Democrats to Target Trump IRS Immunity in Hearing, Senate Votes
The Treasury secretary has so far demurred, citing ongoing litigation and attorney-client privilege

President Trump's appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence is roiling an emerging bipartisan extension of warrantless spying.
The Treasury secretary has so far demurred, citing ongoing litigation and attorney-client privilege
There was a moment, a few weeks ago, when I thought the Dems might win the Senate in 2026. They still might-anything is possible-but the mood has changed in two of the more juicy races, in Maine and Texas. Both feature vulnerable Republicans, dowdy Susan Collins in Maine and the phenomenally dreadful-morally and politically-Ken Paxton in Texas. They might be easy pickings if the Democratic Party were a sentient political entity, but no-the candidates Dems offer are defective and downright weird.
Tom Barrett of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Thomas Massie of Kentucky voted with 211 Democrats to approve the resolution.
Maine Democratic Senate hopeful Graham Platner privately acknowledged that there are even more damning rumors about him but was adamant that the gossip is false, according to a report.
The U.S. spends more money on ICE than Israel, France and Japan spend on their defense programs.
Senate Republicans are bracing for an end-of-week slog of votes as tension continues to build with the Trump White House, Punchbowl News reported on Thursday morning.Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) face "a marathon of twisting arms and whipping votes on two pieces of legislation that have little in common" other than the fact that "Trump has made passing them much harder than it needed to be," said the report — namely, the passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorization, and the Homeland Security reconciliation package to fund immigration enforcement.The "heartburn" Republicans face, per the report, is that Trump has complicated all of this by demanding $1 billion for "security" for his White House ballroom project, something the GOP has finally rejected outright; introduced and backed off the "Anti-Weaponization Fund" which has forced Senate Republicans to consider banning it directly in their legislation; and nominating his unqualified and highly partisan housing finance chief Bill Pulte to serve as Director of National Intelligence, which has caused Democrats to threaten a boycott of FISA.The weaponization fund alone has created additional pain points by causing some Republicans to demand a formal ban on the fund in the reconciliation as a condition for their vote, with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) saying, “We need to take action here. It’s creating headwinds that we don’t need. If we’ve got the acting AG saying it’s done, then let’s just stick a fork in it.”Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), meanwhile, plans to introduce an amendment requiring a rewrite of the bill to include this language. Only four Republican votes would be needed to pass it.The upshot, per other reports, is that Republicans on Capitol Hill are privately enraged at Trump for constantly tripping up not only their priorities, but his own.
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner draws national attention but faces mounting controversies over his personal conduct and social media posts.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) generated significant media attention with her successful MAHA-backed work to remove pro-pesticide policies from the House version of the Farm Bill. But despite attracting less attention, her rejected amendment to remove the so-called Save Our Bacon Act may prove to be even more consequential for congressional Republicans. The SOB Act […]