Rep. Flood: Congress Should 'Get On With Reconciliation'
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Republican Congressman Mike Flood of Nebraska, chair of the Republican Main Street Caucus and a member of the House Financial Services Committee, stresses the need for Congress to move on reconciliation after the Justice Department made what he calls the "right choice" on the $1.8 billion so-called "weaponization" fund. He says a House vote on reconciliation could come as soon as Friday if the package clears the Senate, predicts a War Powers resolution on Iran will fail and calls for extending FISA authority. He speaks with Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu on the late edition of Bloomberg's "Balance of Power." (Source: Bloomberg)
Democratic Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, criticizes President Trump's handling of the conflict with Iran, arguing Congress must use its war-powers and spending authority to demand clearer answers from the Pentagon. She also calls for legislation to explicitly prohibit the $1.8 billion so-called "weaponization" fund, saying the DOJ's court-ordered pause does not go far enough. She speaks with Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu on the late edition of Bloomberg's "Balance of Power." (Source: Bloomberg)
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is sticking by Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner in the face of controversy as he announced a get-out-the-vote rally with Platner in Maine for Friday. Platner’s campaign was hit with another scandal this weekend, as news broke that he sent sexually explicit text messages to multiple women while married to his […]
Monday was supposed to be the deadline for getting an immigration enforcement funding package on President Trump’s desk. Instead, the Senate will return Monday evening, preparing for a showdown over the bill after negotiations on the measure blew up more than a week ago following the White House’s announcement of the creation of a separate, controversial “anti-weaponization” fund that would issue payouts to those…
The war in Iran has not been the unequivocal success that Donald Trump has claimed it to be.Tehran has damaged at least 20 regional U.S. military sites since the war began in late February, according to satellite imagery reviewed by the BBC. The damages have destroyed air defense systems, radars, and aerial refueling planes, costing the U.S. millions of dollars.The Pentagon, on the other hand, claimed in early April that it hit more than 13,000 targets in Iran within just 38 days of combat operations.Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has tried to rally attention toward the attacks. Last week, Khamenei wrote in Farsi on his official X account that “America will no longer have a safe haven for mischief and the establishment of military bases in the region.” Khamenei further vowed that the phrases “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” would remain the rallying cry of the Islamic community and “the oppressed of the world, especially the youth.”The reality is obviously a far cry from the Trump administration’s public declarations, which have involved claims as far back as June 2025 that Iran’s nuclear ambitions were obliterated and its military sites damaged beyond any scope of immediate repair.A peace plan does not seem to be on the table, despite a preliminary agreement that was drafted early last week. Iran on Monday suspended talks with the United States over continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon, which they say violate the ceasefire.That’s not likely to please Trump, who spent the weekend ranting about congressional opposition to his war.“Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the U.S.A. and those that are with us,” the president wrote on Truth Social late Sunday. “But don’t the Dumocrats, and various seemingly unpatriotic Republicans, understand that it is MUCH tougher for me to properly do my job and negotiate, when political hacks keep negatively ‘chirping,’ at levels never seen before, over and over again, that I should move faster, or move slower, or go to war, or not go to war, or whatever.“Just sit back and relax,” Trump concluded. “It will all work out well in the end—It always does!”
WASHINGTON — Democratic Party leaders from a dozen states traveled to Washington, D.C., at the end of May to press for their voters to cast the first ballots in the next presidential primary.State representatives argued that diversifying the early states would ensure Democrats nominate a presidential candidate who not only holds broad appeal among the base, but can ultimately win over independent voters in swing states and the White House in November 2028.A final decision from the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee will, however, have to contend with state laws and the officials who actually set primary dates.Iowa and New Hampshire traditionally hold the first caucus and first primary election for presidential candidates — though South Carolina had the first DNC-sanctioned primary in 2024 — and both states argued it’s better to stay that way.“Look, New Hampshire will make every effort it can to comply with the Rules and Bylaws Committee, but there are some factors outside of our control,” said U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan. “Our secretary of state is required by law to schedule the New Hampshire primary before other states.”A “Write-In Joe Biden” campaign sign in a Portsmouth, New Hampshire, snow bank in 2024, when New Hampshire held its primary first in the nation in defiance of the Democratic National Committee. (Photo by Hadley Barndollar/New Hampshire Bulletin)New Hampshire Democrats, she said, don’t believe their voters should pick the nominee, but would instead vet “the nominee so that they are better prepared for the states that follow, which will by definition be larger, more diverse and that’s really important too.”“The one other thing I will add is that the Republicans are going to have the first-in-the-nation primary be New Hampshire,” Hassan added. “And there is a big vacuum when a whole bunch of Republican presidential candidates are coming into our state, highlighting local candidates who are Republicans and there isn’t the same fulsome, evenly balanced Democratic response. And I think that can put us at a disadvantage at the local level and occasionally at the federal level as well.”Iowa Democrat Scott Brennan told panel members that state law “requires that we be a caucus and that we go before any competing process.”Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart also noted that Republicans and the journalists who cover their campaigns will be in the state for months ahead of the GOP presidential primary.“In 2028, no matter what your decision is regarding the nominating calendar, Iowa will be the center of politics because the Republicans will be here right along with scads of national reporters,” she said.Members of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee asked questions throughout the two days of presentations, including what states were doing to protect voter privacy, whether states had implemented restrictions on abortion and how much rent will cost campaign staffers for a one-bedroom apartment in larger cities.State Democratic Party members repeatedly told the committee that voters in their home states are best positioned to winnow down what is expected to be a large group of presidential candidates. Here’s some of what they argued:South CarolinaSouth Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain said her presentation wasn’t about keeping the state toward the front of the calendar for “nostalgia,” but “about whether the Democratic Party understands where the fight for democracy actually is.”“This is not a routine calendar debate,” she said. “Republicans are not debating theory, they’re moving in real time to weaken voting rights, redraw maps, dilute Black political power and change the rules where they don’t like the voters’ choices.”The Democratic Party, Spain said, must ensure that Black voters “help shape the nomination from the beginning” and argued South Carolina is best positioned to do that.“If Black voters are the backbone of the Democratic Party, then the calendar should reflect that,” she added.Spain also called on the national party to recognize that Southern states hold crucial Democratic voters, despite the fact that region of the country typically gives its Electoral College votes to Republican presidential candidates during the general election.“If Democrats want a long-term national majority, we cannot write off the deep South and then act surprised when the math doesn’t work,” she said.Drawing a contrast with many of the other states, Spain noted that in South Carolina, the Democratic Party’s executive committee picks the date of its primary, not state law or the secretary of state.New Mexico New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham told the panel her state had “everything to offer” the party and its presidential candidates.“We’re a minority-majority state,” she said.
In the three days since getting snubbed by President Donald Trump in her bid for South Carolina governor, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has gone on a social media posting blitz, publishing several dozen messages defending her record in Congress in what some critics described as a “crashout.”“Should we be genuinely worried about her?” asked novelist and podcast host John Daly in a social media post on X.A fierce defender of Trump, Mace had drawn the ire of the president in recent months for having pushed for the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein and for having criticized the president’s deeply unpopular war against Iran. And last Friday, Trump decided not to endorse her in her race for South Carolina governor, instead giving his blessing to Pam Evette, the state’s lieutenant governor.In the days since, Mace has posted dozens of times on social media, though one post in particular drew heightened attention.“IRON LADY,” Mace wrote Sunday night, along with an image of what appears to be a campaign poster featuring herself in front of the South Carolina State Capitol with her hair in a traditional bouffant, a hairstyle popular in the 1950s and 1960s.“So, we can all see she’s having a mental breakdown, right?” asked political writer and anti-disinformation activist Jim Stewartson on Monday in a social media post on X to his nearly 150,000 followers. "Anyway, please get help Nancy."Even conservatives were taken aback by what onlookers characterized as Mace’s bizarre post.“You’re watching a person completely lose touch with reality in real time,” wrote Justin Evans, senior vice president of Big Dog Strategies and GOP political consultant. “You’ve never witnessed a crashout this severe in your life.”Should we be genuinely worried about her? https://t.co/fa4iNNvdAV— John A. Daly (@JohnDalyBooks) June 1, 2026
