Republican dysfunction spares Democrats a difficult Israel vote ... for now
Plus: Senate Democrats press Blanche over unanswered DOJ oversight, Trump debuts the Qatari-gifted Air Force One, and new polls tighten four key Senate races.
First Things First
Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) inability to reopen the House floor this week did more than derail Republicans’ legislative agenda. It also handed House Democrats an unexpected reprieve from having to take what many privately viewed as one of the year’s most politically difficult votes.
For two days, Democratic leaders had been preparing members for an expected vote on an amendment from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to eliminate roughly $3.3 billion in U.S. military assistance to Israel from the annual State Department and foreign operations spending bill—a proposal that underscored the party’s continuing divisions over the war in Gaza.
But Johnson’s failed attempt to revive House business prevented the vote from ever happening, allowing lawmakers to leave Washington early for the Independence Day recess without having to publicly stake out a position on one of the caucus’ most divisive issues.
Whether they’ll be able to avoid it next time remains an open question.
A vote that never came: Even before Republicans’ procedural collapse, Democrats weren’t convinced the House would ever reach the amendment.
A person inside Tuesday morning’s House Democratic Caucus meeting told me members recognized there was a real possibility Republicans would fail to pass the procedural rule needed to begin debate on the appropriations bill and the annual National Defense Authorization Act.
House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) publicly echoed that assessment after the meeting.
“We’ll see if Republicans can pass a rule,” Aguilar told reporters, declining to announce leadership’s position on the amendment while acknowledging the uncertainty surrounding the floor schedule.
Hours later, his skepticism proved warranted.
The House rejected the rule after 13 Republicans joined Democrats in opposition, prompting GOP leaders to cancel the remainder of the week’s legislative business.
“Our focus was on fighting to defeat this rule in a uniform way and to continue to try to stop Republicans from doing damage to the American people,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told me after the vote.
The vote left the defense authorization bill, the State Department funding measure and several other items unfinished until lawmakers return later this month.
It also postponed a politically fraught decision that Democratic leadership had spent days preparing the caucus to make.
Behind closed doors: The conversation began during a virtual caucus meeting Sunday led by House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who, as I reported in Sunday’s edition, urged members to look beyond the amendment’s headline.
According to a person on the call, DeLauro warned that Massie’s proposal was drafted so broadly it could affect far more than military assistance to Israel. She argued the language created significant uncertainty because it could also disrupt embassy operations, funding for Palestinian programs and other diplomatic activities.
Members continued the discussion during Tuesday morning’s in-person caucus meeting.
“Everyone knows the vote is going to be split. Get over it,” one person inside the room told me, describing the overall mood.
The debate itself remained measured despite the high stakes.
Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) described the discussion as “very cogent,” saying members engaged in a “robust discussion on both sides” without the meeting devolving into personal conflict.
Aguilar offered a similar assessment, saying members expressed “a variety of thoughts” while respecting colleagues who reached different conclusions.
“This is my position, but I respect other people’s position,” Aguilar said members repeatedly told one another during the meeting.
The careful tone reflected leadership’s effort to manage one of the caucus’ most persistent political fault lines without allowing it to fracture broader party unity.
Delayed, not resolved: Even as leaders acknowledged the disagreement over Israel, they also tried to keep members focused on what they see as Democrats’ stronger political argument.
The rule that failed Tuesday would have also cleared the way for House consideration of a resolution marking the one-year anniversary of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—the sweeping Republican law Democrats argue cut health care and nutrition assistance to help finance tax cuts benefiting wealthy Americans and large corporations while dramatically increasing funding for immigration enforcement.
Aguilar argued that debate should remain at the center of Democrats’ public messaging.
While acknowledging that the Israel amendment was “tough and emotional” for many Americans, he noted that the underlying appropriations bill is unlikely to become law in its current form after negotiations with the Senate.
“What is law is Republicans and Trump taking away health care from folks,” Aguilar said. “That’s real. It’s felt by folks.”
Johnson’s procedural defeat delayed, rather than resolved, Democrats’ internal debate over Israel.
The State Department funding bill could return after the Independence Day recess, meaning lawmakers will likely confront the amendment—or a similar proposal—later this month.
When they do, Republicans’ procedural failures will no longer shield Democrats from one of the most difficult votes they’ve faced since the war in Gaza reshaped the party’s politics.
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In the Know
Democrats seek answers before Blanche hearing
Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats are pressing Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to respond to dozens of unanswered oversight requests before the panel takes up his nomination to permanently lead the Justice Department later this month.
Led by Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), every Democratic member of the committee sent Blanche a letter arguing the committee cannot adequately evaluate his nomination without answers to what they described as a growing backlog of ignored or incomplete congressional oversight requests. They set a July 8 deadline for responses ahead of Blanche’s July 15 confirmation hearing, which will also serve as the committee’s annual Justice Department oversight hearing.
The letter argues Blanche bears responsibility for the department’s responsiveness because he now serves as acting attorney general after previously serving as deputy attorney general.
Democrats say the department has failed to fully respond to inquiries spanning more than a year on issues including the handling of the Epstein files, immigration enforcement, January 6 pardons, career staff dismissals, ethics, voting rights, national security, cryptocurrency conflicts and alleged politicization across the department.
The move is unlikely to delay Blanche’s nomination on its own, but it sharpens Democrats’ effort to make the confirmation hearing as much about the Justice Department’s recent conduct as Blanche’s qualifications to lead it.
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Trump debuts Qatari jet
President Trump made the first official presidential trip aboard the Boeing 747-8 gifted to him by Qatar on Wednesday, using the aircraft for a trip to North Dakota that immediately revived questions over the administration’s acceptance of the luxury jet.
Trump traveled to North Dakota to visit the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library ahead of its July 4 opening, marking the aircraft’s debut as Air Force One after months of security and communications upgrades.
Before departing, Trump defended the gift, arguing the United States would have been foolish to reject a plane he described as a needed replacement for the aging presidential fleet while Boeing continues work on the delayed next-generation Air Force One aircraft.
The flight comes as Democrats continue scrutinizing the administration’s handling of the transfer. In the letter from Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats to Blanche mentioned in the previous item, lawmakers demanded the acting AG produce a legal memorandum concluding that President Trump’s acceptance of the Qatari aircraft was “legally permissible,” arguing the document is among dozens of outstanding oversight requests that should be resolved before Blanche’s confirmation hearing.
The administration has maintained the transfer complies with federal law, while critics continue to raise constitutional, ethical and national security concerns about accepting such a valuable gift from a foreign government.
Four Senate battlegrounds tighten
A new round of New York Times/Siena College polls suggests Democrats remain within striking distance in four of the cycle’s most closely watched Senate races, underscoring the party’s multiple paths to reclaiming the majority next year.
The surveys found competitive contests in North Carolina, Alaska, Iowa and Ohio, where Democratic candidates are either running even with or within striking distance of their Republican opponents despite the states’ recent Republican lean.
The results reinforce Democrats’ strategy of expanding the map beyond traditional battlegrounds. North Carolina remains their clearest pickup opportunity, while Alaska continues to emerge as a genuine toss-up following former Rep. Mary Peltola’s entry into the race. Iowa and Ohio, two states that have shifted right over the past decade, also remain competitive enough to force Republicans to spend heavily defending seats they once expected to hold comfortably.
The polling comes as Republicans defend 23 of the 35 Senate seats on the ballot this cycle, compared with 13 for Democrats and the two independent senators who caucus with them. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to reclaim the majority, making sustained competitiveness across several Republican-held states a central part of their 2026 strategy.
Colorado delivers primary shockwaves
Colorado Democrats delivered one of the clearest signals yet that the party’s primary electorate is still in an anti-establishment mood, producing a string of high-profile upsets that could reshape the national conversation heading into the midterms.
The biggest surprise came in the governor’s race, where Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser defeated Sen. Michael Bennet for the Democratic nomination, ending Bennet’s bid to succeed term-limited Gov. Jared Polis and handing one of the party’s best-known senators a stunning primary defeat.
The political shockwaves continued in Denver, where 29-year-old progressive Melat Kiros unseated 15-term Rep. Diana DeGette in one of the cycle’s biggest House upsets. In the battleground 8th District, state Rep. Manny Rutinel won a crowded Democratic primary and will face Republican Rep. Gabe Evans in one of the nation’s marquee House races this fall.
Not every incumbent fell. Sen. John Hickenlooper turned back a progressive challenge from state Sen. Julie Gonzales to secure renomination.
All told, the results reinforced a trend that has emerged in recent Democratic primaries: voters are increasingly rewarding younger, more confrontational candidates while showing a growing willingness to replace longtime party leaders, even in deep-blue states.