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.) in demanding Trump reverse course. “The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians,” they said.

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IN THE KNOW

— U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes ordered a 24-hour halt to tree removal at East Potomac Golf Course following a contentious hearing today. Approximately 500 trees were removed over the weekend despite her earlier instructions that the administration provide advance notice of major construction activity. National Park Service officials said the work followed a 2019 restoration plan predating Trump’s proposed renovation, but Reyes sharply criticized the Justice Department for failing to notify the court and said the temporary halt could be extended to 14 days. Read the AP’s courtroom reporting »

— Two taxpayer-funded advertisements promoting President Trump aired repeatedly after a federal judge’s Sunday evening deadline. The White House said the Department of Homeland Security did not receive the order in time to cancel the placements. Judge Jennifer Rochon blocked further spending from a $20 million DHS advertising purchase, finding challengers likely to succeed in arguing the campaign exceeded congressional appropriations and violated propaganda restrictions. Read more from the Washington Post » … Read Judge Rochon’s court order »

— A new analysis of preliminary USDA data finds 19.8 million households received SNAP benefits in June

, nearly 12% fewer than a year earlier. Arizona recorded a 49% decline in participating households, followed by Nevada at 28% and Oklahoma at 21%. Florida had the largest numerical drop, exceeding 293,000 households. Republicans’ 2025 reconciliation law expanded work requirements to adults ages 55–64 and tightened eligibility. States also began covering 75% of administrative costs on Oct. 1, with additional benefit-cost obligations approaching. The law cannot be blamed entirely for the enrollment decline. Read more from WLWT News 5 »

📬 The best stories often start with a conversation. If you’ve got insight, context or something others are missing, my inbox is open. Send me tips, scoops or just say hi: michael@onceuponahill.com.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

“Donald Trump after the midterms” by David Remnick: “If the coming election does result in a blue wave, Trump will be faced with the fact of his diminishment. The rest of us will be faced with the wreckage.”

“What Hasan Piker believes” by Jonathan Chait: “He’s right to complain that a few provocative quotes do not capture his worldview.”

“Far-right election groups are now targeting nursing homes” by David Gilbert: “Inspired by new guidance from the Trump administration, right-wing election groups are targeting nursing homes, baselessly claiming that left-wing groups are stealing residents’ votes.”

👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. The midterms are in 26 days.

Programming note: In observance of Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday, Once Upon a Hill won’t publish Congress Nerd Sunday. Publication will resume on Monday evening. In place of the usual free Sunday edition, Monday’s Daily newsletter will be free for all readers. Have a wonderful weekend!

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Isaias, the first Atlantic hurricane of the season, is expected to strengthen before making landfall along the northern Gulf Coast late tomorrow or early Saturday, with Alabama and the Florida Panhandle facing significant risks.

Isaias had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph earlier today, and forecasters warned of life-threatening storm surge up to seven feet, heavy rainfall, flash flooding and possible tornadoes. Coastal communities are preparing for the storm as offshore energy operators curtail production.

As of yesterday, about a quarter of Gulf oil production had already been shut down, a disruption that threatens further fuel-price pressure amid the Iran war. The National Hurricane Center⁠ will continue updating its forecasts as landfall approaches.

In other news, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly this afternoon extended his temporary restraining order against the White House’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico through next Tuesday, when he expects to rule on a preliminary injunction.

He appeared skeptical of the administration’s defense of its ban on CNN⁠, MS NOW⁠ and POLITICO⁠ and questioned whether the administration’s explanations could be reconciled with Trump’s public statements and whether officials had established clear standards for revoking press credentials.

Justice Department attorneys maintained that national security and journalistic conduct justified the restrictions. Attorneys for the outlets argued Trump explicitly linked their exclusion to unfavorable coverage.

VIEW FROM THE TRAIL

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) returned to his Brooklyn roots this afternoon to make the case for a Democratic House majority, delivering a familiar economic message from a state office building named for Shirley Chisholm, the trailblazing congresswoman who once represented much of the same community.

Jeffries invoked Chisholm’s commitment to making life more affordable for working families before launching into a familiar critique of President Donald Trump’s economic record. He blamed Republican policies for higher prices, rising health care costs and economic fallout from the war in Iran, presenting House Democrats as the alternative for Americans struggling to afford groceries, gas, housing and medical care.

The setting gave a local dimension to the national argument Jeffries has been making for months. But the Brooklyn appearance was also a brief stop between campaign swings as the Democratic leader works to convert his party’s political momentum into a House majority on November 3.

Jeffries, who campaigned in California last weekend, is expected to travel to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas and the Midwest in the coming days, with another possible trip to California.

The itinerary is part of what Jeffries has repeatedly described as running through the tape, a commitment to taking nothing for granted even as Democrats approach Election Day with growing confidence about their prospects.

Asked what that means in practice with 26 days remaining, Jeffries pointed to two priorities: protecting Democratic incumbents in competitive districts and supporting candidates positioned to flip Republican-held seats.

“We’re going to continue to be there for all of our battle-tested frontline incumbent members who remain in challenging seats all across the country,” he said, emphasizing the need to ensure they have the resources to communicate their affordability message.

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👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. The midterms are in 27 days.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Today marks three years since Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages in the deadliest day in the country’s history. The attack set off a war that has reshaped the Middle East and devastated Gaza, where more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, and much of the population remains displaced. As families and communities mark the anniversary, I’m remembering the lives lost, the survivors still carrying the trauma of that day and the civilians who have endured the staggering human cost of the years since.

VIEW FROM THE HILL

Congressional Democrats are getting more specific about how they want Washington to govern artificial intelligence, with a pair of new proposals today adding to a growing body of ideas that could shape the debate in the next Congress.

Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, released a six-part framework calling for enforceable federal safety standards for the most advanced AI systems, continuous testing and independent audits, incident reporting and greater accountability for developers. Separately, Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) unveiled a discussion draft that would create a federal cause of action allowing people harmed by AI agents to hold developers liable in certain cases.

The proposals approach the technology from different directions but reflect what Nicholas Garcia, senior policy counsel at technology advocacy group Public Knowledge, described to me in an interview this afternoon as a meaningful shift in the congressional conversation.

“We are seeing that in the recent months, congressional Democrats are absolutely taking the questions of frontier AI safety and catastrophic risk much more seriously than was the case, let’s say, a year ago,” Garcia said, pointing to “increasing specificity and focus” on how the federal government could oversee those risks.

Read more

👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. The midterms are in 28 days.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson will meet tonight for the first of four Maine Senate debates, giving Jackson his first head-to-head opportunity to prosecute his case against the five-term incumbent with four weeks until Election Day. The 7 p.m. showdown comes as Democrats look to Maine as one of the seats they need to flip to win the Senate majority. Expect abortion, health care, tariffs, the Iran war and President Donald Trump—along with Collins’s argument that her seniority delivers for Maine—to feature prominently.

The debate action started earlier today in Michigan’s 7th District, where Democratic challenger Will Lawrence and Republican Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.) sparred over Barrett’s congressional record and Lawrence’s past comments during their first face-to-face meeting. Barrett repeatedly pressed Lawrence over old social-media posts supporting defunding or abolishing police; Lawrence said his views had changed and pivoted to Barrett’s votes on tariffs and other Trump administration policies. The two also drew distinctions over AI and data centers, an unusually prominent issue in the swing district: Lawrence favors a federal moratorium on new developments, while Barrett says siting decisions should remain local.

And there’s plenty more where that came from. Michigan gubernatorial nominees Jocelyn Benson and John James debate tonight before Senate nominees Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers meet Thursday. Georgia gubernatorial nominees Keisha Lance Bottoms and Rick Jackson face off tonight in what could be their only debate, while Iowa gubernatorial nominees Rob Sand and Zach Lahn also meet tonight and Senate nominees Josh Turek and Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) debate tomorrow.

VIEW FROM THE HILL

A second federal whistleblower has come forward to Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) with allegations that Trump administration officials ordered government employees to pursue politically sensitive investigations despite warnings from inside the government that their instructions were unlawful or unconstitutional.

The latest disclosure, announced by Padilla on Tuesday, alleges President Trump wanted the FBI to investigate and arrest protesters in Southern California after watching video of residents warning their neighbors about the presence of immigration agents and advising them of their legal rights.

According to the disclosure, FBI personnel determined the protesters in Alhambra, California, had not impeded an arrest or posed a threat. But the whistleblower alleges the White House nevertheless instructed FBI Director Kash Patel to have the bureau’s Los Angeles Field Office pursue an investigation.

“The President wants this investigation,” FBI personnel were allegedly told, according to the disclosure, and “the directive had to be followed.”

The whistleblower, a former supervisory intelligence analyst in the Los Angeles field office, also alleges that then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove separately directed personnel to investigate anti-ICE and Customs and Border Protection protesters demonstrating at federal buildings without evidence of criminal activity or a national-security threat.

The account alleges FBI leadership proceeded despite acknowledging constitutional concerns and that it removed the whistleblower from a supervisory position after objecting. The whistleblower ultimately resigned before they could be fired, according to the disclosure.

Padilla, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary immigration subcommittee, is demanding Attorney General Todd Blanche and Patel provide answers by Oct. 12 about the investigations, including how many protesters the FBI and Justice Department have investigated since Trump returned to office and how many investigations were based solely on First Amendment activity.

Read more

👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. The midterms are in 29 days.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert died over the weekend at 84. The Illinois Republican, who served as speaker from 1999 to 2007, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison in 2016 for illegally structuring bank withdrawals used for hush-money payments that concealed his sexual abuse of teenage boys while he was a high school wrestling coach. Read more from AP News »

In campaign news, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) will campaign with Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) in New Hampshire tomorrow, starting with a meet-and-greet in Nashua before helping open a new Organize New Hampshire office in Keene alongside state Democratic leaders. The swing comes after Warnock told me last week that he was fielding “a lot of requests” to campaign around Georgia and across the country during the final month before the midterms.

“I can’t be everywhere. I still pastor my church. I got two little kids,” Warnock said. But he added that he planned to spend October “moving around the state and all over the country” because of what he described as the election’s unusually high stakes. Warnock said Democrats need congressional majorities capable of putting “guardrails” on President Donald Trump and argued Republicans have shown little interest in doing so.

Warnock warned the danger wouldn’t necessarily pass with a Democratic victory: Trump, he said, could emerge from November “like a wounded lion who has lost his roar and his bite—and that can be a very dangerous time.”

VIEW FROM THE HILL

Black voters are poised to play their familiar consequential role in next month’s midterms. But new data suggests Democratic leaders shouldn’t mistake participation for satisfaction.

Black Futures Lab this afternoon invited reporters to an early look at more than 6,000 responses to its 2026 Black Census Project, an ongoing national survey that remains in the field and ultimately aims to collect hundreds of thousands of responses.

The preliminary findings reveal extraordinarily low trust in political institutions alongside practical economic priorities and growing political independence—warning signs for a party that has long relied on Black voters as a foundational constituency.

The findings also track with what a Congressional Black Caucus member and Democratic strategist told me about the party’s relationship with Black voters in the final month before the midterms.

“Black voters are not monolithic and while many are speaking about working class issues, they are not uplifting a Black agenda,” the CBC member said. “In fact, no one is even talking to Black voters while on the trail. We are not in the polling and not in the conversations.”

The member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly assess the party, added that recognizing Black voters does not require candidates to “say ‘Black, Black, Black’ all the time,” but argued the party should acknowledge “the base of voters that have given this party foundation.”

“So maybe Black voters are not as vocal as we have been in the past,” the member said. “It does not mean we are not aware or that we are not keeping receipts.”

The strategist, who was also granted anonymity, offered a similar warning: Opposition to President Donald Trump may motivate Black voters next month, but Democrats “should not conflate that with enthusiasm for their agenda.”

The strategist argued Democrats have yet to articulate a sufficiently specific agenda for Black Americans and need to offer something “real, economical, and tangible,” citing a broader economic agenda and a reparations commission as examples. Symbolic representation still matters, the strategist said, but Democrats cannot assume it alone will sustain Black support.

That tension was central to Black Futures Lab’s presentation.

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👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. The midterms are in 33 days.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) will head to Mississippi on Friday to campaign with Democratic Senate nominee Scott Colom as Democrats continue to focus on a race that was barely on the party’s map earlier this cycle.

Booker will join Colom in Gulfport to launch “Canvass with Colom,” a statewide voter-mobilization push beginning three days before Mississippi’s Oct. 5 registration deadline. He’ll be the third sitting Democratic senator to campaign with Colom this cycle, following Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) in August and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) last month. Booker previously campaigned in Mississippi for Mike Espy during his 2018 challenge to Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.).

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will also be on the Senate campaign trail Friday, joining Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) in Manchester and Hooksett before a Rochester rally with Pappas and other Democratic nominees. Pappas is running for the open seat of retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) against former Republican Sen. John Sununu.

The dueling campaign swings offer an early look at how national Democrats are spending their time beyond the marquee battleground races with just over a month until Election Day: defending a New Hampshire seat already in Democratic hands while putting some attention into considerably redder territory in Mississippi.

VIEW FROM THE HILL

The Senate left Washington this week without senators or their House counterparts taking meaningful action to regulate the most powerful artificial intelligence systems, despite increasingly urgent warnings from industry leaders and lawmakers that the technology is advancing faster than the government can keep it safe.

Now lawmakers won’t return until Nov. 9. In their absence, the White House has offered its own answer: Let the companies police themselves.

President Donald Trump and executives from the country’s leading AI companies signed a voluntary accord on Tuesday committing developers to stronger internal controls, independent outside evaluations and board-level oversight of their most advanced systems. The agreement includes no federal enforcement mechanism or penalties for companies that fail to comply.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told me Wednesday that isn’t good enough.

“The notion of entering into a voluntary agreement that is entirely unenforceable and that allows the industry writ large to police itself is not the right response at this moment,” Jeffries said, “given the potentially grave harm and danger that industry leaders themselves are now flagging for the American people.”

His criticism followed weeks of warnings from Democrats that Congress should act before lawmakers left town for the campaign trail.

On Monday, Jeffries criticized Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Republicans for canceling the final two scheduled weeks of September votes rather than responding to concerns about advanced AI systems escaping controlled environments.

“It certainly seems to me that we need to actually lean in boldly and responsibly now,” Jeffries said on CNBC.

Then came Tuesday’s White House summit, where Trump met with executives including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman.

Trump praised what he called “tremendous self-policing” by the industry. The resulting White House Accord on Super Intelligence creates layers of private oversight: companies establish internal controls, separate teams audit those controls, outside auditors review compliance and independent board committees provide another layer of scrutiny.

But none of it carries the force of federal law.

Read more

👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. The midterms are in 34 days.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: It’s the final day of the fiscal year, and for once I’m not writing to you about a government shutdown showdown. Instead, the Senate is trying to clear the decks before lawmakers leave Washington for the October recess, though attendance could complicate Republican leaders’ plans.

GOP leadership is trying to line up the votes on several expiring Congressional Review Act resolutions that Republicans want to pass before senators leave town. Leaders are also seeking a time agreement with Democrats to speed up a final confirmation vote on Keith Sonderling to be Labor secretary after the Senate advanced his nomination 53–47 along party lines this afternoon. The catch is whether Republicans can keep enough senators around to finish everything.

Meanwhile, Democrats blocked the Stop Insider Trading Act and Ratepayer Protection Act from advancing, as expected. The Stop Insider Trading Act failed 53–47 along party lines. The Ratepayer Protection Act fell short 57–43, with four Democrats—Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Jon Ossoff (Ga.) and Raphael Warnock (Ga.)—joining every Republican in support.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters this morning that “the momentum is building toward wrapping it up today,” but couldn’t say with certainty that senators would be finished. Asked whether there could be more votes after this afternoon’s originally scheduled series, he told us: “Let me get back [to you].”

VIEW FROM THE HILL

Senators struck a sweeping bipartisan deal this afternoon to make it easier to build energy and infrastructure projects across the country, breaking through months of negotiations that at times looked destined to become Congress’s latest failed attempt at permitting reform.

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act would overhaul federal environmental reviews, speed up project decisions, expand the nation’s electric grid, and require data centers to pay the incremental transmission costs needed to serve their enormous demand for power.

The agreement is the product of an unusual four-way negotiation between Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), along with Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ranking Member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).

And getting there required something less technical than the hundreds of pages of legislative text the four senators released earlier today: patience, trust and, in Heinrich’s case, stubbornness.

“I’m really stubborn,” Heinrich told me after the senators announced the agreement. “So we just kept going back to the table.”

That persistence stemmed from Heinrich’s experience with SunZia, a 550-mile transmission line carrying wind power across New Mexico and Arizona that took 17 years to permit and build.

Heinrich, who has worked on the project since arriving in Congress in 2009, told me he was willing to “burn a lot of time and political capital” on permitting reform because projects should reach a yes-or-no decision much faster.

“Some projects aren’t good. Some projects shouldn’t go forward,” he said. “But you should be able to get to yes or no a lot faster than we currently do.”

The bill attempts to do that by changing the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and historic-preservation reviews. It would impose deadlines on environmental reviews, limit some litigation and make permits harder to undo once issued.

The other half of the bargain tackles energy development and the grid.

Read more

👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. The midterms are in 35 days.

First Things First: The Senate is expected to vote tomorrow on whether to advance two House-passed bills Republicans are casting as tests of Democrats’ willingness to address issues they have used against vulnerable GOP senators on the campaign trail.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.C.) told reporters this morning that Democrats who oppose Sen. Jon Husted’s (R-Ohio) Ratepayer Protection Act or Sen. Pete Ricketts’s Stop Insider Trading Act would make it “pretty hard” to criticize Republicans over data-center electricity costs or lawmakers profiting from information they learn in office.

“They’re raising those issues because they want to distract from their positions,” Thune said, accusing Democrats of trying to “politicize everything going into the election.”

Neither bill is guaranteed the 60 votes needed to advance. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) told reporters yesterday that the ratepayer bill falls short because it requires utilities to consider standards ensuring large energy users cover the infrastructure costs they create rather than requiring them to do so.

“We’re lawmakers, not law suggesters,” Schatz said. “If we want to lower people’s costs, we should mandate it.”

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the Ricketts bill a “theatrical farce” because it would allow lawmakers to retain and sell existing stocks, would not cover the president and would include voter-ID provisions Democrats oppose. Both bills have already cleared the House, meaning Senate passage would send them directly to President Donald Trump.

VIEW FROM THE HILL

Senate Democrats plan to demand new restrictions on the Trump administration’s ability to cancel congressionally approved spending as part of any government funding legislation later this year, raising the prospect of another sticking point in the next round of negotiations.

Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, told reporters this afternoon that Democrats have repeatedly sought language addressing the administration’s use of rescissions during previous spending negotiations but were rebuffed.

“I have been saying throughout all of our appropriations process, throughout all the CR negotiations, we have to have language in there about rescissions,” Murray said. “I have been told no time and time again, and that will be our demand when we come back on any bill we pass later on this year.”

Her comments come as appropriators are preparing for another round of negotiations to fund the government beyond December—and as senators in both parties consider how Congress can protect spending agreements from being undone after they become law.

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters Monday that lawmakers are “already looking at whether there’s language we can put in the next set of appropriations bills that would prohibit” pocket rescissions.

That could put Collins and Murray closer together on the need for new safeguards, even as Democrats argue Republicans rejected similar protections during previous negotiations.

Several Democratic appropriators I spoke with on Monday said the administration’s unwillingness to spend money Congress has approved is already complicating the next funding fight.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) joined the bipartisan criticism of the Trump administration’s taxpayer-funded advertising campaign this afternoon, telling reporters he likes the president’s message but not who is footing the bill.

“I don’t think he’s said exactly where the money’s coming from,” Thune said. “It’s a great message. I like the message, but it shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars.”

The comments come after the administration aired a new ad during NFL games and Sunday programming over the weekend that closely mirrors a Trump 2024 campaign spot and ends with the disclosure: “Paid for by the U.S. Government.” The White House has defended the ads as public service announcements while lawmakers in both parties have questioned whether public funds should be used to promote the president.

VIEW FROM THE HILL

The Senate is poised to pass the Protect College Sports Act tonight with the kind of bipartisan margin that would ordinarily give a bill considerable momentum across the Capitol.

But at least four Senate Democrats who have resisted the legislation are warning their House colleagues not to mistake a lopsided Senate vote for a settled debate over the future of college sports.

Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) told me that House Democrats should use the additional time before the legislation is expected to receive consideration to demand stronger protections for college athletes and rebalance a bill they argue gives too much power to the institutions that govern college sports.

The message comes ahead of a final Senate vote this evening after each of the bill’s previous procedural hurdles cleared with at least 70 votes. But the legislation faces a more complicated path in the House, where members in both parties have raised concerns and lawmakers are not expected to consider it until the lame-duck session at the earliest.

The vote also comes as senators face pressure to show voters they are focused on a more immediate concern: the cost of living. Recent polling has consistently found affordability at or near the top of voters’ priorities heading into the midterms. Senate Republicans reinforced that urgency themselves last week when several members pushed leadership to bring the chamber back this week rather than leave Washington to campaign, in part to give them another opportunity to vote on legislation aimed at lowering household costs.

That creates an unusual split screen for the Senate’s final stretch before the election. The PCSA is a priority for Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and the college-sports institutions that have spent years pressing Congress for a national framework. But senators are simultaneously racing to demonstrate that they are responding to voters whose concerns are much closer to the kitchen table.

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VIEW FROM THE HILL

Senate Republicans are preparing to spend an extra week in Washington before the midterms as vulnerable members push party leaders for votes aimed at affordability—the issue Democrats have spent most of this Congress talking about.

“Looking that way,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Thursday morning when asked whether the chamber would be in session next week.

The change comes with 40 days until Election Day and growing signs that the economy has become a political liability for Republicans. A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll found Democrats with an eight-point advantage over Republicans on which party voters trust more to handle the economy and a 13-point advantage on gas prices. Among independents, those gaps grow to 19 and 26 points, respectively.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week found just 17 percent of Americans approve of President Donald Trump’s handling of the cost of living.

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VIEW FROM THE HILL

Chinese President Xi Jinping hasn’t even arrived at the White House yet, but congressional leaders are already drawing lines around what President Donald Trump should not put on the negotiating table.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) singled out Taiwan when I asked him this afternoon what Trump should refuse to concede during Thursday’s summit and what he would need to see to consider the meeting successful.

“We don’t seek conflict with China, but we are in strategic competition in all the different areas,” Jeffries said. “Taiwan is an ally, and hopefully Donald Trump is not going to give up Taiwanese autonomy, or sovereignty, or territorial integrity in ways that will be inconsistent with what past presidents, whether they are Democrats or Republicans, have done.”

Jeffries’s warning comes as Xi is expected to press Trump on Taiwan during a state visit that will test whether the two leaders can turn their recent push for a more stable relationship into durable agreements.

Across the Capitol, Senate Democrats are focused on another potential bargaining chip: America’s most advanced artificial intelligence technology.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Banking Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sens. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) called on Trump this afternoon to block China’s access to advanced AI chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment and pressed Congress to pass three bipartisan bills tightening U.S. export controls.

The legislation would address the problem from different angles: The AI OVERWATCH Act would tighten controls on advanced AI chips, while the MATCH Act would target the equipment China needs to manufacture high-end chips itself. The Chip Security Act would establish safeguards intended to detect whether exported chips are diverted to unauthorized destinations.

“We must reject the false choice Trump keeps making,” Schumer said. “We can and must both maintain our lead on AI by restricting China’s access to our technology, and put up guardrails to mitigate AI’s risk.”

The White House defended its record but did not say whether Trump would consider relaxing export controls as part of a deal with Xi.

“These same Democrats stood idly by and twiddled their thumbs when the Biden administration freely let critical technologies flow overseas,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told me in a statement. “The Trump administration has implemented the most rigorous export control regime in modern history, and remains committed to America’s national and economic security.”

A spokesperson for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) did not respond to a request for comment on whether Johnson believes advanced AI chips and chipmaking equipment should be off the table in negotiations with Xi.

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Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) is on the Senate floor calling for congressional action on AI and previewing legislation he plans to introduce later this week. The Make AI Work for Americans Act would create a Big Tech-funded pot of money to help workers navigate AI-driven changes in the workplace and broader economy. The timing couldn’t be better: Today’s View From The Hill focuses on Washington’s AI debate—and President Donald Trump’s new name for the technology.

The Senate has two votes starting at 5:30 p.m., beginning with cloture on the nomination of Angela Colmenero to serve as a federal judge for the Southern District of Texas. Senators will then vote on cloture for the Cruz-Cantwell substitute to the Protect College Sports Act, moving the chamber another step toward a final vote on the bipartisan college-sports package. The Senate voted 77–22 last week to take up the bill after an earlier 74–24 cloture vote.

VIEW FROM THE HILL

President Trump has renamed bodies of water, military bases and federal institutions. Now he wants to rename an entire technology.

Trump announced during his address to the United Nations General Assembly this morning that the U.S. government would begin referring to artificial intelligence as “super intelligence,” or SI, because he thinks “artificial” makes the technology sound fake.

“From this point forward, all of United States documents, and hopefully the world’s, will be changed to use the much more accurate term ‘super’ as opposed to artificial,” Trump said.

The declaration extends a second-term fixation with renaming the familiar—from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and Lake Ontario to Lake America, to the Pentagon’s adoption of “Department of War” as a secondary title.

But Trump’s latest rebrand came with a consequential policy argument: The U.S. should prioritize developing increasingly powerful AI over regulating its risks.

“Whoever wins AI—you have to remember this—and now I say whoever wins SI, whoever wins super intelligence wins,” Trump said. “That’s the group that wins.”

Trump dismissed warnings that AI could cause catastrophic harm as a hoax and rejected international regulation of the technology, although he said the Justice Department would monitor the industry.

“I am not going to stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the Industrial Revolution,” he said.

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Donald Trump is currently meeting with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at Gracie Mansion ahead of the president’s big speech at the United Nations General Assembly tomorrow. The White House did not disclose any substantive details of the meeting ahead of time.

VIEW FROM THE HILL

President Trump’s decision to ban three news organizations from the White House is no longer merely a dispute over who gets through the gates at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

It is beginning to determine what the public can see and hear from the president.

Trump left Washington for the United Nations General Assembly this afternoon without an independent television pool traveling with him after the White House prevented CNN—the network scheduled for pool duty—from fulfilling its assignment. ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC declined to send a replacement crew, effectively suspending the rotating system through which the networks share video and audio from presidential events where space is limited.

The consequences were apparent before Trump even left town.

During a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new South Lawn helipad before departing for New York City, Trump’s remarks were difficult to hear because the professional audio normally provided by the television pool was absent. C-SPAN, which relies on the network pool for some presidential coverage, said it could not carry another White House event because no feed was available. The disruption will follow Trump to NYC: no network pool camera will accompany him during his UN trip.

Print reporters are still traveling with Trump and other components of the White House pool remain in operation. Official government video may also be available for some events. But without the television pool, there will not be the customary independently operated network camera documenting everything reporters in that position are permitted to witness.

And that gets at the practical stakes of a fight that is now headed to federal court…

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IN THE KNOW

TODAY IN POLITICS

• President Trump said the U.S. is working on a “massive” deal to buy Belarusian potash for substantially less than it pays Canada, potentially shifting U.S. fertilizer purchases from a longtime ally to a close Russian partner that remains under U.S. sanctions.

POLICY DESK

• Senate Intelligence Ranking Member Mark Warner (D-Va.), Senate Armed Services Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Ranking Member Chris Coons (D-Del.) pressed the Pentagon and DNI for IG investigations into reported AI failures in US military operations—including outdated geospatial data used in an Iran strike and AI-generated false intelligence that contributed to an aborted interdiction operation. The Democrats warned that accelerating military AI deployment without sufficient testing and human oversight risks “grave operational miscalculations” and asked investigators to examine any additional incidents that have not become public.

THE TRAIL

• Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) endorsed Republican Rep. Mike Lawler for reelection in New York’s 17th District, saying the two have worked together on lobster protections, federal workers’ collective-bargaining rights and ACA tax credits. Golden, who is leaving Congress after this term, is backing Lawler over Democratic nominee Cait Conley in a competitive Hudson Valley seat targeted by both parties.

LOOKING AHEAD

• President Trump is scheduled to meet with President Emmanuel Macron this evening before attending an RNC reception and a MAGA Inc. dinner.

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— “The new world order is here” by Jonah Shepp: “Our allies are tired of the U.S. pushing them around.”

— “The northern passage” by Nick Miroff: “ICE is targeting Haitians with new intensity. Now some are fleeing the United States for Canada.”

— “When political reality collided with Ed Sheeran” by Roxane Gay: “Celebrities use the facade of neutrality as shelter, as a place to take refuge.”

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👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. The midterms are in 47 days.

It’s out! I joined Punchbowl News’ Fly Out Day this week after Maryland Gov. Wes Moore sat down with Anna Palmer to talk redistricting, the possibility of a Democratic congressional majority, AI and data centers in Maryland and more. Then CNN’s Alayna Treene and I yapped about it all. Watch the episode and let me know what you think.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) has learned nearly four years into the job that keeping her sprawling caucus together is often less about bringing down the hammer than understanding why a member might be prepared to break ranks in the first place.

“Sometimes that’s what I have to do,” Clark told me this morning of coming at members hard. “But most of the time it’s finding the best way. What is the underlying problem? What is going on in someone’s district? What are the pressures that they are feeling from a collapse of an industry that may be very different than my district?”

Clark said effective whipping also requires knowing when she isn’t the right person to persuade a member.

“It’s also knowing when you’re not the best person to actually talk to a member, but maybe a different member, someone who is from their region or in one of their ideological caucuses, is the better person,” she said.

Clark offered the unusually candid description of her leadership style after I asked what she had learned about herself and her colleagues during their nearly four years leading House Democrats together—all of them spent in the minority.

The question carries new weight as the trio closes out its final stretch before the midterms. If Democrats win control of the House, Clark would move from whip to majority leader, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) would be positioned to become the first Black speaker and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) the first Latino majority whip.

Jeffries also made clear Thursday that whatever differences exist in the three leaders’ styles, he sees them as aligned in confronting one of the caucus’s most immediate challenges.

“There is no daylight between the three of us,” Jeffries said when asked about chatter of a push to remove Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) from the exclusive Appropriations Committee following her repeated votes for Republican procedural rules. “And we’ll address the situation when we address the situation.”…

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IN THE KNOW

Data-center cost fight hits the Senate: An effort to quickly pass a bipartisan House bill aimed at preventing AI data centers from driving up consumers’ electricity bills stalled in the Senate this afternoon as lawmakers clashed over how far the federal government should go to regulate the facilities…

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— “Hundreds of election deniers will be on the ballot this November” by David Gilbert: “197 election deniers are running for Congress or statewide office in 43 states. Many of them are seeking roles that would put them in charge of voting for the 2028 presidential election.”

— “College is coming apart” by Ian Bogost: “Successive, overlapping crises reveal that American higher education makes no sense.”

— “How much Pat McAfee is too much?” by Adam Elder: “Once-predictable ESPN is wagering its future on a polarizing, overcaffeinated commentator.”

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👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. The midterms are in 48 days.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) canceled tomorrow’s votes, sending members home a day early for the campaign trail—and keeping them there until after the election. Johnson touted his Republican majority as the second-most productive in House history by bills passed and blamed the Senate for failing to turn more of them into law.

Independent legislative trackers paint a less rosy picture: The House has churned through plenty of partisan and priority bills, but the number making it through both chambers and into law trails several previous sessions.

The early exit also spares Republicans, for now, from a potentially uncomfortable vote on the articles of impeachment Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) filed Tuesday against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The House isn’t scheduled to vote again until Nov. 9.

The Senate took no votes today after Democrats and Republicans failed to agree on speeding up consideration of the Protect College Sports Act, which cleared its first procedural hurdle on Tuesday. Under Senate rules, the next vote can occur tomorrow without an agreement.

Heads up: I’ll be a panelist on Punchbowl News’ Fly Out Day tomorrow. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore will join Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman to talk redistricting, the possibility of a Democratic congressional majority, AI and data centers in Maryland and more. Then CNN’s Alayna Treene and I will yap about it all.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Speaker Johnson said the House has yet to build consensus around bipartisan legislation giving victims of sexually explicit deepfakes the right to sue their abusers, leaving the measure stalled as lawmakers prepare to leave Washington until after the midterm elections.

The Senate unanimously passed the DEFIANCE Act in January, the second consecutive Congress the chamber has approved the legislation without objection. The bill, led by Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), would create a federal civil cause of action for victims of nonconsensual sexually explicit digital forgeries.

“There’s a lot of input on that,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday evening when asked about the bill. “I don’t know. We haven’t built consensus around it yet, but I mean, it’s good policy.”

Ocasio-Cortez told Once Upon a Hill in an exclusive interview this evening that the lack of action is particularly puzzling because opposition to the bill has not broken along party lines.

“In the membership, it’s not a partisan issue,” she said, adding that even some major technology companies support what she described as “common sense guardrails” and a civil right of action for victims.

Ocasio-Cortez said she has heard suggestions that resistance to the legislation could be personal, though she emphasized that she does not know whether that is the case.

With no remaining pre-election opportunity for the House to pass DEFIANCE, Ocasio-Cortez was already looking beyond the current Republican majority…

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IN THE KNOW

House wraps its pre-midterm work—with some Dem drama: The House passed a sweeping Russia sanctions package this evening as Democrats confronted another round of internal tension over two members crossing party lines to help Republicans advance the legislation.

The Russia bill, which passed 262-159, would impose a broad new sanctions regime targeting senior Russian officials and oligarchs, major banks, the defense and energy sectors and vessels in the so-called shadow fleet used to evade existing restrictions. It would also restrict U.S. investment in Russia, transactions involving Russian financial institutions and purchases of Russian sovereign debt. The Senate passed the legislation 86–11 last month, so House approval sends it to President Trump, whose administration supports the measure.

But the bill divided House Democrats in part because it would give Trump sweeping tariff authority.

The president would be required to raise tariffs on Russian imports to as much as 500 percent and could impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on goods from countries that rank among the five largest buyers of Russian oil or natural gas or among the top facilitators of Russian oil-sanctions evasion.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Foreign Affairs Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) were among the Democrats who opposed the legislation, arguing Congress should not give a president additional tariff discretion who Democrats say has already unlawfully exercised his existing authority.

The legislation nevertheless became the latest flashpoint in a separate Democratic dispute over party discipline after Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Jared Golden of Maine joined Republicans Tuesday to approve the rule governing consideration of the sanctions bill and several other measures.

Perez and Golden said they supported the rule because they did not want the Russia sanctions package to become stuck in procedural gridlock. But their votes came mere weeks after the two Democrats helped Republicans rescue another rule, prompting some members to push leadership to change caucus rules to deter similar freelancing in the future.

Jeffries declined several opportunities Wednesday to weigh in on the latest episode.

“I’ll have more to say about the situation when I have more to say about the situation,” he told reporters, repeating the same response when pressed several times.

House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) was less circumspect Wednesday morning when asked whether members who cross party lines on rules should be allowed to sit on exclusive committees.

“We got 49 days to win this House and make sure that we return a majority,” Clark said. “And when we return a majority, it matters that we govern and how we govern.”

Clark added that Democrats need “team players” focused on making the caucus successful on behalf of Americans—and said those members “should be sitting on exclusive committees.”

That puts a spotlight on Perez, who sits on the exclusive Appropriations Committee.

Clark did not respond when reporters followed up to ask whether she considers Perez a team player.

Also on the floor: The House passed, by a 214-208 vote, a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn an EPA decision partially authorizing California to enforce stricter emissions standards for commercial harbor craft, including ferries, tugboats and other vessels operating in and around ports.

Members also approved, by a 352-72 margin, legislation creating a National Fraud Enforcement Division within the Justice Department and, in a 217-207 vote, a bill requiring states to provide the DOJ with information it requests for investigations or prosecutions of fraud involving federally funded programs.

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“Women built MAHA. MAGA bros have taken it over.” by Jill Filipovic: “Forget regulating food—manly MAHA cares about meat, testosterone and erectile dysfunction.”

“How far would you go for sisterhood?” by Angelina Chapin: “College girls are desperate to join the best sororities. Some are turning to weight-loss drugs to get there.”

“How the restaurant burger went from cheap indulgence to luxury meal” by Tim Carman and Federica Cocco: “The $30 burger can be found on menus from New York to California, despite efforts to rein in soaring beef prices.”

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👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. The midterms are in 49 days. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was back at the Capitol today for his official portrait unveiling in Statuary Hall, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) hosting a reunion of sorts for McCarthy-era Republicans. McCarthy, whose nine-month speakership ended with his historic removal in 2023, said he’d “do it all again.”

Crockett leaves questions unanswered

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) repeatedly declined this afternoon to address the backlash over her decision to honor R&B singer Chris Brown with a congressional recognition, hours before a Texas state lawmaker who joined her onstage apologized for his participation and acknowledged that their appearance failed to accomplish one of its intended purposes: encouraging Texans to vote in the midterms.

Once Upon a Hill approached Crockett outside the House Democratic cloakroom and offered the Texas Democrat several opportunities to respond to the criticism, say whether she thought it was fair or provide additional context about how the appearance came together.

The exchange was not contentious. Crockett remained for several minutes and ultimately continued speaking with this reporter at length off the record. But she repeatedly made clear that she did not want to revisit the substance of the controversy publicly.

“I am not talking about this,” Crockett said when asked whether she thought the criticism was fair.

Crockett acknowledged that critics were entitled to their views but declined to elaborate on her own.

When asked why she did not want to discuss the matter, Crockett said she believed continuing to engage would prolong a controversy that was drawing attention away from issues affecting Americans’ daily lives.

“Obviously, I am becoming a bigger distraction than issues that are impacting their everyday lives,” Crockett said. “If I do an interview, then that means there’s less time that people are talking about the things that really hurt them every day.”…

📬 The best stories often start with a conversation. If you’ve got insight, context or something others are missing, my inbox is open. Send me tips, scoops or just say hi: michael@onceuponahill.com.

Policy Desk

Iran war nears $40B price tag

The war with Iran cost the Defense Department an estimated $38.1 billion through Aug. 1, according to a new CBO analysis requested by House Budget Ranking Member Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.). The estimate includes munitions, equipment losses, additional flying hours, operations and higher fuel costs but excludes some expenses CBO could not calculate. CBO estimates continued fighting costs roughly $2 billion to $3 billion per month depending on its intensity and found conflict-driven energy prices are contributing to higher inflation. The agency relied on government databases and public reporting after the Pentagon did not respond to its information requests.

Pressley proposes restitution for survivors

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) introduced legislation today to establish a federal restitution program for survivors of sexual violence whose rights were violated by the government, including survivors of abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. The bill would allow eligible survivors to petition the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for compensation and establish a specialized office to adjudicate claims. Awards would cover economic and non-economic losses with a minimum payment of $123,000. Pressley unveiled the measure alongside survivors and survivors’ advocates at a Capitol Hill press conference.

Tax relief for sexual-assault survivors

Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) introduced bipartisan legislation to exempt settlement payments received by sexual-assault survivors from federal income taxes regardless of whether they can demonstrate a physical injury. Under current law, damages generally qualify for the exclusion when they stem from physical injuries, which lawmakers say can leave survivors without visible injuries facing tax bills on their settlements. The bill would instead allow a court decision or settlement agreement identifying the damages as stemming from sexual assault to establish eligibility for the exemption. The House unanimously passed its version in April.

Casar calls for AI diplomacy

Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) called on the U.S. to pursue international agreements to prevent the development of dangerous AI models, arguing that the country should try to end rather than win an AI arms race. Speaking at the Pro-Human Assembly in Washington, Casar said AI diplomacy should become a major U.S. foreign-policy priority and urged action at next week’s United Nations gathering. His remarks come after he and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) proposed legislation to create a Cabinet-level AI safety agency, monitor frontier systems and ban the development of artificial superintelligence.

The Trail

DCCC expands Red to Blue

House Democrats added independent Bill Hill in Alaska, progressive activist Will Lawrence against Rep. Tom Barrett in Michigan’s 7th and Mitchell Berman against Rep. Bryan Steil in Wisconsin’s 1st to the DCCC’s Red to Blue program. The additions bring the committee’s roster of top recruits to 40—and Lawrence’s elevation is notable after party leaders previously held off amid scrutiny of his past social-media posts.

DCCC also launched ads in eight battleground districts—AZ-06, FL-09, FL-25, NM-02, OH-09, PA-10, TX-15 and WA-03—while continuing spending in seven others. The new investment doubles the committee’s media spending from last week, when it put $1.6 million into its first coordinated TV buys of the general election.

Senate Dems bring labor into election protection

Senate Rules Ranking Member Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and members of Senate Democrats’ Election Protection Task Force convened labor leaders for a roundtable on organized labor’s role in voter education, turnout and responding to potential election interference. The meeting is the latest piece of the task force’s broader preparations for the midterms, which have included an election-observer program and congressional responses to potential federal intervention in election administration.

El-Sayed rolls out Black policy agenda

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed unveiled his THRIVE agenda focused on Black communities, including proposals on minority-business lending, affordable housing and homeownership, maternal health, clean water, HBCUs and voting rights. The plan also calls for Medicare for All, nationwide expansion of Michigan’s RxKids program and tuition- and debt-free higher education.

HMP expands its ad offensive

House Majority PAC launched a new wave of TV and digital ads across 15 districts in 10 states, targeting Republican incumbents and candidates on health care, tariffs, Iran and ethics while boosting Democrats on biography and economic issues. The Democratic super PAC is also going bilingual in several battlegrounds, with English and Spanish ads in California’s 48th, Texas’ 15th, 28th and 34th districts.

ICYMI

• President Trump sharply criticized the Supreme Court after its Monday-night decision keeping his USPS mail-ballot restrictions blocked for the midterms, saying the justices who ruled against him were “not the people I interviewed” for the Court.

• A GAO review estimates the administration’s 2025 workforce-reduction effort helped push federal salary costs for employees on paid administrative leave to roughly $9.5 billion—about six times the 2023 level. Approximately 144,000 workers were placed on leave through the Deferred Resignation Program. The administration promoted the resignation program as a money-saver.

• U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper barred the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts board from adding Donald Trump’s name to the building or renaming its grounds for him, ruling that Congress must authorize changes to the congressionally established memorial. The Trump-appointed board subsequently voted to close the center for repairs.

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“Why Americans hate data centers” by Tanner Greer: “Neighbors of computing clusters don’t see any advantages, just costs.”

“Are Texas Democrats finally reaching the mountaintop?” by Sam Russek: “The Texas Democratic Party once owned the state. It even did some good things. Then it collapsed, and boy, has it stayed collapsed, Ah, but if James Talarico wins…”

“‘My husband has no friends’” by Monica Corcoran Harel: “For some wives, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes … managing their spouse’s social life?”

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👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. The midterms are in 50 days. Until then, I’ll include a countdown in each edition of the newsletter.

McConnell watch: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) returned to the Senate this evening and cast his first vote in three months following a serious fall at his Capitol Hill home in June.

“My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process,” McConnell said in a statement, adding that the lingering effects of childhood polio complicated his rehabilitation. The 84-year-old said he is “still not quite back to 100%” and remains in physical therapy, but has assured Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) he will “do my best to be present for tough votes when our Conference needs me.”

McConnell’s absence was consequential over the summer: Senate Republicans fell short in an August Agriculture Committee vote on the farm bill when McConnell and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) were absent.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

PCSA crunch time: Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) brought dozens of college athletes and some of the biggest names in college coaching to Capitol Hill this afternoon for a show of force behind the Protect College Sports Act as supporters race to turn a broad coalition into the 60 votes needed to advance the bill.

Cruz was joined by Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.), plus student athletes representing schools from Howard University to the University of Michigan and coaches including Arkansas men’s basketball coach John Calipari, Gonzaga’s Mark Few and Houston’s Kelvin Sampson. Supporters argued Congress needs to bring stability to a college sports system reshaped by NIL compensation, revenue sharing, the transfer portal and years of litigation while protecting scholarships and non-revenue and Olympic sports.

“To use a football analogy, I think we’re on the one-yard line,” Cruz said. “I think we have four downs in front of us to move into the end zone.”

The Senate vote will test whether supporters are actually that close…

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IN THE KNOW

New market milestone today: The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield briefly crossed 5% for the first time since 2023 before retreating, as Brent crude pushed above $107 and markets absorbed the continuing disruption to Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline. Higher oil and diesel prices are reviving inflation concerns just two days before the Fed’s Wednesday meeting. Diesel is already above $6 nationally, increasing costs across trucking, agriculture and other goods-moving sectors.

States and major cities sue to block Trump’s revived “public charge” rule: A coalition of 22 states and D.C., plus a separate group including New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and King County, filed federal lawsuits challenging a DHS rule set to take effect on Friday. The rule gives immigration officers broader discretion to consider use of means-tested health, food and housing benefits when deciding green-card and visa applications. The challengers argue DHS unlawfully expanded the statutory meaning of “public charge” and could discourage mixed-status families— including U.S. citizen children—from using benefits for which they qualify. DHS says the policy is intended to enforce self-sufficiency requirements.

EPA moves to eliminate federal carbon limits: The Environmental Protection Agency rolled out its final repeal of Biden-era greenhouse-gas standards for existing coal plants and new gas-fired plants, completing a deregulatory move first proposed in June 2025. The power sector accounts for roughly a quarter of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions. The administration argues the rules imposed unnecessary costs and constrained reliable electricity generation. The Biden standards were projected to cut roughly 1 billion metric tons of carbon emissions through 2047.

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“Donald Trump couldn’t do it alone” by Michael Calderone: “Jacob Weisberg chronicles the enables of his return to power and fateful second term.”

“A college girl was exploited on camera. A network of anonymous men got to work” by EJ Dickson: “Maddie Kowalski is one of countless young women who’ve had their lives destroyed by the burnerverse, a loosely connected online community of sports fans. Now she’s fighting back.”

“What’s happening to TV comedies is not funny” by Jay Martel: “The demands of streaming, which is now how most viewers watch TV, are not suited to just plain old comedy.”

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FIRST THINGS FIRST

👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. Tomorrow marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. We remember the nearly 3,000 people who were killed, the loved ones who carry their loss and the first responders whose courage defined an unimaginably dark day.

And in Dallas: Day two of Trumpapalooza gets underway this afternoon with a heavy dose of midterm politics: battleground candidates, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are among the speakers before Vice President JD Vance and President Trump close out the Republican convention tonight. The programming will also feature taxes and affordability, government corruption, education and public health, plus a showcase of House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates.

Related: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) launched a five-figure national digital ad buy today counterprogramming the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, contrasting President Trump’s economic promises with higher costs for groceries, gas and health insurance. “That’s not a golden age,” Jeffries says in the sports-targeted 60-second spot. “That’s a shakedown.”

And from the White House: The administration says nearly one million Affordable Care Act enrollees in 30 states will receive $500 refunds beginning in October from surplus federal-exchange user fees, a day after Trump proposed $5,000 “dividend” checks for U.S. adults if Republicans retain Congress. The $500 payments will go to enrollees who pay full premiums without federal assistance. The White House says the money represents refunds for excess fees collected under the Biden administration.

And in Missouri: The Supreme Court blocked the state from using its new Republican-drawn congressional map in November, leaving the 2022 lines in place and preserving Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City-based district while the federal appeal continues. The order resolves, for this election, a clash between state and federal courts over which map should govern the midterms.

New economic data: The Producer Price Index rose 0.4% in August and 5.4% from a year earlier, with a 4.2% jump in energy costs—led by a 24.1% surge in diesel—helping push transportation and warehousing prices higher. The report, out a day before CPI and with oil above $100 a barrel, adds to concerns that energy costs are feeding through supply chains ahead of next week’s Fed meeting.

The Big Interview: Noreen Farrell, Part II: Yesterday, Noreen Farrell made the case that Washington may be thinking about affordability too narrowly.

The president and executive director of Equal Rights Advocates told me that the economic debate tends to focus on lowering prices while overlooking policies that can increase or protect the money workers have available to spend. She argued paid sick days, higher wages and pay transparency can function as affordability policies by strengthening household finances even if they don’t directly make groceries, rent or health care cheaper.

That argument grows out of a new national poll commissioned by the Equal Rights Advocates Action Fund, the organization’s political arm. The survey found 58 percent of likely 2026 voters said the economy was not working well for them and their families, while large majorities said Congress should make progress on affordable family and elder care, fair wages, paid leave and equal pay.

But broad support for an idea and enactment into federal law are two very different things.

That’s where we left the conversation yesterday.

Farrell argues that Congress should resist trying to solve the entire problem through sprawling legislative packages and instead pursue smaller policies capable of producing tangible benefits quickly. She also believes those policies could help lawmakers rebuild some capacity for bipartisan legislating.

So I asked her to get specific: Where has the political system broken down? What could Congress realistically accomplish? And if lawmakers could move only two pieces of the agenda she champions, which two should come first?

I also pressed Farrell on the Action Fund’s bigger political claim—that the “road to victory” in November runs through this agenda. The poll measures whether supporting particular policies would make voters more or less likely to vote for an elected official. That is not the same thing as demonstrating those policies will determine how someone votes.

Here’s the rest of our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity…

📬 The best stories often start with a conversation. If you’ve got insight, context or something others are missing, my inbox is open. Send me tips, scoops or just say hi: michael@onceuponahill.com.

IN THE KNOW

Talarico rolls out Republican endorsements: More than 20 current and former Republican officials and leaders are backing Democratic Texas Senate nominee James Talarico over GOP nominee Ken Paxton, including former Dallas Mayor Steve Bartlett, former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and several former Texas lawmakers and judges. The cross-party push comes as Talarico has increasingly made an explicit appeal to Republicans and independents in the closing weeks of the race.

AOC backs Haynes in Texas: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Texas) endorsed Rev. Frederick Haynes III for Texas’s 30th District, praising his support for civil rights and opposition to corporate power. Haynes, Jasmine Crockett’s longtime pastor, is the Democratic nominee for the seat Crockett vacated to run unsuccessfully for Senate.

Duckworth wants more transparency for blocked military promotions: Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) urged NDAA negotiators to require the Pentagon to give officers written notice and justification within seven days when their promotions are withheld, delayed or removed, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blocked at least 40 one- and two-star promotions since January 2025. Duckworth says women and officers of color have been disproportionately affected and wants the requirement applied retroactively to Jan. 20, 2025.

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“After 9/11, the U.S. built an anti-terror apparatus. Trump is using it at home.” by Warren P. Strobel: “Waning attention to international terrorism and other threats has former officials worried.”

“The election deniers’ long game” by Toluse Olorunnipa: “Right-wing activists have slowly taken control of a significant part of America’s local election apparatus. The country isn’t prepared for what they might do.”

“Why is no one paying each other back?” by Samantha Leal: “Splitting the check is easy—in theory. In practice, you’re probably getting ghosted on Venmo more than you’re being repaid.”