Slapping the Senate
If the tide of Senate opinion can change on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, maybe it can shift on other seemingly too-heavy-to-budge issues. Maybe. One ask on track to test that theory: whether senators will repeal part of a law they just passed last week.
The House is getting ready to vote on whether to undo language in the shutdown-ending bill that lets senators sue for up to $500,000 if their phone records were seized by the Justice Department. Republicans targeted in a Jan. 6 probe could directly benefit from the provision.
As Maeve Sheehey and Lillianna Byington point out, House passage means nothing unless Senate leaders put the repeal bill (
Thune told reporters he didn’t know what the Senate would do if the repeal passed in the House, but he defended the provision. Read More
Flexing Power
In a BGOV Elevated Take, Sheehey describes how a little-used procedural tool is suddenly all the rage in the House. It’s called the discharge petition, and its the reason there’s suddenly a successful bill demanding the release of the Epstein files.
Another use of that lever to pry control of legislation from House leaders is already underway: Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) can soon force a vote on restoring union protections to federal workers after five centrist Republicans joined his discharge petition this week.
Such a small number of aisle-crossers matters because the House majority is so narrow. Republicans control the chamber 219-214. Read More
Next Stop: SCOTUS
The governor of Texas wants the US Supreme Court to let the state use its newly redesigned congressional district map while lower courts determine whether the remap’s constitutional.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced his appeal plan after a federal court ordered Texas to stick with its current district lines for the upcoming midterms instead of using the new map created at the urging of President Donald Trump.
Yesterday’s decision by a three-judge panel came in a case brought by groups arguing that the map unlawfully dismantled four minority opportunity districts, Ryan Autullo reports. Texas said the map’s new lines were about politics, not race. “To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics,” the opinion said. “Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.”
The candidate filing period is already open in Texas, a complication that the 2-1 court opinion said is the fault of the map-makers. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D) subsequently confirmed he will run for reelection instead of stepping back to avoid an incumbent-versus-incumbent primary, and Rep. Julie Johnson (D) said she’ll seek reelection. Read More
See Also:
- GOP Bid to Tilt Election Map Backfires After Texas Court Ruling
- How Redistricting Keeps Changing the US Political Map: QuickTake
Hello Minibus
The law that reopened the government left 75% of the fiscal 2026 appropriations work undone. Beginning this morning, a serious effort to address that gets underway, Ken Tran reports.
House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and the subcommittee cardinals will meet to figure out which spending bills can be bundled into a combo package with a chance of passage, according to a person familiar with the planning. Afterward, the appropriations leaders will meet with all of the committee’s Republicans.
Appropriators are aiming at a five-bill minibus as their next major step. Today’s BGOV Budget notes that it would cover Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, Transportation-HUD, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Interior-Environment. There’s more on the day ahead on Capitol Hill in today’s edition of Congress Tracker.
A Lot of You Want To See This
Next year’s House calendar is out. The unusual thing to note is that the House is scheduled to be in session on Veterans’ Day.
Eye on the Economy
After being stymied all year by orders that didn’t come in as usual, US farmers are experiencing a reversal. China’s made a big soybean purchase, Hallie Gu, Erin Ailworth, and Michael Hirtzer report.
Soybeans had become a trade war bargaining chip. China was able to turn to other suppliers, knowing that it was harvest time in America and that producers had been counting on their usual customers. An agreement between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month included soybean sales.
“It is a huge confirmation that the agreement is being executed,” said Carlos Salinas, executive director for East Asia at the US Soybean Export Council. Read More
See Also:
- Hyundai to Push Electric, Expand in US Despite Raid on Plant
- Raimondo Says Trump’s Tariffs Hard to Remove for Next President
Before You Go
Cold and Dark: Rising electricity demand from data centers is raising the risk of blackouts across a wide swath of the US during extreme conditions this winter, according to the North American Electric Reliability Corp., the regulatory body overseeing grid stability. Power consumption has grown 20 gigawatts from the previous winter, but supply hasn’t kept up, Naureen S. Malik reports. Read More
About That Promised Money: Don’t go making plans just yet to spend the $2,000 tariff “dividend” rebates Trump has proposed for millions of Americans. Michael Rapoport explains the logistical issues that would have to be addressed, including who should authorize the checks and whether the IRS can handle the necessary work. Read More
Federal AI Mandate: Trump urged Congress to pass a federal standard governing oversight of artificial intelligence, Kate Sullivan reports. “Investment in AI is helping to make the U.S. Economy the “HOTTEST” in the World — But overregulation by the States is threatening to undermine this Growth Engine,’ Trump said in a social media post. Read More
White House Dinner Takeaways: Trump gave Saudi Arabia’s crown prince a lavish reception in Washington, offering a defense agreement that includes cutting-edge warplanes, and absolving him of the murder of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Eric Martin and Natalia Drozdiak report. Read More
- Among the tech titans, soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, and Republican leaders at a banquet last night sat Elon Musk, perhaps signaling tensions between the world’s richest man and Trump may have thawed. Read More
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