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THE LINEUP
New college sports chaos, same Hill divide
House passes Israel boycott bill
House GOP drops final two of Sept. session
Padilla, Morelle press DHS on election security funds
Pappas to bring in Warren, Kelly before primary
THE BIG STORY
👋🏾 HI, HEY, HELLO! Welcome back to Congress Nerd Daily. I hope today was everything for you. A sad note before we get going: Gloria Steinem, the pioneering journalist and feminist organizer who helped transform American politics and culture, died Wednesday at 92, according to a post on her official Instagram account.
New college sports chaos, same Hill divide: A fresh wave of legal fights over professional football players attempting to return to college has given supporters of a sweeping federal college-sports overhaul a vivid new argument for congressional action. It doesn’t appear to have solved their problem with House Democrats.
The Congressional Black Caucus discussed the Protect College Sports Act during its weekly meeting this week, but the group’s official opposition to the legislation remains unchanged, according to a person familiar with the discussion.
The decision leaves one of the bill’s biggest House-side obstacles intact even as a fresh wave of eligibility disputes involving former professional football players has strengthened supporters’ argument that Congress needs to impose national rules on college sports.
CBC Chair Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) told me this week that the latest upheaval has not changed her opposition to the bill, citing Congress’s failure to meaningfully restore voting-rights protections following the Supreme Court’s Callais decision.
“It’s about how these colleges benefit, notwithstanding all the challenges that they face from Black athletes,” Clarke said...
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THE CURRENTS
⟿ House passes Israel boycott bill: The House passed the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act 237–169 this morning, with 33 Democrats joining most Republicans in support and GOP Reps. Warren Davidson (Ohio) and Thomas Massie (Ky.) opposed. The bill would condition colleges’ participation in federal student-aid programs on not engaging in certain commercial boycotts of Israel and require schools receiving federal international-education funding to give Israeli students, faculty and programs equal access.
⟿ Vance takes over WH briefing: Vice President JD Vance held the first White House press briefing this afternoon since Karoline Leavitt left as press secretary last month, using the appearance to defend the administration’s handling of Iran and the economy. Vance said he “wouldn’t call” the six-month Iran conflict a war, declined to say whether hostilities would end before the midterms and blamed attacks on commercial shipping for elevated gas prices.
⟿ Judge presses USPS over mail-ballot system: At a hearing today, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani repeatedly pressed a DOJ lawyer who could not say whether the U.S. Postal Service’s new mail-ballot portal is actually operational. North Carolina begins broadly mailing requested ballots tomorrow, while the existing temporary restraining order expires next week. The administration now says states may opt into the system, but USPS has not identified a single state that has. The portal would require states to upload voter lists and obtain approval of ballot-envelope designs. A whistleblower separately warned this week that barcode errors could cause entire batches to be rejected.
THE POWERS THAT BE
House GOP drops votes final two Sept. weeks: House Republican leaders canceled votes for the final two weeks of September, leaving the week of Sept. 14 as the chamber’s last scheduled voting week before the midterms. The move sharply narrows the window for several Senate GOP priorities—including the PCSA, the CLARITY Act and a possible third reconciliation package—to clear both chambers before members head home to campaign in October. The House departed this morning for another 10-day break after just returning from its five-week August recess.
THE POLICY DESK
Padilla, Morelle press DHS on election security funds: Senate Rules Ranking Member Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and House Administration Ranking Member Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) called on DHS and CISA to restore federal support for the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), saying the administration has failed to follow congressional direction months before the midterms. The top Democratic election officials in each chamber said CISA has not provided any of the more than $39.6 million appropriated for election-security work and pressed for an update on funding and staffing by Sept. 9.
THE TRAIL
Pappas to bring in Warren, Kelly before primary: Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) will campaign this weekend with Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire Senate primary. Warren will join Pappas Saturday for a Granite State Victory office opening in Dover and a housing event in Northwood, while Kelly will appear with him Sunday at a Manchester canvass launch. Pappas is seeking the Democratic nomination for the open seat of retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.).