NOTUS | News of the United States

Eric Swalwell’s Old Congressional Campaign Continued to Spend Big On Child Care

Reese Gorman, Taylor Giorno — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:26:07 GMT

Former Rep. Eric Swalwell. Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons

Former Rep. Eric Swalwell spent thousands of his federal campaign dollars on child care expenses in the first quarter of the year, despite not running for re-election to Congress.

Swalwell, a Democrat who has historically been one of the biggest proponents of using campaign funds for child care, spent more than $2,500 on child care in the first three months of the year, according to his old House campaign’s latest report filed Wednesday evening with the Federal Election Commission.

That money went directly to Swalwell himself for “child care reimbursement” for childcare provided by Amanda Barbosa, who is currently at the center of an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security for illegally working in the country.

Swalwell did not respond to a request for comment.

“The FEC permits campaign funds to be used for child care but only if the candidate has to hire child care because he or she is running for office — in other words if there would be no need to hire child care if the candidate is not a candidate,” Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia University Law School who specializes in campaign finance, told NOTUS.

Erin Chlopak, senior director of campaign finance at the nonprofit watchdog Campaign Legal Center, told NOTUS in an email that the FEC “doesn’t apply a bright-line rule when it comes to determining whether campaign funds can be used for a federal candidate or officeholder’s childcare expenses.”

“Instead, it assesses whether the childcare costs would exist ‘irrespective’ of the candidate or officeholder’s campaign or officeholder duties,” Chlopak added. “If they would not — i.e., if the costs are incurred as a result of the person engaging in official campaign or officeholder activities (and assuming they are reasonable), then the Commission would likely deem them a permissible use of campaign funds.”

In 2025, Swalwell’s congressional campaign spent nearly $72,000 on child care expenses, according to a NOTUS analysis of his campaign’s FEC reports. Most of that total went to Swalwell himself for “child care” and “child care reimbursement” for payments to Barbosa and Bambini Play & Learn Child Development Center.

Swalwell’s campaign committee and leadership PAC, Remedy PAC, remained flush with cash entering April, NOTUS reported.

Steve Roberts, partner and co-chair of the political law practice at Lex Politica, told NOTUS that the FEC’s rules on using campaign funds to cover child care are “crystal clear.”

“Campaign funds can’t subsidize child care that exists independent of a candidate’s congressional campaign. In fact, the FEC issued a direct advisory opinion in 2022 to Eric Swalwell and his campaign denying express permission to travel ‘for other entities,’ even in his capacity as a member of Congress,” Roberts told NOTUS.

Swalwell, who was first elected to the House in 2012, launched his California gubernatorial campaign in November 2025. His campaign and leadership PAC’s child care spending dropped off significantly after the announcement but not entirely.

Swalwell’s leadership PAC also spent nearly $2,000 on child care between April 2025 and January 2026. Swalwell’s campaign reimbursed him nearly $1,000 for Barbosa’s childcare cost in April 2025 and gave him nearly $1,000 directly for child care in January as well.

“Ironically, it is quite possible and perhaps even likely that the leadership PAC payment is a personal use, since the FEC has found it permissible to use leadership PAC funds for personal use (but payments by the leadership PAC for official campaign expenses would constitute a campaign contribution),” Chlopak told NOTUS.

But Roberts told NOTUS that it “may be time for an investigation into whether Swalwell converted hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars into his own family budget.”

“Every child care expense after [Swalwell launched his California governor campaign] — and potentially before, if tied to out-of-district travel or ‘testing the waters’ — needs to be examined for personal use or in-kind support for his gubernatorial bid,” Roberts wrote in a message to NOTUS.

Swalwell is facing an investigation in Los Angeles over allegations of sexual assault and misiconduct, the county’s district attorney announced earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Swalwell resigned in disgrace after multiple women, including former staffers, came forward and accused him of sexual assault.

NOTUS spoke with one woman who said that Swalwell sexually assaulted her when she was a staffer and years later after she had left the office. NOTUS also spoke with an intern who said Swalwell approached her and asked for her Snapchat, only to later begin sending her sexual messages and even invited her to his hotel room.

Swalwell has denied the sexual assault allegations.

Former Virginia Lt. Gov and Wife Found Dead In Apparent Murder-Suicide

Manuela Silva — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:00:01 GMT

(AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Justin Fairfax, the former lieutenant governor of Virginia, and his wife, Cerina Fairfax, were found dead in their Annandale home on Thursday morning in what is being investigated as a murder-suicide, the Fairfax County Police confirmed on Thursday.

Fairfax, once a rising star in Virginia Democratic politics, was a former federal prosecutor who was elected lieutenant governor of Virginia in 2017. In 2019, he was accused of sexual assault at the same time Virginia’s then-Gov.Ralph Northam faced calls to resign over his past use of blackface. Fairfax denied the allegations. He ran for governor of Virginia in 2021, but came fourth in the Democratic primary.

Fairfax left the lieutenant governor’s office in 2022 to begin his own law firm.

“It’s high-profile in nature, it’s tragic in nature, certainly a fall from grace for a relatively high-profile family that seemingly had a lot of things going in their favor,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said at a press conference.

Shortly after midnight on Thursday morning, the Fairfax County Police Department responded to a 911 call from the Fairfax’s Annandale home, where Davis said Fairfax appeared to have “shot and killed his wife inside of their home and then shot and killed himself.”

Both were found dead at the scene, Davis said.

Both of Fairfax’s teenage children were in the home when the shooting occurred, according to the police chief, adding that Fairfax’s son called 911.

Davis told reporters on Thursday that the couple was in an ongoing dispute over divorce proceedings, in which the former lieutenant governor had recently been served paperwork. Davis said that Fairfax’s wife had set up cameras inside the home, and he believed they were on at the time of the shootings.

Fairfax called 911 in January, alleging that his wife had assaulted him, but Davis said police were able to determine the allegation was false after watching video from the home.

Pete Hegseth Uses Religion to Declare American Press ‘Unpatriotic’

Joe Gould — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:52:50 GMT

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon, June 22, 2025. Alex Brandon/AP

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday doubled down on the Trump administration’s use of religious imagery, using a biblical analogy to attack U.S. press coverage of the Iran war. It follows controversy over an image President Donald Trump posted and later deleted depicting himself as Jesus Christ.

Speaking at a Pentagon briefing, Hegseth compared members of the press to Pharisees described in the Gospel of Mark, accusing journalists of downplaying U.S. military achievements against Iran.“Even though they witnessed a literal miracle, it didn't matter,” he said, recounting a recent church sermon he attended. “They were only there to explain away the goodness in pursuit of their agenda.”

Despite U.S. and Israeli battlefield successes in their war against Iran, the Trump administration hasn’t achieved its stated aim of regime change, there’s been vast international economic damage, the war is polling poorly, and U.S.-Iran peace talks remain stuck on the question of Tehran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon.

Hegseth, in his remarks, cast some of the coverage as “incredibly unpatriotic,” without being specific, telling reporters in the room, “It’s hard to figure out what side some of you are actually on.”

"Our press are just like these Pharisees," he said. "Your politically motivated animus for President Trump nearly completely blinds you from the brilliance of our American warriors."

The remarks come after Trump faced criticism from religious leaders and members of his own party after he posted — and later deleted — imagery portraying himself as Christ-like. Trump later said he thought the image showed him “as a doctor.”

Hegseth did not mention that episode but leaned heavily into similar religious framing, suggesting the media’s scrutiny of Trump mirrors biblical figures who, by his telling, sought to undermine Jesus Christ.

It’s just the latest episode in Hegseth’s adversarial relationship with reporters, whose work in the Pentagon he’s gone to great lengths to hamper.

A federal judge just dealt those efforts a setback last week when he ruled that the Defense Department is violating an earlier order to restore access for reporters. The judge, siding with The New York Times, had earlier said the Pentagon’s new credential policy violated journalists’ constitutional rights to free speech and due process.

The U.S. and Israeli war with Iran, an Islamic theocracy, has created a deeper subtext for the Trump administration’s repeated mentions of prayer and biblical themes in their messaging. Hegseth has a track record of bringing conservative evangelism into the Pentagon, and his Christian rhetoric has drawn repeated scrutiny.

Pope Leo XIV and Trump have traded public criticism over the last week. Trump called out the pope last week in a post defending his war with Iran, and on Thursday morning, the pontiff decried “tyrants” in public remarks.

"Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth," the pope said during his four-country tour of Africa. "It is a world turned upside down, an exploitation of God’s creation that must be denounced and rejected by every honest conscience."

This month Hegseth compared a rescued U.S. pilot downed in Iran on Good Friday and rescued on Easter to the resurrection of Jesus Christ as portrayed in the New Testament.

“You see, shot down on a Friday, Good Friday, hidden in a cave, a crevice — all of Saturday and rescued on Sunday,” he said at an earlier press briefing. “Flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday, a pilot reborn. All home and accounted for. A nation rejoicing. God is good.”

Democrats Want Answers on Russell Vought’s Plan to Cut CFPB’s Workforce in Half

Jade Lozada — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Lillian Bautista/NOTUS

Senate Democrats are still looking for answers on what the Trump administration is doing to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee sent a letter Thursday to Russell Vought, who in addition to running the Office of Management and Budget is the acting director of the CFPB, demanding to know how the administration’s latest proposal to cut the agency’s staff by half would impact its statutorily mandated work.

“The most recent filing is yet another step in the Trump Administration’s chaotic, consistently illegal quest to destroy the only federal agency tasked specifically with protecting consumers in dealings with financial products and institutions,” the senators wrote in the letter, which was exclusively shared with NOTUS.

The administration’s plan to reduce CFPB staff by 53% was revealed in a court filing earlier this month. The plan would leave 556 employees at the CFPB, which enforces consumer-finance laws, supervises banks and monitors market risks.

The CFPB is currently operating with more than 1,100 employees, though much of its work has been stalled under Vought’s leadership. The agency had 1,700 employees before President Donald Trump retook office.

The senators requested responses from Vought within 30 days to a series of questions, including ones on the potential effects of workforce cuts to enforcement investigations, lawsuits and redress to consumers.

The fate of the CFPB has been tied up in the courts. Vought requested that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit modify a previous ruling pausing widespread layoffs so that the CFPB could immediately implement its new plan to reduce the agency’s workforce. Vought said the change would still fulfill the agency’s statutory obligations.

Senate Banking Democrats aren’t buying it.

Of particular concern to the senators is Vought’s plan to remove 87 workers from the Office of Enforcement, which investigates and litigates deceptive and fraudulent business practices and returns money to consumers.

“It is hard to understand how the CFPB could meet its statutory requirements, which include enforcing at least 21 consumer financial protection laws, while firing 80% of the workers responsible for doing so,” the senators wrote in their letter.

The letter was led by Sens. Angela Alsobrooks and Elizabeth Warren, a key architect of the agency.

The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents CFPB employees, sued Vought in February 2025 to halt the reduction in force at the agency and reverse the stop-work orders. The union said the stop-work orders amounted to closing the agency — an argument it won in a U.S. district court.

The appeals court vacated the lower court’s preliminary injunction blocking reductions in force before the union petitioned for a rehearing before the court’s full bench, which took place in February.

The appeals court has not yet handed down a decision.

Money, Money, Money (Money)

Evan McMorris-Santoro, Jasmine Wright — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:01:00 GMT

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:01:00 GMT https://www.notus.org/newsletters/money-money-money-money

Brenda Bazán/AP

Today’s notice: Democrats had a good fundraising quarter. What RFK Jr. is going to tell Congress this morning. Republicans send mixed messages to labor. And: Abortion opponents want to be a part of the next GOP reconciliation bill.

THE LATEST

Big night for Democrats, with a big asterisk: The Q1 FEC reports are in, and the early take is it’s not just the polls and the prognosticators — Democrats have fundraising momentum, too. NOTUS’ Alex Roarty and the newsroom pored over the numbers and found Democrats’ top candidates reported gargantuan fundraising totals.

In Texas, James Talarico raised a truly staggering $27 million for his Senate run.
Roy Cooper, the Senate nominee in North Carolina, raised nearly $14 million, similar to the totals for other prominent Senate hopefuls like Sherrod Brown in Ohio ($12.5 million) and Mary Peltola in Alaska ($9 million).

It was a similar story in the House, with top Democratic candidates outraising the Republicans they’re running against.

But fret not, Republicans, money is not your problem. Outside groups supporting GOP candidates have a seemingly limitless pile of cash to spend — routinely much, much more than groups allied with Democrats do. Plus there’s that unprecedented stack Donald Trump has amassed for the midterms, reportedly set to be unleashed starting next month.

Other fundraising notes: Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales departed Congress with plenty of cash in their campaign funds, NOTUS’ Taylor Giorno and Torrie Herrington found. Save America PAC, which Trump has used to pay legal bills in the past, is $500K in debt while owing $1.6 million to a roster of law firms, NOTUS’ Em Luetkemeyer reports. And D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto vastly outraised her opponents in the nasty race to replace retiring Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Taylor writes.

Open tabs: Pentagon Approaches Automakers, Manufacturers to Boost Weapons Production (WSJ); A Progressive Group Rolls Out a Campus Competitor to Turning Point (NYT); Democratic Senators Overwhelmingly Reject Arms Sales to Israel (The Intercept); FDA to weigh easing limits on unproven peptides favored by RFK Jr. (AP)

From the Hill

Must-watch congressional action today: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will testify before the House Ways and Means Committee at 9 a.m. It will be lawmakers’ first chance to publicly question the health secretary since HHS significantly amended the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule, revised a federal website to contradict the scientific consensus that vaccines don’t cause autism, revamped federal nutrition guidance and cut funding to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Kennedy’s opening remarks, reviewed by NOTUS’ Paige Cunningham, tout a laundry list of efforts to lower drug prices, update nutrition guidelines and root out fraud, but avoid the far more controversial changes his agency has made. Kennedy plans to say that he is “ending the era of federal policies that fueled this chronic disease epidemic — and replacing them with policies that put the health of the American people first.”

Can Republicans embrace organized labor? Republican Sen. Josh Hawley is trying to sell his conference on a bill which, among other things, would require employers to start negotiations for a first contract within 10 days of a union’s certification. It’s part of his populist agenda he thinks the GOP needs to embrace to secure its place as the party of America’s working class. The Teamsters have endorsed it, Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno has signed on and … well, that’s close to about it, NOTUS’ Jade Lozada reports.

“With the language of the bill, the way that it’s written, unions can be unreasonable and win,” David Cleary, a former Republican staff director of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told her, saying basically all that needs to be said about the bill’s chances.

From the NLRB

The Trump board is near: This week Trump nominated James Macy, currently the Department of Labor’s director of workers’ compensation programs, to join the National Labor Relations Board. If confirmed, he would bring the Republican majority to 3-1 on the five-member board (Trump fired Democratic member Gwynne Wilcox last January).

The shift would allow Republican members to roll back policies passed under Joe Biden, Jade writes, including a 2022 decision requiring employers to compensate workers who were victims of unfair labor practices for “direct or foreseeable” financial harms resulting from those practices.

From the Interior Department

First on NOTUS: Ignoring Congress? During budget negotiations in 2025, Republicans and Democrats worked out a deal for the Department of the Interior to provide reports every 60 days on the status of federal energy projects. Democrats wanted information on what they feared was intentional slow-walking of green-energy projects, and Republicans said they’d agree to it only if all energy projects were included. Democrats say two reports due March 24 haven’t arrived yet, NOTUS’ Anna Kramer reports. The department did not respond to a request for comment.

What comes next: Secretary Doug Burgum is set to testify next week before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees Interior. Expect Democrats to grill him about this.

From the campaign trail

Bonus fundraising numbers: Who’s ahead in Pennsylvania’s 7th District? That would be Ryan Crosswell, a former federal prosecutor who quit after refusing to drop the case against then-New York Mayor Eric Adams. He outraised the other Democrats running in the primary, including Bob Brooks, the candidate endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and the commonwealth’s governor, Josh Shapiro.

THE BIG ONE

Anti-abortion leaders want in on reconciliation: The next Republican-only funding bill is aimed at providing money for immigration enforcement, but one of social conservatism’s most powerful movements sees an opportunity to effectively defund Planned Parenthood, NOTUS’ Oriana González and Al Weaver report. The last reconciliation bill included a one-year suspension of federal funding to the health-care provider, leading to multiple facility closures. But the suspension expires in July, and abortion opponents don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to finish off what the CEO of Americans United for Life called “a wounded dog.”

The challenge: Republican leaders are eager to keep the reconciliation bill as tightly focused on immigration as possible. But the anti-abortion movement warns that ignoring it in an election year is hazardous. “You don’t see the people who want to see more military spending or support a flat tax out there door knocking,” Kristi Hamrick of Students for Life Action said. “The social conservatives really are the ground game of the Republican Party.”

Democrats are watching all this closely. NOTUS’ Igor Bobic reports that the party out of power is warning Republicans it will also use reconciliation to its benefit when it gets the chance. “Once you have established a precedent, the other side is going to take a careful look and see if it benefits them,” Dick Durbin, veteran Democratic senator and experienced appropriator, said of the shift toward reconciliation to get funding passed.

Caveat: Democrats have to win in 2028 and remain as unified as Republicans have been under Trump 2.0 to make good on this threat.

NEW ON NOTUS

Pretty please: Senate Republicans are pleading with Trump to lay off Fed Chair Jerome Powell and end a criminal investigation into his congressional testimony about a renovation project at the central bank’s headquarters, Al and Jasmine report.

“I don’t think there should be one second of time between the end of Jay Powell’s term and the beginning of Kevin Warsh’s,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Banking Committee member and longtime critic of the Fed chair, said. “Anything that doesn’t have that as its goal is an unnecessary distraction. It seems like a lot of resources on something that doesn’t seem all that big of a deal.”

More: Army Shuts Down Social Media Accounts After They Praised Tammy Duckworth’s Service, by Torrie Herrington

NOT US

How Eric Swalwell rose to the top of Democratic politics as rumors followed him, by Liz Goodwin for The Washington Post
Inside Pakistan’s turnaround with Trump, by Daniella Cheslow and Sophia Cai for Politico
Jared Kushner’s Mysterious Role in the Trump Administration, by Andrea Bernstein for The Atlantic
Audio: US Congress members targets of increasing violent threats, by Tal Kopan and Jim Puzzanghera for The Boston Globe

BE SOCIAL

This isn’t what they meant when they said “drain the swamp.”

https://x.com/AndrewSolender/status/2044522241543573532?s=20

Thank you for reading! If you liked this edition of the NOTUS newsletter, please forward it to a friend. If this newsletter was shared with you, please subscribe — it’s free! Have a tip? Email us at tips@notus.com. And as always, we’d love to hear your thoughts at newsletters@notus.com.
]]>

Anti-Abortion Leaders Are Pressuring Republicans to Defund Planned Parenthood in Reconciliation

Oriana González — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 09:30:00 GMT

March for Life President Jennie Lichter, seen here at the March for Life in Washington in January, is pushing Congress to extend restricts on federal funding for abortion services. Stephanie Scarbrough/AP

President Donald Trump’s so-called “one big, beautiful bill” granted the anti-abortion movement one of its biggest priorities: severely restricting federal funding from going to abortion providers.

As congressional Republicans prepare to start the budget reconciliation process for a second time to fund the president’s immigration agenda, anti-abortion leaders are hoping it’s an opportunity to extend their push to effectively defund Planned Parenthood for longer.

Last year’s reconciliation bill initially attempted to bar federal funding from going to abortion providers for 10 years. After the Senate parliamentarian effectively disqualified that duration, Republicans were successful in defunding for one year, which has led to multiple Planned Parenthood clinic closures. With the measure running out in July, anti-abortion advocates are exerting pressure on GOP leaders.

Anti-abortion advocates have been frustrated with the Trump administration over its lack of action to restrict abortion nationwide. If Republicans fail to add a provision defunding Planned Parenthood to a second reconciliation bill, some advocates say the party could risk losing conservative voters in November.

“The failure to act on the pro-life issue does risk the block,” Kristi Hamrick, vice president of media and policy for Students for Life Action, told NOTUS. “Former President Reagan described the Republican Party as a three-legged stool: One leg is social conservatives, one leg is national-security conservatives and one leg is economic conservatives.”

“You don't see the people who want to see more military spending or support a flat tax out there door knocking. The social conservatives really are the ground game of the Republican Party, and that means pro-life, that means pro-family, that means pro-support for children. That’s the kind of thing that people are looking for,” Hamrick continued.

Jennie Bradley Lichter, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, says her group’s “top priority, along with the whole movement, for reconciliation is getting that bar of federal funding flowing to abortion clinics back in place and extending it so that this doesn't become something that needs to be redone every year.” She added, “Finding a path to having it be a multiyear ‘defund’ is our top priority for reconciliation.”

March for Life Action, the organization’s political arm, is focused on activating its grassroots network to pressure Republicans to support defunding Planned Parenthood. Lichter also said that the organization is “very engaged and very active” in conversing with Republicans on Capitol Hill, though she declined to name which members she has met with on the issue.

As Republicans figure out how to end the partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown, they’re looking to the reconciliation process, a party-line vote that gets around the Senate filibuster, to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement. After the Washington Examiner reported last Tuesday that Speaker Mike Johnson, a longtime ally to the anti-abortion movement, was not considering language to defund Planned Parenthood and other large abortion providers in the budget bill, some anti-abotion leaders were quick to express their frustrations.

John Mize, CEO of Americans United for Life, quickly set up a phone meeting with Johnson’s staff on Wednesday afternoon. He told NOTUS ahead of the call that Planned Parenthood is a “wounded dog.”

“They’re a desperate organization. I think you defund them for one more year and, I mean, at some level, it will tip and they will completely fall by the wayside,” Mize said. “This is our shot, this upcoming reconciliation bill.”

Following the meeting, Johnson’s team was not shutting down the idea of using the reconciliation process to extend current abortion restrictions.

“Our team understands negotiations are ongoing and nothing is confirmed yet. The bottom line is that defunding has not been excluded at this point in time,” Mize said in a statement recounting the meeting. “We continue to hope and expect that Leader Thune, Speaker Johnson, and Congressional Republicans will successfully get defunding through the finish line.”

But GOP leaders want to keep this reconciliation bill as specific as possible. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told NOTUS’ Al Weaver last week that his goal was to keep a second reconciliation bill narrow and focused solely on DHS.

“Once you start widening it out and implicate other committees of jurisdiction, then … you get a lot of germaneness issues on the floor when it comes to amendments,” Thune said. “The goal is, and I think a lot of it will depend on the degree to which the White House is leaning in on this too, to make sure that it remains a narrow fix.”

Johnson is seemingly resigned to Thune’s demands. Nearly one week after his office met with Mize, when asked if it was possible to defund Planned Parenthood in this reconciliation package, the speaker told NOTUS, “The reconciliation bill that's coming over is super skinny, they call it. It's ICE and Border, and we're going to deal with everything else going forward.”

With that, some Republicans have floated the idea of a third reconciliation bill that would address more ideological concerns, like adding new requirements for voting, which defunding Planned Parenthood could be added to. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chair of the Senate Budget Committee and an anti-abortion ally, shut down the idea of adding the anti-abortion clause to the upcoming package, telling NOTUS, “We’ll do that for sure in the next bill.”

“My goal right now is to get the Border Patrol and ICE funded through the rest of President Trump’s term,” he said.

Similarly, Sen. Bernie Moreno, a member of the Budget Committee, told NOTUS that Senate Republicans would not add the provision because it “makes it a much more complicated reconciliation process in this package.”

“We could do a third reconciliation bill that’s a little bit meatier,” Moreno added.

Adding more ideological measures to the second reconciliation bill could also risk losing some Republican support, something leaders are worried about with a tiny House majority. Rep. Mike Lawler, a vulnerable Republican from New York who has previously opposed defunding Planned Parenthood, told NOTUS that Congress needed to focus on using “the reconciliation process to fund ICE and CBP.”

“We should stick to that and get it done,” Lawler continued.

As the midterm elections get closer, some lawmakers are doubtful that a third reconciliation legislation could actually happen. When asked whether she thought it was possible to defund abortion providers in such a bill, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said, “A third? We got to get this one first. Who knows.”

Rep. August Pfluger, the chair of the Republican Study Committee, which released its own framework in January for a second large reconciliation bill that included defunding Planned Parenthood, told NOTUS that the ICE package is a “very different thing than what we advocated for” so his group is “going to continue to advocate for a third reconciliation.”

But he conceded that it would be difficult for that to happen the closer November gets: “That’s a political reality,” Pfluger said.

Anti-abortion advocates are also skeptical that their priorities would be addressed in a third reconciliation bill.

“There’s not a planet where a third reconciliation is going to happen. They’re in election season, that’s a fantasy,” Mize told NOTUS. So the next reconciliation bill “is the one shot we have to defund for a second time,” he added.

In a statement to NOTUS, Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, said that “despite the devastating consequences, Republican lawmakers have continued to make it clear that their goal is to permanently ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood.”

“Until more than one million Planned Parenthood health center patients are no longer at risk of losing access to cancer screenings, birth control, STI testing and treatment, and other critical services, this fight is not over,” Johnson continued.

A report released by Sen. Elizabeth Warren in March found that since the “one big, beautiful bill” took effect last year, at least 23 Planned Parenthood clinics have closed, and 75% of those were in “rural, medically underserved areas, or health professional shortage areas.”

Anti-abortion advocates have at least one ally in Congress pushing for leaders to include a clause defunding Planned Parenthood into the DHS funding bill. Rep. Chris Smith, a chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, told NOTUS he’s in “ongoing” conversations with House GOP leaders on the issue, but they didn’t say “yes or no” on whether they’d push for the measure to be added.

“It would be a profoundly missed opportunity” if Republicans fail to do so, Smith, who said he’s not sure whether there will be another reconciliation opportunity, added.

Hamrick agrees, telling NOTUS, “GOP voters, social conservatives have every right to expect that the Republicans will finish what they started.”

NOTUS Reporter Al Weaver contributed to this story

Josh Hawley Is Trying to Sell Unions to Republicans. It’s Not Working.

Jade Lozada — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 09:21:00 GMT

Sen. Josh Hawley has been working with the Teamsters to roll out a framework of bills that draws on the Democratic PRO Act. Tom Williams/AP

President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers this week are touting their “no tax on tips or overtime” policies, which won over working-class voters in 2024.

The president’s party, however, is fracturing over labor reforms that could bring organized labor further into their camp.

Sen. Josh Hawley — a populist Republican who has rankled conservatives and union organizers alike with his picket-line visits and labor policies — aims to put forward a slew of legislation based on his self-proclaimed “pro-worker framework.” The framework includes increasing civil penalties for employers who violate labor laws and banning required “captive audience” meetings, where employers discourage workers from organizing.

Hawley has also introduced the Faster Labor Contracts Act, which requires employers to start negotiations for a first contract within 10 days of a union’s certification.

These policies are lifted from Democrats’ Protect the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, a comprehensive labor-reform bill that never came to a floor vote when Democrats controlled the Senate. Unions, from the Teamsters to the AFL-CIO to the United Food and Commercial Workers, say they are on board with the PRO Act and Hawley’s Faster Labor Contracts Act.

“There was just not a realistic path forward to the president's desk for that bill as a whole,” said Sunshine McBride, the Teamsters’ federal legislative director, who added that the union worked with Hawley on turning the framework into legislation. “By doing the bills as standalones, we were creating more opportunities for Republicans to start to take those actions depending on where they fell on a continuum of support for labor.”

Hawley’s Republican colleagues are a tougher sell.

Hawley’s staff is in talks with Sen. Bill Cassidy’s staff to coordinate labor bills that would come before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, according to a former Republican congressional aide familiar with discussions.

Cassidy has said publicly that he is working to introduce the first comprehensive labor-reform package in nearly 100 years — an uphill battle in a Republican Party divided on the issue. But the bills he’s suggested putting forward are different from what Hawley is proposing and have been panned by unions like the AFL-CIO. They do have support, however, from business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The bills limit the kinds of claims that can be made to the National Labor Relations Board, and the ways the labor board can rule on such claims. Another ends voluntary recognition of unions and requires two-thirds of workers to participate in union elections, rather than a simple majority.

“Congress hasn’t updated our labor laws in nearly a century, even as our economy and the way Americans work have changed dramatically,” Stephen Lewerenz, the Senate HELP Committee’s majority-party spokesperson, told NOTUS in a statement. “Chairman Cassidy is committed to modernizing our labor laws to provide stability and certainty for workers, unions, and businesses alike.”

Among the Republicans on HELP, Hawley is outnumbered by libertarians like Sen. Rand Paul and traditional, pro-employer Republicans like Sens. Tim Scott and Tommy Tuberville. Hawley’s bills could pass the committee with Democrats’ support, but no bipartisan discussions have taken place yet.

When asked whether he would support the Faster Labor Contracts Act, Republican Sen. Jon Husted declined to answer the question directly.

“I have a great relationship creating jobs in Ohio and working with the trade unions and the Teamsters,” Husted, who is defending his seat in union-heavy Ohio, said. “I always have an open dialogue with them and always look forward to working with them on things that can help improve the economy and create jobs.”

When told that the Teamsters support the bill, Husted did not clarify his position.

“You can ask as many times, but I have told you what my view is," he said.

A spokesperson with Hawley’s office reiterated his support for the legislation.

“Senator Hawley continues to believe that the Senate should pass his Faster Labor Contracts Act to protect workers as soon as possible,” they told NOTUS in a statement. “This bipartisan legislation is real labor reform that puts workers first.”

David Cleary, who served as the HELP Committee’s Republican staff director from 2013 to 2023, said the Faster Labor Contracts Act is unlikely to draw Republican votes other than from Hawley and Sen. Bernie Moreno, a co-sponsor. Hawley introduced the bill with Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat, and Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley and Gary Peters were also original co-sponsors of the legislation.

“I don't know that Republicans are super interested in going up against business on a bill like that because there's no balance to that bill that forces the unions to give up anything on their end,” Cleary said. “With the language of the bill, the way that it’s written, unions can be unreasonable and win.”

Unions counter that the bill would help resolve a central issue to collective-bargaining efforts. They say employers drag their feet on negotiating first contracts with new unions, with ratification taking an average time of 465 days, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis. Starbucks Workers United, for example, has been in bargaining talks with the company since April 2024 without a first contract.

“You can get a loan, you can get a mortgage on your phone faster than you can get a first contract that gives you a grievance procedure and some set rules at your workplace,” said Roy Houseman, the legislative director at United Steelworkers.

Union organizers argue Republicans stand to benefit from pursuing labor reform seriously. Increasing the minimum wage and supporting collective bargaining so workers can negotiate their own wages fits right into an affordability agenda, said Jody Calemine, the advocacy director for the AFL-CIO.

“There’s a lot of focus on prices, but affordability has two sides,” Calemine said. “It’s both prices and wages.”

“It’s hard for the government to control prices, but it is a lot easier for the government to do things that will either directly increase wages” or indirectly increase them, he added.

Besides a few hearings on labor reform in October, there has been little public momentum for Hawley’s labor bills. McBride, the Teamsters’ legislative director, nevertheless has a positive outlook on the work being done behind the scenes.

“We are in a moment right now that’s really notable in terms of pro-labor Republicans coming together as a voting bloc and influencing the policy agenda,” McBride said.

Working-class voters, many of them union members, are at the center of Republicans’ sights this midterm cycle, as affordability concerns remain top of mind for most Americans. Trump has courted these voters with tax cuts, but much of the president’s working-class populism has not translated to supporting organized labor.

In March 2025, Trump removed collective-bargaining rights for 1 million federal workers, leading to a bipartisan discharge petition in Congress to overturn the executive order. A week into his second term, Trump fired NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox, removing a quorum at the agency that adjudicates unfair labor-practice claims and conducts union elections.

Most recently, Trump on Monday nominated employment-side attorney and Department of Labor official James Macy to the NLRB, whose confirmation would expand the Republican majority and allow the board to overturn Biden-era worker privileges.

Democrats Are Dominating the Fundraising Race in Critical Congressional Contests

Alex Roarty — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 04:31:41 GMT

Texas state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, waves before speaking for the first time since winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Austin on March 4, 2026. Eric Gay/AP

Even at a time of inflated political-fundraising hauls, the numbers Democrats reported Wednesday stand out.

Many of the Democratic Party’s top candidates reported gargantuan fundraising totals for the first three months of the year — figures that reinforce the party’s growing confidence that it is gaining momentum roughly six months before the midterm election.

The Democrats’ Senate nominee in Texas, James Talarico, led the way by raising $27 million in the year’s first fundraising quarter, a figure that until recently would have been considered a strong return for a major presidential candidate, let alone a congressional contender.

But he wasn’t the only Senate Democratic nominee to post an impressive report to the Federal Election Commission: Roy Cooper, the Democrats’ Senate nominee in North Carolina, raised nearly $14 million, and Mary Peltola, the putative party nominee for Senate in Alaska, raised almost $9 million. Sherrod Brown, the likely nominee in Ohio, raised $12.5 million.

Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff’s totals might be the most striking: The incumbent raised $14 million last quarter and has $31.7 million on hand, per FEC reports.
Jon Ossoff AP - 26038790210178 (5107x3314, AR: 1.54)Ossoff, Talarico, Cooper, Peltola and Brown had, combined, more than $80 million on hand to start April.

The Democrats’ financial successes last quarter, however, come with a caveat.

At the national level, the party still faces a steep financial disparity against Republicans, when including outside groups like MAGA Inc. and super PACs like the Senate Leadership Fund. And an expected Supreme Court decision this spring could give the GOP another advantage, letting them maximize the political impact of contributions from big donors and the more than $100 million in the Republican National Committee’s own warchest.

Here are other takeaways from the first-quarter fundraising deadline:

House Democrats score, too

Like their Senate counterparts, House Democratic candidates challenging Republican incumbents also reported impressive fundraising figures.

Democratic candidate Rebecca Cooke ($2.4 million) outraised Rep. Derrick Van Orden ($1.3 million) in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District. Sarah Trone Garriott ($1.7 million) raised more than Republican Rep. Zach Nunn ($1.3 million) in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. Janelle Stelson ($2.2 million) collected more than Rep. Scott Perry ($1.1 million). JoAnna Mendoza ($2.4 million) hauled in more than Rep. Juan Ciscomani ($1.1 million).
JanelleStelson (6432x4288, AR: 1.50)All four districts are top-tier battlegrounds in this year’s midterm election, the kind of races Democrats might need to win to claim a House majority in 2027.

Republican challengers also had financial success, with Tano Tijerina raising more than Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar in Texas’ battleground 28th Congressional District, $600,000 to $490,000.

In another Texas swing district, Eric Flores raised $1.2 million, edging out Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez’s $1.1 million for the quarter.

House Republicans are counting on gaining seats in Texas after the state’s mid-decade redistricting to help combat a potentially difficult political environment in November and hold on to the party’s slim majority.

Cash-strapped primaries

Democratic Senate candidates aren’t raising as much money in contested primaries, suggesting that many of the party’s small and large donors alike are more interested in trying to defeat Republicans than settle intraparty scores.

In Iowa, for example, state Rep. Josh Turek and state Sen. Zach Wahls each raised an almost identical $1.1 million last fundraising quarter. Rep. Angie Craig raised $2.5 million to Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan’s $1.3 million in Minnesota, while the three Democratic Senate candidates in Michigan raised a collective $7.2 million in the first fundraising quarter (more on that race below).
Election 2026 Senate Maine Graham Platner AP - 25293626326255 (3334x2222, AR: 1.50)Even in Maine, leftist firebrand Graham Platner reported raising $4 million, a strong quarter for a newcomer to politics but not the outrageous sum some Democratic candidates with uncontested primaries collected. His opponent in the Democratic primary, Gov. Janet Mills, raised $2.6 million.

Mills had just $1 million on hand to start the month, less than half of Platner’s $2.7 million, amid ongoing concerns about the state of her campaign.

Michigan stays tight

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow posted the most impressive fundraising report in the closely watched three-way Democratic Senate primary in Michigan, although her two competitors trailed closely behind.

McMorrow raised the most cash during the year’s first three months ($3 million) and had the most cash on hand ($3.7 million) of the three competitors. Former gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed raised $2.2 million last quarter and had $2.5 million on hand, while Rep. Haley Stevens raised $2 million and had $3.4 million available to start April.

The race remains very competitive, with polls finding each of the three candidates within striking distance of one another. And like past fundraising quarters in this race, all three candidates continue to spend relatively heavily with the August primary still months away, much of it on costly digital-fundraising efforts.

Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales Leave Congress Flush With Campaign Funds

Taylor Giorno, Torrie Herrington — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 04:14:34 GMT

Former Reps. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales. Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are still sitting in the political committees of two lawmakers who resigned from Congress this week.

Former Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Republican from Texas, had more than $327,000 in his campaign’s coffers at the end of March, according to the campaign’s latest report to the Federal Election Commission. His leadership PAC, the Honor Courage Commitment PAC, had more than $208,000 in cash on hand at the end of February.

The House campaign committee of former Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, had more than $288,600 in cash on hand. His leadership PAC, Remedy PAC, had more than $32,000 in cash on hand at the end of February.

Staffers quit en masse after several women last week accused Swalwell of sexual assault and misconduct. Swalwell and Gonzales, who admitted to having an affair with a married staffer who later died by self-immolation, both resigned rather than face possible expulsion votes.

Candidates are not allowed to spend campaign funds for personal use, but there are several things the Swalwell and Gonzales campaigns can do with the remaining cash on hand.

According to FEC rules, they can use excess funds to cover “winding down” costs including moving expenses, committee staff payments and gifts to people who are not family. They can also donate the money to charity, party committees or state-and-local candidates. They may also disgorge it to the U.S. Treasury’s general fund or just keep it idle in their accounts.

Rules for leadership PACs are less stringent. In extreme cases, lawmakers and former lawmakers have used leadership PACs to pay for luxury travel, golf, club-membership dues and fine dining.

Contacts for Swalwell's and Gonzales’ campaigns did not respond to questions from NOTUS about what they plan to do with the excess funds.

But since the accusations against Swalwell came to light, Democratic candidates and committees have been returning previous contributions from his campaign and PAC. Politico reported that Democrats have also been cutting ties with Swalwell’s AI startup Findraiser, which NOTUS revealed Swalwell had been peddling to fellow lawmakers and staff, potentially violating House ethics rules.

Swalwell suspended his California gubernatorial campaign over the weekend after the San Francisco Chronicle broke the news that a former staffer had accused the congressman of having sex with her when she was too intoxicated to consent.

Three other women told CNN, which also reported the sexual assault allegations, that Swalwell had sent unsolicited nude photos and sexual messages.

The response to Swalwell’s alleged wrongdoings was swift.

But Gonzales’ political downfall was a slower burn.

In February, the San Antonio Express-News reported that Gonzales had an affair with a married staffer who died by self-immolation last year. Gonzales initially denied the affair. But he eventually admitted to the affair after his March primary election against right-wing influencer Brandon Herrera went to a runoff, which was set for May 26.

Even after the news of the affair broke, Gonzales’ campaign continued to raise money, according to his latest FEC report.

From Feb. 17, the day the San Antonio Express-News published its story, until the end of March, Gonzales’ campaign received more than $322,000 from individuals and PACs.

But at the end of March, after Gonzales announced he would not seek reelection, the campaign refunded individual donors $424,907 and gave another $70,000 back to political campaigns and committees. Refunds were given to those who contributed in both the primary and general elections.

Gonzales’ leadership PAC, which did not report raising any money in February, will file its report for March on Monday.

Meanwhile, two other members of Congress who themselves are facing calls to resign — Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Cory Mills, both of Florida — posted dismal campaign fundraising numbers for the year’s first quarter.

Donald Trump’s Favorite PAC for Legal Bills Is in Debt — And Owes Many Law Firms Money

Em Luetkemeyer — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 03:56:07 GMT

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

A political committee President Donald Trump uses to pay legal bills is in debt — and owes $1.6 million to a roster of law firms, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission.

Trump’s Save America PAC is nearly $500,000 in the red, according to FEC data published Wednesday.

The PAC reported working with at least 20 different law firms during the first three months of 2026, and it owes money to 12 of them. Two creditors provided addresses in the United Kingdom, the reports show.

The White House and the Save America PAC did not respond to NOTUS’ requests for comment.

The PAC owes the most money — over $660,000 — to NechelesLaw LLP, a criminal-defense law firm in New York. Susan Necheles cross-examined pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels in the courtroom in 2024 during Trump’s “hush money” case. Save America also owes about $112,000 to Wharton Law PLLC, another firm headed by a lawyer who represented Trump in that trial.

About $400,000 is owed to Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. Trump nominated one of its lawyers last week to a lifelong U.S. appeals court judge position based in New York. Trump also nominated a lawyer from James Otis Law Group LLC in February to a federal judicial post. His PAC owes that firm, located in St. Louis, about $1,700.

Florida law firm Brito PLLC, to which the PAC owes over $44,000, represented Trump in defamation lawsuits against news media, including The New York Times, the BBC and ABC News and George Stephanopoulos. The law firm is also representing Trump in his $5 billion lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, over the closure of his accounts.

Habba Madaio & Associates LLP — now known as Madaio Eyet & Associates — is a law firm near Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, that the PAC owes about $19,000. Alina Habba, a former partner at the firm who has represented Trump in high-profile cases, was serving as New Jersey’s top prosecutor under Trump until December and resigned after an appeals court found that she had been unlawfully serving in the role.

The PAC owes about $27,000 to William Sturges LLP, located in London. The group’s website says it “provides partner-led legal services to a diverse clientele” and combines “years of experience with progressive, practical and timely legal solutions.” Also in London is Level Law LTD, which the PAC owes about $20,000.

The PAC also owes money to white-collar criminal-defense firm Secil Law PLLC; the Tacopina, Seigel & DeOreo law firm in New York; and Weber, Crabb & Wein, P.A. in Florida.

Other firms that the PAC paid for legal consultation but does not reportedly still owe money to are Alan R. Ostergren, PC, which filed a lawsuit against pollster J. Ann Selzer and The Des Moines Register in 2024 after the news outlet published a poll finding Trump lagging behind; The Dhillon Law Group in California; Elections LLC in D.C.; Epstein & Co. in D.C.; the Farris, Parker & Hubbard law firm in Texas; New Age Consulting LLC; Richard C. Klugh, P.A. in Miami; and the Binnall Law Group in Alexandria, Virginia.

The Save America PAC has reported a similar pattern in the past, previously paying millions to lawyers while spending more than it raised.

D.C. Delegate Fundraising Heats Up as the Race Gets Angry and Personal

Taylor Giorno — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 02:31:15 GMT

A Brooke Pinto campaign lawn sign in Washington, D.C. Dave Levinthal/NOTUS

The increasingly contentious race to succeed Eleanor Holmes Norton as the District of Columbia’s House delegate just keeps getting more expensive.

D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto maintained her financial frontrunner status heading into this month, as her campaign raised more than $407,000 from January through March, according to its latest report to the Federal Election Commission.

Fellow D.C. Councilmember Robert White’s campaign reported raising $184,033 during the same period.

And Kinney Zalesne, a former deputy national finance chair of the Democratic National Committee, reported raising around $123,000.

Pinto, White and Zalesne aren’t the only candidates competing to fill Norton’s seat, but they are the most well-financed. And while money isn’t everything, it’s an essential ingredient in the first race since the early 1990s that will result in someone other than Norton representing the District of Columbia as a nonvoting member of Congress.

Norton announced in January that she would not seek reelection amid questions about her health and mental acuity — a decision that ignited one of the most hotly contested primaries of the 2026 election cycle.

While Pinto has a commanding lead in fundraising, she’s absorbed significant criticism this week for her campaign’s decision to publish a 67-page opposition-research memo on White, which included his home address and information about his family.

White characterized the Pinto campaign’s posting of the report as “essentially a doxxing of me and my family” and said it “seriously crossed a line.” He also called on Pinto to drop out of the race, which she has not done and is not expected to do.

“You showed such a lack of judgment that not only should you never ever be in Congress but you shouldn’t represent us in D.C. in any way. This is beyond the pale,” White said. “I mean, everyone knows politics is dirty, but even dirty has a line, and oh my God you just flew past the line with no care or concern.”
RobertWhite (4500x3000, AR: 1.50)Pinto’s campaign said in a statement that “campaigns should be run between candidates who put themselves out there to share their ideas, vision, and past record.” Rather than remove the opposition research entirely from Pinto’s website, there’s now an amended 56-page version of the memo in its place.

“While all information is available through any public search, we have removed all mention of my opponent’s family from our site,” Pinto’s campaign said. “Voters can see all information about Robert’s voting record on my website and decide for themselves who they want representing our city in Congress.”

Zalesne decried the “infighting” as “exactly what people hate about political campaigns and career politicians” — but didn’t miss an opportunity to take a swipe at her opponents in her statement.

“Was Pinto's posting of White's personal data malevolent or was it incompetent? Both answers feel disqualifying. Can White really fight against Trump on Capitol Hill when he and his Republican donors fought to bring the Trump Hotel to DC?” Zalesne wrote in a statement.

In a statement to NOTUS, Pinto, who reported Wednesday that her campaign had nearly $821,000 cash on hand at the end of March, said her campaign is “powered by supporters from every ward in the city.”

“We’re seeing unmatched momentum because DC residents want a champion on the Hill who can protect and explore new opportunities for our city — and they’re the reason we’re going to win this race,” Pinto said.

A NOTUS analysis of itemized contributions confirmed individuals from all eight wards donated to Pinto’s campaign last quarter — and found that less than half of the money donated to Pinto’s campaign last quarter came from within D.C.

A Pinto campaign spokesperson declined to comment on out-of-state donations.
BrookePinto (5616x3744, AR: 1.50)A majority of the money White’s campaign raised last quarter, on the other hand, has come from within the District, according to a NOTUS analysis of itemized contributions.

The White campaign also reported $73,488 in cash on hand at the end of March and $24,500 in debts and obligations, including $23,000 to Challengers LLC for political consulting.

A White campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest filing.

Zalesne’s campaign reported $466,584 in cash on hand at the end of March.

Of the nearly $159,000 her campaign reported raising during the first quarter of the year, $35,000 came from Zalesne herself, which brings the total she’s loaned her campaign this cycle up to $85,000.

Zalesne called herself “the proud outsider in this race” in a statement to NOTUS.

“I was never going to be the candidate with the highest number in my FEC report. I’m not a career politician, and I am blown away by the financial support voters are sending in,” Zalesne said in a statement. “I’ve been able to build my campaign from the grassroots up because my supporters can see we need change, and that I'm the only candidate who has been regularly fighting for DC on the national stage and winning."

While Pinto, White and Zalesne have raised the most money, they’re not the only candidates in the race.

Trent Holbrook, a longtime Norton staffer who made headlines in January when he launched his campaign after resigning from his role in her congressional office, raised $17,236. He also loaned his campaign $15,000, according to his report.

“I am proud of the money we have fundraised from everyday voters from across the District who know that this is the campaign whose candidate is actually prepared to hold this important position,” Holbrook said in a statement to NOTUS.

“We are not going to let big money buy this election," he continued. "We are not going to let the media decide who should win. Voters cannot just follow the proverbial horse race. They know who is the candidate who is actually ready to lead on Day One, and I am confident that our optimistic, issues-driven message will win this election.”

Greg Jaczko, who served as chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under then-President Barack Obama, reported raising nearly $90,000 during the first quarter of 2026, which his campaign ended with $84,758 in cash on hand. Jaczko loaned his campaign another $27,276.

Jaczko’s campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

This story has been updated to include comment from Trent Holbrook and clarify loan totals for some candidates.

Sherrod Brown Grows His Fundraising Advantage

Tyler Spence — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 02:27:16 GMT

Joshua A. Bickel/AP

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown extended a fundraising advantage over Sen. Jon Husted, the Republican incumbent in Ohio, heading into one of the most closely watched Senate races this cycle.

Brown raised $12.5 million in the first quarter of the year between his personal campaign and his committee and had more than $16.5 million in cash on hand at the end of March, according to Federal Election Commission filings released Wednesday.

"Ohioans across the state are fed up with Jon Husted and ready to hold him accountable for leaving hard-working families behind," Patrick Eisenhauer, Brown’s campaign manager, said in a statement about the fundraising haul.

Meanwhile, Husted raised $2.9 million over the same time period and ended the quarter with $8.2 million in cash on hand. Republican leadership has committed major backing for Husted — the Senate Leadership Fund last week announced plans to spend $79 million supporting the incumbent, which would be the largest single investment of the group's $342 million commitment across eight key Senate races.

The promise of a cash infusion from Republicans comes as Democrats are increasingly optimistic about winning a Senate majority in November. In an interview with NOTUS this week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer predicted that Democrats could flip the Senate, though the possibility is still a longshot.

“I feel like we’re going to take back the Senate,” Schumer told NOTUS. “If you had to ask me last year, I would have said no.”

The Ohio race is one of several battleground states Democrats need to take back the Senate.

Ohio's 2026 Senate election is shaping up to be a big-money fight in a state that's drifted further right since 2016 but remains enticing for Democrats. Brown, who represented the state in the Senate until losing reelection in 2024, is banking on his ties to union and blue-collar voters — and hoping that President Donald Trump's popularity continues to wane.

The numbers in the latest filings represent a new high-water mark for Brown's comeback bid. He raised $7.3 million in the final three months of 2025 and had nearly $9.9 million in cash on hand heading into the new year, after raising $14.3 million total in 2025. Husted, meanwhile, raised $1.5 million in the final quarter of last year and $7.3 million over the course of 2025.

Brown's 2024 race against Bernie Moreno was the most expensive nonpresidential race in U.S. history, according to AdImpact, with more than $500 million spent by the two campaigns and various third-party organizations throughout the cycle.

Republicans Plead With Trump to Drop Powell Probe

Al Weaver, Jasmine Wright — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:14:22 GMT

President Donald Trump says he may fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell if he remains on the central bank board. Charles Krupa/AP

Senate Republicans are begging President Donald Trump to let go of the unprecedented investigation into cost overruns with the renovation at the Federal Reserve just a month before the end of Chairman Jerome Powell’s term.

The long-held rivalry hit a new flashpoint Wednesday after the president said again he would fire Powell should he remain on the Fed, creating a hellish upcoming month for senators as they attempt to work around the political landmine.

Republican lawmakers have been hopeful that the imbroglio would fade as the upper chamber moves ahead with Kevin Warsh’s nomination to succeed Powell. Much to their chagrin, that has not happened, and instead it’s escalated — leaving them with a fresh headache.

“I just want there to be peace in the valley. I want to have an orderly transition where the institution of the Federal Reserve is lifted up, not torn down. That’s my goal,” Sen. John Kennedy said. “How are we going to achieve that? I don’t have a solution right now, but I admire the hell out of the problem.”

Trump’s threat came after news emerged that Justice Department investigators on Tuesday attempted to gain access to the over-budget construction at the Fed’s headquarters.

Kennedy said he still needed to “digest” Trump’s remarks from earlier in the day. A vocal backer of the Fed’s independence, the Louisiana Republican said earlier this year that senators needed the DOJ investigation “like we need a hole in the head.”

Trump declined Wednesday to end the probe of the central bank led by U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro. In response, Sen. Thom Tillis — a member of the Senate Banking Committee, which controls the fate of Warsh’s nomination — held firm on his vow that he will not support advancing Trump’s pick until the investigation is dropped. By law, Powell would remain Fed chair after his term ends May 15 until a successor is in place; he could also remain as a Fed governor through 2028.

While no one else has gone as far as Tillis, there is a healthy appetite among the Republican conference to end the investigation. More than a half-dozen Senate Republicans on Wednesday told NOTUS that they would like to see it wrapped up, and the sooner the better.

“The simple solution would be to end the investigation,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Banking Committee member who has been a Powell critic but has maintained the chairman is not a criminal.

“The timing’s perfect to wrap it up,” Cramer told NOTUS. “I don’t think there should be one second of time between the end of Jay Powell’s term and the beginning of Kevin Warsh’s. Anything that doesn’t have that as its goal is an unnecessary distraction. It seems like a lot of resources on something that doesn’t seem all that big of a deal.”

“If we were going to run an investigation on everybody that misleads Congress, we’d have to build a lot of prisons,” he added.

One of the president’s key economic allies said the same. Stephen Moore, a former Trump economic adviser, told NOTUS that Trump is right about the amount of money spent on renovations at the Fed, but acknowledged that the probe could delay Warsh’s confirmation.

“I guess at this point it would seem wiser to me to just get him out and make him yesterday's news,” Moore said.

The Banking Committee is set to hold the confirmation hearing for Warsh, a former Fed governor, on Tuesday. Even Tillis has indicated he will support Warsh, but has shown no signs of backing down from his nomination hold.

The North Carolina senator told reporters that he has had no conversations on the topic with anyone in the administration except some legislative affairs officials, adding that he was dismayed by the appearance of DOJ officials at the construction site of the Fed’s renovation a day earlier.

“I don’t know what’s changed. It almost seems like they want to escalate, and I would suggest to them that’s a bad idea. … People can escalate till the cows come home. They can escalate for the next 263 days,” Tillis said, referring to his remaining time in office. “My position’s not going to change until their posture changes.”

Tillis added that he’s gotten widespread support from the financial community for his stand over the Fed’s independence.

“Does anyone have any idea what that would be like under President Warren?” he continued, referring to progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren. “This has long-term consequences.”

Republican members indicated that they were unsure whether Trump was legally able to fire Powell after the end of his term, but indicated they were hopeful it would not get to that point.

Federal Judge James Boasberg had initially quashed a pair of subpoenas that were drawn up by Pirro’s office. That decision has been appealed.

Trump made his latest threat in an interview with Fox Business on Wednesday.

“Then I’ll have to fire him,” Trump told host Maria Bartiromo. “If he’s not leaving on time — I’ve held back firing him. I’ve wanted to fire him, but I hate to be controversial, you know. I want to be uncontroversial.”

“What they’ve done to that – so it is probably corrupt, but what it really is is incompetent,” he later said of the cost overruns. “And we have to show the incompetence of that.”

White House officials remained tight-lipped on Wednesday about how the potentially volatile issue would resolve itself, unwilling to say how they planned to address Tillis’ concerns while the investigation continued.

During the White House's press briefing, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent demurred when asked by a reporter if he will pressure Trump not to fire Powell.

"Look, I am confident that the process that we've laid out in terms of Kevin Warsh becoming the next Fed chair" will be successful, Bessent said, adding that Republicans on the Senate Banking committee are "aligned."

“I am very optimistic that Kevin Warsh will be the chair of the Fed on time and that will be a moot point,” Bessent said.

One source who spoke with Pirro recently and is close to the White House told NOTUS that she was acting “on her own” to follow what she believed to be a legitimate line of inquiry.

That conflicts, in some ways, with word from one of Trump’s top economic officials, who said the probe kicked off at Trump’s behest.

Kevin Hassett, the White House’s top economist, told Axios that DOJ got involved because “the president wanted to investigate the cost overrun.”

Some senators say they’re hopeful to move on, as soon as they can get out of the morass that they’ve found themselves in. This controversy means there’s still a tricky stretch ahead for an orderly transition at the central bank.

“There’s a lot of energy this month,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, a Banking Committee member. “It’s too bad we can’t harness the energy for some more productive activity.”

Wisconsin Democrat Rebecca Cooke Reports $2.4 Million First-Quarter Haul in Bid to Oust Rep. Derrick Van Orden

Jade Lozada — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 23:49:08 GMT

Democratic congressional candidate Rebecca Cooke. Saskia Hatvany/La Crosse Tribune via AP

Rebecca Cooke, the Democrat challenging Rep. Derrick Van Orden in one of the nation’s hottest House races, raised more than $2.4 million in the first quarter of 2026, according to her most recent Federal Election Commission filing.

Cooke’s latest campaign-finance report also indicates that she entered April with more than $4.4 million of that in cash — a massive amount at this point in an election year for any U.S. House candidate, particularly a nonincumbent.

Of the more than $2.4 million Cooke’s campaign took in during the first three months of this year, about $1.67 million came in the form of contributions from individual people.

The rest mostly came from other political committees. The largest contribution to Cooke’s campaign was $633,000 from the Wall Street-backed House Victory Project in March. The next biggest donations were $21,000 and $16,000 from the joint fundraiser Dem Rising 2026, a new group backing swing-district challengers, and the Blue Dog Victory Fund, respectively.

Van Orden, who represents Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District in the central and southwest sections of the state, reported more than $1.3 million in receipts in the first quarter of the year. The congressman has $3.8 million in cash on hand and about $194,000 in debt entering April.

Individuals contributed more than $753,000 to Van Orden’s campaign. Political action committees gave about $204,000, and authorized committees transferred around $363,000.

Van Orden’s three largest donations came from Speaker Mike Johnson’s Grow the Majority joint fundraising committee, totaling nearly $241,000. The next largest contribution was $51,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
DerrickVanOrden (8234x5489, AR: 1.50)Cooke, a small-business owner who ran a nonprofit supporting women entrepreneurs, outraised Van Orden by more than $200,000 in the last quarter of 2025, though he previously outraised her.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has declared the race a “toss up,” meaning either candidate is equally likely to win.

Cooke, who lost to Van Orden in 2024 by fewer than 3 percentage points, reported the largest first-quarter fundraising haul of any candidate in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue organizing program as of Wednesday evening. The next highest fundraiser, Janelle Stelson in Pennsylvania, who is challenging Rep. Scott Perry, brought in $2.17 million during the first quarter.

The Red to Blue program selects Democratic candidates in highly competitive districts for DCCC organizing and fundraising assistance.

Before running for Congress, Cooke was appointed to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. She previously ran a political consultancy from 2015 to 2025 that reported more than $190,000 in payments from campaigns and committees, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Van Orden, a Navy veteran, is a member of the House Agriculture Committee, House Veterans Affairs Committee and House Armed Services Committee.

This article has been updated to include new fundraising numbers from Rep. Derrick Van Orden's campaign.

Army Shuts Down Social Media Accounts After They Praised Tammy Duckworth’s Service

Torrie Herrington — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 23:04:16 GMT

Tom Williams/AP

Dan Driscoll, the secretary of the Army, ordered the deletion of several U.S.-military-associated social media accounts this week after a post celebrating Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth drew negative reactions online.

“Soldier for Life” is an official U.S. Army program that connects soldiers, veterans and their families to resources ranging from employment to health care to retirement. The post detailed Duckworth’s life story and her time as an Army lieutenant colonel. She is an Iraq War veteran who lost both of her legs in 2004 after an attack on her Black Hawk helicopter.

Chase Spears, a former Army paratrooper and veteran of the war in Afghanistan, was one of many online who criticized Duckworth, calling her “one of the most brazenly hostile partisans to have worn the uniform.”

“There are so many warriors worthy of being praised, men and women who didn't sell their souls along the way. But this is who @SecArmy Dan Driscoll’s Army continues going out of its way to pay homage to,” Spears wrote on X.

A little over 24 hours later, the post was taken down.

Spears noticed the post was gone, and in response said, “The entire @usarmy Soldier for Life Facebook page is now locked down. That's a violation of @DeptofWar regulations. What else are they hiding?”

Duckworth’s Senate office and the U.S. Army did not immediately respond to requests for comment from NOTUS.

However, a Department of Defense source familiar with the Army’s decision told The Hill that Driscoll ordered all Soldier for Life accounts to be shut down after the negative responses to the post.

An Army spokesperson told the publication that the decision to deactivate the Soldier for Life accounts was “simply a circumstance of the Army handling routine Army business.”

“When this legacy account came to Army leadership’s attention, we realized it was not directly managed by qualified Army personnel and was taken offline, just like the hundreds of accounts before it,” the spokesperson said, adding that since December, the Army has shut down “hundreds” of accounts that were not managed by qualified personnel.

The deletion spree comes after Driscoll signed a memo in December titled "Streamlining and Clarifying Army Social Media Use for Organizations,” which stipulates that any accounts not run by qualified and authorized personnel be deactivated. Remaining accounts were to be registered with the Army’s social media directory by Feb. 28.

Duckworth, a Purple Heart recipient who served more than two decades in both the Army Reserve and Illinois Army National Guard, retired from the Army in 2014 and became a senator in 2017.

As part of Driscoll’s confirmation process in February 2025, Duckworth, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked Driscoll to pledge that he would refuse to obey illegal orders from the Trump administration, to which he responded he “would only follow lawful orders.”

“While I remain dissatisfied by Mr. Driscoll’s utter lack of qualifications to lead an organization as big and complex as the Army, I hope, for the sake of our Soldiers, that his improved preparation for this hearing is a sign that he takes seriously the incredible responsibility inherent in being Secretary of the Army,” Duckworth said in a press release after the exchange. “We ask our troops to operate at the highest possible level and it would be an insult to our brave Soldiers to confirm someone who does not meet that same standard to lead them.”

Duckworth voted against confirming Driscoll for his current position. She also voted against confirming Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and has even called for Hegseth to resign.

Federal Shutdowns Are Steering Workers Away From Government Careers

Avani Kalra — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 23:04:03 GMT

Paul Beaty/AP

Antoinette Wade believes in her mission as a TSA agent: keeping the friendly skies friendly, safe and secure. She joined up 18 years ago and feels dedicated to her work.

But she cautions a younger generation about the risks of jumping into a career with the federal government after repeated, lengthy shutdowns that left tens of thousands of people like herself working without a paycheck. It’s advice she wonders if she should have taken herself.

“I definitely would have considered other opportunities,” Wade, the president of the union for Transportation Security Administration workers in Louisiana and Mississippi, told NOTUS. “I feel like my job is contributing to society, and I took great pride in that, and still do. But the uncertainty of all of this is really having a lot of people weighing what they can financially afford to do if this is going to be how it is.”

Wade isn’t the only federal worker doubting a career in government after two record-breaking shutdowns in the past year. A recent poll from the Partnership for Public Service shows that satisfaction among federal workers is sagging – only 32% feel satisfied, with a majority saying that feeling has worsened since 2024.

Max Stier, the director of the partnership, told NOTUS that the repeated government shutdowns have factored into a mass exodus from the federal workforce that could dramatically reshape the government in the years to come.

“Every red light is blinking on the dashboard,” Stier said, adding that there has been “a layer cake of horror” in the federal workforce since the Trump administration’s mass layoffs last year.

Fear among federal workers about government shutdowns is new, according to Stier. The budget fights leading to temporary closures didn’t begin until the 1980s and have never been as common as they are now.

The 2025 partial shutdown, which affected most of the federal government, lasted a record-setting 43 days. The ongoing budget impasse of the Department of Homeland Security, which includes TSA agents, has broken that record, now exceeding 60 days without a clear path to a resolution.

And the odds of more frequent government shutdowns are increasing as Democrats and Republicans in Congress struggle to find common ground on almost anything, Stier added.

Republican Sen. John Cornyn, whose home state of Texas has among the most federal workers in the nation, told NOTUS that he wouldn’t be surprised to see more shutdowns. Cornyn said he understands why federal workers in his state might consider a different career path.

“If recent history is any guide, I think there is a probability that at some point we'll have another one,” Cornyn said. “I think the political environment is part of what you have to calculate in terms of your decision to either work in the private sector or the government, for better or worse. That's just the way it is.”

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who represents Virginia, with the second-highest number of federal workers of any state, said that he hopes the Senate will avoid more shutdowns and worries about the declining interest in signing up for federal service.

“I'm very worried about it. The shutdowns are one thing, but you have a head of an [Office of Management and Budget] who says his goal is to traumatize federal workers,” Kaine said. “I still meet a lot of young, altruistic people who want to serve their country, and they feel like being a federal employee could be a good thing, but I think it's gotten less attractive.”

The Department of Justice is one agency that’s been particularly affected, according to Andrew Mergen, who left the department in 2022 after 33 years. Mergen now teaches at Harvard Law School, where he encourages law students to go into government service, arguing it provides an unparalleled expertise.

But fellowships and programs that were once impossibly competitive are now undesirable, he said.

“I did honors program hiring for eight years,” Mergen said. “I was hired through the honors program. It has historically been super-competitive and people now are not applying and they're not interested in going to DOJ.”

While there are other factors at play in considering federal careers, government shutdowns don’t help, Mergen said. It’s extremely difficult to be a DOJ lawyer during a shutdown, he said, when work is halted and lawyers, many of whom are still saddled with student loans, go unpaid until Congress finally passes a budget.

“People have switched their ambitions to be state [prosecutors], they go to state and local governments and the federal government has become perceived as a very undesirable place to be,” Mergen said. “And government shutdowns play a role in that, for sure.”

Stier warned that the consequences of dwindling interest in government service will be wide-reaching, and will affect agencies far beyond the TSA and DOJ. Vital government programs that typically flew under the radar and ran smoothly will cease to exist, and the American public will feel the impacts, he added.

“It’s a horrifying way to run any organization and it’s dangerous to run a government this way,” Stier said. “There’s no other workforce in our country that can be required to work and not be paid, and it’s plainly not sustainable.”

Campaigns of Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Cory Mills Are Broke

Christa Dutton — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 22:43:47 GMT

Reps. Cory Mills and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick. Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons, Francis Chung/Politico via AP

Two of Florida’s federal lawmakers who are facing calls to resign are both in considerable campaign debt as they attempt to salvage their political careers, according to new disclosures filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission.

The campaign committee of Democrat Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who was found guilty by the House Ethics Committee for illegally funneling money to her own campaign, owes a total of more than $4.3 million to several creditors.

The most notable of those creditors is Cherfilus-McCormick, who has personally loaned her campaign more than $3.6 million since 2021.

Legal fees account for most of the rest of Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaign debt, with the Elias Law Group — led by Democratic superlawyer Marc Elias — owed nearly $550,000. Two other firms, Ice Miller LLP and Kaiser PLLC, are each owed more than $50,000, per the FEC filing.

Her campaign also owes about $61,439 to Angerholzer Broz Consulting for “fundraising and compliance” fees.

FEC records indicate Cherfilus-McCormick entered April with less than $107,000 cash on hand after having raised less than $11,000 during the first three months of 2026 — a paltry amount relative to what most incumbent members of Congress would raise at the beginning of an election year.

Republican Rep. Cory Mills, who faces several accusations of domestic violence, stolen valor and financial misconduct, owes just more than $2 million.

Mills’ campaign is primarily indebted to Mills himself, who has loaned his campaign nearly $1.9 million since 2021. The campaign also owes $34,766 in legal consulting fees and $10,125 in “disputed legal fees.”

Mills’ campaign raised less than $71,000 during the first three months of this year. The campaign entered April with less than $116,000 cash on hand, according to the new FEC filing.

The Cherfilus-McCormick and Mills campaigns did not respond to NOTUS’ requests for comment.

Democrats have made Mills’ legal troubles a key attack point in his campaign to win reelection and keep Florida’s 7th Congressional District red.

In January, the central Florida district moved slightly on the Cook Political Report’s ratings from “Solid Republican” to “Likely Republican.” Democrats are optimistic about Navy veteran Bale Dalton’s chances of flipping the seat, which the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee considers in play this midterms.

“At this point, it’s hard to tell if Cory Mills is running a campaign for Congress or a legal charity fund for himself,” DCCC spokesperson Madison Andrus said.

While Cherfilus-McCormick’s safe Democratic district is not one Republicans are targeting, the National Republican Congressional Committee has called out other Democrats for staying silent on her corruption charges.

"Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick was found guilty of 25 ethics violations and is under federal indictment for stealing $5 million in taxpayer dollars. It’s high time she does something right for once and resign from Congress.” NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole told NOTUS.

Calls for accountability have grown louder since Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas and Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California both resigned this week over accusations of sexual misconduct.

This article has been updated to include comment from the NRCC.

Democrats Promise Payback as Republicans Sidestep the Appropriations Process

Igor Bobic — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:36:49 GMT

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Appropriations panel, says Republicans should expect Democrats will follow their lead if they fund priority programs outside the committee process. Francis Chung/POLITICO/AP

Senate Democrats have a warning for their Republican counterparts on Capitol Hill: If you go around the appropriations process and approve funding for parts of the Department of Homeland Security using a party-line budget process, we’ll do the same for our priorities once we’re back in power.

“We’ve warned them about that,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told NOTUS. “They should be on notice. That is opening the door big-time to doing that.”

“Once you have established a precedent, the other side is going to take a careful look and see if it benefits them,” added Sen. Dick Durbin, another senior appropriator.

Typically, annual appropriations bills funding the government are passed on a bipartisan basis. However, since Democrats have refused to fund two agencies – Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection – without legislative reforms to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics, Republicans are instead forging ahead with a reconciliation package totaling about $75 billion that would fund ICE and CBP for three years.

Senate Republican leaders maintain that they were forced into this position by the Democrats’ refusal to fund DHS, which has been partially shut down for two months due to a dispute that began after several people were killed by federal immigration agents in January.

“This is advance appropriating. So these are dollars that we would spend in the out years anyway,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune explained to reporters Wednesday.

The reconciliation process allows the Senate to pass legislation related to spending and revenue with a simple majority vote, avoiding a filibuster. Republicans used it to pass their tax cut law last year. Democrats also used it to approve their health and spending bill under President Joe Biden.

In recent years, however, the reconciliation process has been increasingly used to bypass the traditional appropriations process, allowing narrow partisan majorities to fund government agencies and enact policy changes. Democrats, for example, boosted funding for the IRS by $80 billion in their 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. After Donald Trump won the White House in 2024 and Republicans took back control of Congress, the GOP rescinded the IRS funding in 2025 and used it to help pay for their own priorities.

Republicans, meanwhile, included additional defense and immigration spending in their reconciliation package last year. And they’re discussing including tens of billions of dollars more for defense and the Iran war in yet another reconciliation bill later this year.

The trend has alarmed lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, opening the door to more tit-for-tat partisan fights in a Congress already consumed by rancor.

“I do think it’s a dangerous game we’re involved in,” Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz said. “I think those of us who care about the appropriations process need to know that it’s very clear both parties are carving out exceptions for their favorite stuff, but this is not the way to do normal funding. So I'm hoping that these will be the exceptions rather than the rule.”

Sen. Thom Tillis agreed that his party could find itself in a similar situation.

“There’s always an equal and opposite reaction,” the North Carolina Republican told NOTUS. “They’ll use this as a precedent for doing the same thing in reverse.”

Of course, Democrats would first need to win control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. They are favored to capture the House of Representatives in November, and they have a shot at flipping the Senate as well. But they’d have to wait until 2029 for a Democrat to win the White House before they could sign any major legislation into law.

Still, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is very bullish about his party’s chances of winning control of the Senate this year, isn’t ruling out a reconciliation bill that would boost appropriations for agencies Democrats view as priorities, including ones dealing with health care, education and climate.

“We believe very strongly that we have to get some things done when we win the majority,” Schumer told NOTUS in an exclusive interview this week. “We’re campaigning on a bunch of them already, but I’m not going to get into speculation as to the best way.”

‘An Explosion in Affordability’

Brett Bachman — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:16:01 GMT

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:16:01 GMT https://www.notus.org/final-notus-newsletter/an-explosion-in-affordability

USS George Bush. F-18 jets on the flight deck of the US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush off the coast of Scotland during Exercise Saxon Warrior. Issue date: Monday August 7, 2017. John Vale/PA Wire/PA Images

Good afternoon. This is the Final NOTUS newsletter for April 15, 2026. You can get it in your inbox every day by signing up here — it’s free!

THE LATEST

The White House is sending more than 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East, The Washington Post reported today. That number includes as many as 6,000 service members on the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier and roughly 4,200 with a task force that includes the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

But despite the apparent preparations for an escalation, the S&P 500 hit an all-time high today, indicating investors’ confidence that Donald Trump will be able to reach a deal to end the Iran conflict before a shaky two-week ceasefire agreement ends next week.

“What is a little strange is that there is a tendency by some to assume that it’s business as usual,” a baffled Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, said yesterday at a Bloomberg event in Washington.

Top officials from Pakistan, including the country’s army chief and interior minister, touched down today in Tehran in an attempt to restart formal negotiations, The Associated Press reported.

Reports of a formal agreement to extend the ceasefire were “wrong,” Karoline Leavitt said in a text to NOTUS’ Jasmine Wright this morning.
“You heard from the vice president directly and the president this week that these conversations are productive and ongoing, and that’s where we are right now,” Leavitt said at a press briefing.

THE HILL

The Senate rejected its fourth Iran war powers vote since the conflict began earlier this year. At least seven more resolutions are expected to be brought to the floor in the coming weeks, NOTUS’ Hamed Ahmadi reports.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari filed six articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth. She, along with several Democrats, accused the defense secretary of war crimes in Iran, mishandling sensitive information and obstructing congressional oversight.

House GOP leadership opted to punt a procedural vote on a controversial extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, after a rebellion from Republican holdouts.

Time is of the essence: Section 702 expires April 20, and it remains unclear when it will be brought up for a vote again.

THE ADMINISTRATION

‘We’re not ready to come to you with a request. We’re still working on it.” That’s what White House budget director Russell Vought had to say about the Trump administration’s supplemental funding request for the Iran war. He testified today in front of the House Budget Committee, where he declined to name even a “ballpark” figure.

When asked about rising prices, Vought said Americans were about to experience an “explosion in affordability” thanks to Trump’s tax cuts.

Trump threatened to fire Jerome Powell — again — if the outgoing Federal Reserve chair doesn’t step down “on time.” The president made the statement during an interview with Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo this morning, while suggesting that the DOJ would continue its criminal investigation into a costly renovation project at the Fed’s headquarters.

“I’ve held back firing him. I’ve wanted to fire him but I hate to be controversial,” the president said.

Trump told Mehmet Oz that his diet-soda habit kills cancer cells, as the president brushed off Oz’s admonishment for drinking too many soft drinks.

“Your dad argues that diet soda is good for him because it kills grass, if poured on grass, so, therefore, it must kill cancer cells inside the body,” Oz said on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast.
“I have heard him tell this joke before. I think The Wall Street Journal should get a better sense of humor,” Leavitt said at today’s press briefing when asked at today’s press briefing about the comment.

NEW BABY ANIMAL ALERT

Really any excuse to post one.

https://x.com/washingtonian/status/2044454714486436228?s=20

Thank you for reading! Today’s newsletter was produced by Andrew Burton and Kate Nocera. If you liked it, please forward it to a friend. If someone shared it with you, please subscribe — it’s free! Got a tip or comments to share? Email us at finalnotus@notus.com.]]>

Kristi Noem Has Nearly $1.1 Million Left in an Old Political Committee — And She Can Use It

Christa Dutton — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:12:17 GMT

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons

Kristi Noem, the former secretary of homeland security, holds nearly $1.1 million in her old leadership PAC, according to a new disclosure filed with the Federal Election Commission.

This is significant because Noem, whom President Donald Trump ousted last month, still faces congressional and legal scrutiny for her management of Department of Homeland Security funds, with some Democrats accusing her of committing fraud.

By law, Noem could conceivably use money from her leadership PAC, called Keeping Republican Ideas Strong Timely & Inventive, to pay future legal fees. She could also use the money for most other lawful purposes, such as donating it to national, state or local political party committees, as well as federal, state or local candidates, according to federal law.

It’s not unusual for candidates to use leftover leadership PAC money for legal fees, with many preferring that route over creating a legal-defense fund. Trump’s leadership PAC, Save America, spent millions to cover his legal fees, for example.

"It's just easier to continue raising money for it, rather than having to create a new legal defense fund, which would have to be approved — depending on if a person is a member of Congress, by the ethics committees,” said Brett Kappel, a campaign-finance and government-ethics lawyer. “If a person is a federal government employee, it has to be approved by the Office of Government Ethics. It's a significant administrative burden to create a new legal defense fund when you could just continue raising money with your leadership PAC."

A report by government watchdog organization Issue One likened leadership PACs to “slush funds” where “outlandish” expenditures, such as luxury travel, golf, club-membership dues and fine dining, is increasingly common.

Noem, who now serves as U.S. special envoy to the newly created Shield of the Americas organization, hasn’t paid any legal fees so far with funds in her leadership PAC.

During the first three months of this year, Noem’s leadership PAC donated $10,000 to the congressional campaign of Madison Sheahan, the former deputy director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Sheahan is running in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District in an attempt to unseat long-serving Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur. Other expenses include $915 to a commercial printer in Maryland for “direct mail storage.”

The leadership PAC has existed since 2011, when Noem was in her first year in Congress. She served four terms in the House before serving two terms as South Dakota’s governor.

The State Department and DHS did not return a request for comment.

Democrats Grill Chris Wright on the Affordability Crisis Around the Iran War

Shifra Dayak — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:06:10 GMT

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright appeared before House appropriators to defend a budget proposal the included significant cuts to the department's renewable programs. Francis Chung/POLITICO/AP

Democrats used Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s visit to Capitol Hill on Wednesday as an opportunity to blast the Trump administration for the war in Iran and for contributing to rising energy costs around the nation.

Wright testified in front of House appropriators about the White House’s budget request for fiscal year 2027, which shifts money away from renewable energy, emissions regulations and climate change research and instead boosts spending on fossil fuels and critical minerals.

Democrats made the case that those cuts would only increase costs across the nation.

“American families … are struggling with a 40% increase in gas prices, over $1 a gallon on average, caused by the president's reckless war of choice with Iran,” said Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the top Democrat on the energy appropriations subcommittee that held the hearing. “Instead of taking any meaningful steps to bring down the soaring cost of living caused by this administration’s policy, the president's budget makes the problem worse.”

Wright largely deflected questions about rapidly rising energy costs, which this month saw their sharpest increase in several years.

He said he has “spoken with the president and the whole administration about Iran and the impacts of action against Iran,” and defended the United States’ involvement in the conflict.

“I hear your sort of smug dismissal of our concern for energy costs and energy reliability,” Wright told the subcommittee, calling the criticism from Democrats “entirely unjustified” and claiming there is “no interruption in flows of global oil and gas.”

The conflict has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which about 20% of the world's gas and liquefied natural gas passes through. Trump administration officials contended Wednesday that gas prices will go down this summer and that the disruption from the war is only in the “short-term.”

Democrats also highlighted the administration’s proposal to disband the Weatherization Assistance Program, a federally funded, state-administered effort that helps low-income households save on energy costs by improving efficiency. Participating households save about $370 on average each year on energy bills, according to the department.

The White House did not refer to the program by name in its budget proposal, but proposed cuts to programs handled by the department’s energy efficiency office would hit weatherization assistance funds. The department disbanded that office last year and replaced it with an office focused on critical minerals work; the 2027 budget request looks to reduce remaining funding for programs that used to be housed under the energy efficiency office.

The weatherization program has survived previous attempted cuts by the Trump administration, but energy assistance advocates are concerned about its future.

“I guess this administration does not believe American families need that money,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democratic appropriator in the House.

Democrats also questioned Wright about the Energy Department’s efforts to undo billions of dollars in funding for renewable energy projects.

The budget proposal comes on the heels of a string of moves by the administration to stall progress on renewable energy, including by instituting a higher standard of review for renewable energy permits and canceling billions of dollars in funding for thousands of energy projects across the country.

If approved, the budget proposal would further those efforts. The White House is looking to cancel more than $15 billion in funding appropriated through the Biden-era bipartisan infrastructure law for renewable energy development, carbon-capture technology and more. The administration’s budget request also zeroes out funding for the Energy Department’s solar energy office.

But the secretary downplayed some of the previous cuts and suggested that the proposed cuts will not be set in stone if they pass.

He said the department will “continue to dialogue and work on” solar funding.

Wright added that the department has reinstated or decided to continue funding for the “majority” of the projects that it started reviewing last year over allegations of “wasteful” spending.

“We’ve had a number of projects where we’ve made decisions, we’ve been clarified and educated and thought, ‘You know, you’re right. I think we misunderstood what you were doing there, or we thought it wasn’t viable because we didn’t see that connecting step that makes the math work,” Wright said. “So absolutely, we are willing and ready to engage those.”

Wright suggested the department will continue to consider reinstating funding on a case-by-case basis, including when it comes to the $15 billion the White House wants to rescind.

A federal judge ruled this year that in one round of energy funding cancellations in October, the department violated equal protection laws by primarily targeting projects based in Democratic-leaning states. Federal government lawyers said in filings in that case that the Energy Department took into account whether a state leaned red or blue when making decisions on funding rescissions.

But Wright on Wednesday denied that his staff considered political leanings when reviewing those awards last year.

“All of the 2,270 projects we evaluated were not evaluated in any way, shape or form based on where they were,” Wright told the subcommittee members, later adding that funding decisions were made “on merits.”

Democrats, however, pushed Wright over that issue multiple times.

“There’s a discrepancy between what you are saying and what the court determined about those projects,” DeLauro told Wright.

One area where Wright did acknowledge political risk? Artificial Intelligence.

The White House’s budget proposal includes several boosts for artificial intelligence, including more than $1 billion in the Energy Department’s bucket to fund AI supercomputers at two national laboratories.

“The country as a whole is going very negative on AI,” Wright said. “It will be a loss to America if we stop this development … but if we don't market it better, we don’t communicate it better, we’re at risk. We need to change the public perception of AI.”

Senate Rejects Fourth Attempt to Rein In Trump on Iran

Hamed Ahmadi — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:28:39 GMT

A worker climbs up a damaged residential building, which according to Iranian authorities, was hit by a strike on March 4 during the U.S.-Israeli military campaign, in southeastern Tehran, Iran. (Vahid Salemi/AP)

The Senate on Wednesday rejected a Democratic measure aimed at reining in President Donald Trump’s authority to continue military actions against Iran.

The resolution, led by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, failed 47-52. It would have required the administration to seek congressional authorization for continued operations. Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against it, while Sen. Rand Paul was the only Republican to support it.

It was the fourth failed Senate vote on such a measure since the conflict began on Feb. 28, and at least seven more resolutions are expected to be brought to the floor in the coming weeks.

The repeated votes are part of a broader Democratic pressure campaign that has unfolded over several weeks. By having different senators file separate privileged resolutions, Democrats have created a rotating strategy that allows them to keep bringing the issue back to the floor.

The goal is to keep the conflict in front of senators and force Republicans to go on the record about their continued support rather than avoid it. Public polling continues to show the war is unpopular with a majority of Americans, and many expressed concerns about the impact on gas prices and other goods as the conflict drags on without a coherent strategy to end it.

Wednesday’s vote came after a more volatile stretch in the war. Diplomatic talks with Iran collapsed during the congressional spring recess, and the U.S. moved ahead with a partial naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz, deepening concerns on Capitol Hill that the operation is expanding without a clear endgame.

Republicans largely stuck with the White House, saying Trump is acting within his authority.

“My view is that the administration is in compliance with the war power statute right now. They're in the midst of the 60-day clock. They're complying with the notification procedures,” Sen. Josh Hawley said after the vote.

However, as the conflict continues, some Republicans have begun publicly asking what the administration’s plan is and how long the operation could last, while also signaling that Trump would likely need congressional authorization if the fighting extends past the 60-day mark or turns into a ground invasion. That deadline is fast approaching at the end of the month, but it’s unclear whether Republicans will join Democrats to push for congressional approval for continued strikes.

“I hope that at the end of 60 days this conflict will be over,” Hawley added.

Democrats Introduce Articles of Impeachment Against Pete Hegseth

Manuela Silva — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:39:50 GMT

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File) Kevin Wolf/AP

Rep. Yassamin Ansari filed six articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, accusing him of mishandling the Department of Defense and sensitive information, obstructing congressional oversight, and of being complicit in war crimes in Iran.

“Pete Hegseth broke his oath to the Constitution, put U.S. troops at grave risk through the unauthorized disclosure of classified information, engaged in abuse of office, and carried out unlawful military actions despite his obligation to refuse—including strikes on civilians and a girls’ school in Minab, Iran,” Ansari said in a press release.

Ansari, the only Iranian-American Democrat in Congress, announced last week that she planned on filing the articles of impeachment against Hegseth. The impeachment effort is unlikely to be successful given Republican control of the House, but should Democrats win the majority in November, it’s likely Hegseth would still be a target for removal.

Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson wrote in a statement to NOTUS that the articles of impeachment were just “another charade in an attempt to distract the American people from the major successes we have had here at the Department of War.”

“This is just another Democrat trying to make headlines as the Department of War decisively and overwhelmingly achieved the Presidents’ objectives in Iran,” Wilson wrote. “Secretary Hegseth will continue to protect the homeland and project peace through strength.”

The resolution is co-sponsored by eight other House Democrats, including Reps. Steve Cohen, Jasmine Crockett, Nikema Williams, Sarah McBride, Al Green, Lauren Underwood, Melanie Stansbury, Mike Quigley, Brittany Pettersen, Dina Titus, Dave Min and Shri Thanedar.

The articles largely focus on the U.S. military' s conduct in Iran, including the impact of attacks on civilians, but they also point to Hegseth’s alleged personal misconduct and “Signalgate,” which a Pentagon oversight report said endangered U.S. troops.

The articles claim that Hegseth violated the law of armed conflict, resulting in a “large number of civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure,” including for his role in a missile strike on a school that killed at least 175 people in March. They also focus on the strikes in the Carribean, part of a campaign targeting alleged drug-smuggling boats that has killed at least 170 people.

This story has been updated with a comment from the Pentagon.

The Trump Administration Is Failing to Tell Congress About the Status of Energy Projects

Anna Kramer — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:01:00 GMT

Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum is expected to testify to Congress soon. Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via AP

Solar and wind energy developers say the Department of the Interior has been delaying their work. Now, the agency has blown past a congressionally-mandated deadline to report its progress on energy projects.

The Interior Department failed to submit two required reports to Congress on its reviews and approvals for energy projects, according to a letter from Senate Democrats sent to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and shared exclusively with NOTUS.

The deadline for the reports was March 24, according to the letter spearheaded by Sen. Jeff Merkley, the ranking member on the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees the agency. The letter was signed by two other subcommittee Democrats: Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

Burgum is expected to testify before the subcommittee next week, where he would likely face questions from these Democrats on the reports.

“Congress mandated bimonthly reports in the FY2026 Interior-Environment Appropriations Act to better understand the Department’s actions. Yet if anything, things have become more opaque since December,” the Democratic senators wrote in their Wednesday letter. “The Department announced some renewable projects are being considered, but hasn’t shared a list of which projects those are.”

The Interior Department declined to comment.

The progress reports are a new requirement as of this year. During funding negotiations in 2025, Democrats, concerned the Trump administration was stonewalling clean energy projects, persuaded Republicans to add the reporting requirements.

Republicans agreed, with the condition that the reports must cover all energy projects, not just wind and solar development, according to people familiar with the matter who were given anonymity to discuss internal congressional deliberations.

The two reports must be submitted every 60 days: One from the Bureau of Land Management, addressing energy projects on federal lands, and a second from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, addressing all offshore activities, including offshore wind.

These requirements were among the many changes Congress made to appropriations language for 2026 funding to require the Trump administration to be more transparent about what’s happening inside the federal government.

While the administration’s complete hostility to all offshore wind development has been clear since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, only in recent months have industry actors stepped forward to show how Interior is also causing significant delays for permits for onshore solar and wind projects.

Burgum has quietly enacted a “near complete moratorium” on solar energy project development on both federal and private lands, the Solar Energy Industries Association alleged in a December letter.

Last July, Burgum issued a mandate that all solar and wind energy projects must undergo higher-level agency review. By February 2026, nearly every clean energy company trying to build new projects reported that federal permitting issues were causing significant delays, according to a survey conducted by clean energy finance organization Crux of 50 companies trying to build projects in the United States.

In the letter, the senators also asked for a list of how many people are working on permitting reviews at BLM, as well as how many projects are under review that fall under the requirements of Burgum’s mandate from July.

Treasury's Deal to Take on Student Debt Collection Has the Education World Confused

Adora Brown — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 16:39:29 GMT

Samuel Corum/Sipa USA via AP

As the Treasury Department gradually takes on much of the student loan collection typically done by the Department of Education, a major change will be the knowledge of education policy that agency staff have.

The Trump administration announced last month that the Treasury would take on the Department of Education’s student loan debt portfolio of nearly $1.7 trillion. Financial aid experts say that move risks losing the expertise that Education Department staff bring to the collection process.

“A large-scale disassembling of the department which, this is part of that larger context, right, makes that a lot harder, and it makes it harder to serve students. It makes it harder to give them a streamlined service, and it makes the system more piecemeal and confusing when it is spread out across all different agencies,” said Sarah Sattelmeyer, a project director for the public policy think tank New America.

The move to transfer the student loan portfolio would be the most sizable interagency agreement announced by the Department of Education under the second Trump administration. And the Treasury will take on a system that is already struggling, with almost 25% of borrowers — around 9 million people — in default on their loans.

“You can have a student loan program that, in essence, is growing and is being administered by a group of people whose only goal is money in, money out, rather than a larger goal of improving higher education,” Julie Margetta Morgan, the president of The Century Foundation and former deputy under secretary at the Department of Education in the Biden administration, told NOTUS.

For borrowers in default, Morgan said this change could be particularly difficult because this group already faces the most severe financial consequences.

“[The Treasury is] truly about collecting money for federal coffers, not about what kind of world do we want to build, what kind of economy do we want to have?” Margetta Morgan continued. “And so I think it's just a real loss to make this change.”

Many experts are confused about how the two departments will carry out this interagency agreement. Several uncertainties still remain regarding when or how the student loan portfolio will begin to shift.

“I would say it immediately raises lots of questions about how exactly this will happen. You know, the devil is always in the details, and there are lots of moving pieces to this,” Karen McCarthy, the vice president of public policy and federal relations at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, told NOTUS.

The change is expected to happen in three phases, according to the interagency agreement. The first will push borrowers in default on their loans and the accompanying default resolution group, which works to track defaulted borrowers and enforce repayment, to the Treasury for collections. The Treasury already handles some aspects of the default portfolio when borrowers get to the point of involuntary collections such as wage garnishment.

The second and third phases would be far more wide-reaching. The second would give Treasury oversight over non-defaulted debt, while the third would move the administration of major programs including the Pell Grant, federal work study and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to the Treasury.

These final two phases could face significant backlash, a higher education expert told NOTUS.

In Congress, Democratic senators are calling this arrangement illegal. The Department of Education is required by law to maintain its statutory responsibilities, and many Democrats see these agreements as a way to sidestep the process of getting congressional approval to dismantle the agency.

“This latest illegal scheme from the Trump Administration threatens to trap student loan borrowers, students, and families in chaos and bureaucracy, all while American taxpayers are left to foot the bill for Treasury to administer programs that ED can and should administer itself,” Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Ron Wyden, Patty Murray and Tammy Baldwin wrote in a joint statement following the announcement by the Department of Education and the Treasury.

A Department of Education spokesperson argued to NOTUS in a statement that the partnership would lower costs.

“With the student loan portfolio approaching $1.7 trillion and defaults nearing 25 percent, now is the time for a hard reset in how the federal government provides and services student loans,” Ellen Keast, press secretary for higher education at the agency, said in the statement. “We are confident that our partnership with the Treasury, an experienced and proven fiduciary, will strengthen program administration and better serve American students, borrowers, and taxpayers.”

Functionally, many opponents of the agreement between the Education Department and Treasury are focused on a lack of clarity on how this shuffling would help meet the administration’s goals of getting rid of bureaucracy.

“I do think that by separating out the implementation function from the policy-making function, that decreases coordination and alignment,” Sattelmeyer told NOTUS.

Some experts said they’re confident that the administration of the loans will remain the same, as agreements between borrowers and vendors are legally defined.

“I actually don't expect things to change from a borrower-perspective very much,” said Betsy Mayotte, the president of the Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a nonprofit that advises borrowers. “The terms and conditions of federal student loans are largely written into federal law, and Treasury doesn't have the authority to change that. But where there may be some gray areas, I don't know if they would adopt the same policies that they have for IRS debt that they would for student loan debt.”

With Trump’s New NLRB Nomination, Republicans Eye Overturning Biden-Era Worker Protections

Jade Lozada — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 16:19:07 GMT

Trump nominates Wisconsin management-side labor lawyer James Macy to the NLRB. Jon Elswick/AP

President Donald Trump has teed up a Republican majority for the National Labor Relations Board, which, if confirmed, would allow the board to overturn Biden-era expansions of worker protections.

This week Trump nominated James Macy, currently the Department of Labor’s director of workers’ compensation programs — the president’s third nomination to the NLRB during his second term. Trump fired Democratic member Gwynne Wilcox in January 2025. One other Democratic member, David M. Prouty, remains on the five-member board, which investigates and adjudicates unfair labor practices and conducts union elections.

If confirmed, Macy would raise the Republican majority to 3-1. The other Republican members indicated in a January opinion that they would wait for a three-member majority to overturn Biden-era precedent, as is a longstanding practice with the majority party.

One of Republicans’ top targets is a 2022 NLRB decision that requires employers to compensate workers who were victims of unfair labor practices for “direct or foreseeable” financial harms resulting from those practices. In addition to lost wages and benefits, employers must pay out-of-pocket medical expenses, credit card debt and other costs incurred by workers.

The decision resulted in a split among circuit courts, some of which rejected the make-whole remedies as unlawful under the legislation that created the NLRB.

Employers are also crossing their fingers for a reversal of a 2023 decision that forces companies found to have committed unfair labor practices to recognize and bargain with a new union, rather than seek a new election.

Macy, who is from Wisconsin, worked as an employer-side attorney in private practice for more than 40 years before transitioning to his Labor Department role. He often represented municipalities and school districts as the chair of his firm’s team on school law, leading investigations into a letter of no confidence regarding a city attorney and alleged defamation of a former Wisconsin village manager by a union.

Republican-aligned workers’ organizations applauded Macy’s nomination on Monday. Gene Hamilton, senior adviser to the Coalition to Protect American Workers, said in a statement that the Senate should move quickly to confirm Macy so the NLRB can roll back Biden-era policies.

"This nomination is another step toward an NLRB that actually works for the American people," Hamilton said. "American workers deserve a Board that protects the secret ballot, ensures they hear from both sides, and stops rewarding union leadership's political games at the expense of the workers funding them.”

Macy would fill the seat of former NLRB chair Marvin Kaplan, who oversaw a quiet board last year after Trump’s firing of Wilcox left the board without a quorum and ground work to a standstill. His confirmation hearing has not been scheduled.

The NLRB, strained by the agency’s shrinking staff, has been facing a long backlog of cases.

Alongside Macy, Trump nominated Prouty, the board’s sole Democrat, to a second term of five years in a typical trade-off by the majority party.

Former Democratic NLRB member Wilcox sued the Trump administration in February last year, alleging she was illegally removed. It is one of several lawsuits testing the president’s authority over principals at independent federal agencies.

In December, a federal appeals court ruled that Congress cannot restrict the president’s ability to fire NLRB members, because they wield “substantial executive power,” reversing a lower court’s decision.

The appeals court denied Wilcox’s petition for a rehearing before all its judges in January. The Supreme Court previously declined to reinstate Wilcox in a 6-3 decision.

Trump Threatens to Fire Powell If He Doesn’t Step Down Soon

Manuela Silva — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 14:17:08 GMT

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell Photo by Samuel Corum/Sipa USA via AP) Samuel Corum/Sipa USA via AP

President Donald Trump ratcheded up his threats on Wednesday morning to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and said that he would not drop the Justice Department’s criminal investigation of Powell.

“Then I’ll have to fire him,” Trump said in an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business. “If he’s not leaving on time — I’ve held back firing him. I’ve wanted to fire him, but I hate to be controversial. I want to be uncontroversial.”

Powell’s tenure ends on May 15, but he could stay in the role on a temporary basis until Trump’s nominee, Kevin M. Warsh, is confirmed by the Senate. On Tuesday, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott said that he plans to hold Warsh’s committee confirmation hearing next Tuesday.

But the nomination has been held up in the upper chamber, where Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has vowed to block the nominee from advancing out of committee until the investigation into Powell is dropped.

Sign Up for NOTUS’ Free Daily Newsletter

Powell announced in January that subpoenas had been served by the Department of Justice to the central bank, with Powell claiming that the investigation was based on the bank not following the president’s “preferences” when it came to setting interest rates.

“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president,” Powell said.

The Justice Department has said it is investigating the Federal Reserve over renovations to the banks’ headquarters. In March, a federal judge effectively halted the investigation, saying that it was an effort to intimidate the bank into lowering interest rates.

On Tuesday, prosecutors from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office visited the central bank’s headquarters unannounced in an effort to access the site but were turned away.

Trump has repeatedly demanded lower interest rates and attacked top officials at the Federal Reserve over the matter. The bank lowered interest rates three times last year.

What, Me Worry?

Evan McMorris-Santoro, Jasmine Wright, Emily Kennard — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 10:01:00 GMT

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 10:01:00 GMT https://www.notus.org/newsletters/what-me-worry

Francis Chung/POLITICO/AP

Today’s notice: The Senate’s top Democrat talks to NOTUS. A scoopy follow-up to one of our fundraising scoops from last year. A look at how the mass-deportation agenda has changed federal departments. A bumpy ride for Iran-focused legislation in Congress. The wealth of Utah’s Hill delegation. And: Making Tax Day Great Again.

THE LATEST

Chuck Schumer speaks: “It does not worry me,” the Senate minority leader told NOTUS’ Igor Bobic yesterday as the number of Democratic primary candidates running on opposing his leadership bid next year remains relatively high.

He was upbeat in the interview, telling NOTUS that his caucus has sloughed off the doldrums of 2025. “I feel like we’re going to take back the Senate,” Schumer said. “If you had to ask me last year, I would have said no.”

He is not the only one saying it. This week, the Cook Political Report moved several Senate races in Schumer’s direction. The chamber is, if the stars align, actually in play.

Last year ended with the petering out of a shutdown that led people to question whether Democrats had a clue about how to respond to Donald Trump. This year, the Department of Homeland Security shutdown has united the party in a way that plausibly allows Schumer to say something like this: “We had a strategy, and we stuck to it all along.”

But Schumer still has to answer questions from both sides of his party. Progressives are convinced he’s a problem. Some centrists are worried he’s a problem, too. But those are concerns for early 2027. Today, Schumer has a unifying theory of the case: “A whole bunch of our candidates are young, some are old, some are more liberal, some are more moderate. Our North Star is winning the Senate.”

Open tabs: DOJ Seeks to Erase Proud Boys’ and Oath Keepers’ Seditious Conspiracy Convictions (NOTUS); Vought to Call for ‘Paradigm Shifting Investments’ in Defense (Bloomberg); Europe Is Accelerating a NATO Fallback Plan in Case Trump Pulls Out (WSJ); Trump Administration Issues First ‘Weaponization’ Report, Claiming Bias Under Biden (NYT)

From K Street

NOTUS follow-up: Still caught in Better Mousetrap Digital. The NRSC, the Mississippi Republican Party and the campaigns of Sen. Rick Scott and some GOP House members are among the groups still paying big money to the firm run by Jack Daly, according to public disclosures.

NOTUS’ Dave Levinthal reported last year on Daly’s 2023 guilty plea to charges of defrauding thousands of Republican donors. After his story was published, several prominent Republican clients fled the firm: “Can confirm payments were stopped,” an RNC spox told him. The groups still paying Better Mousetrap did not respond to requests for comment.

From the agencies

The great diversion: The Trump administration has redirected resources from at least a half-dozen programs or accounts to pay for and staff its mass-deportation agenda, NOTUS’ Anna Kramer reports. And that’s without congressional input.

Diverted resources include … funds from the State Department intended to counter foreign election interference; senior staff at FEMA; DHS’s budget for an office focused on weapons of mass destruction; and a training program for prison guards.

All of this is on top of the $75 billion surge in funding that Republicans gave ICE last year.

“As somebody who joined DHS in 2005, shortly after it was formed, this feels like the biggest reorienting of federal resources toward a single end since 9/11,” said Theresa Brown, a former DHS official in the Obama and Bush administrations. “We’re not creating a new department, but we are telling the entire federal government: This is now your No. 1 mission.”

DHS, the DOJ and the State Department did not respond to requests for comment.

From the Hill

Heated Rivalry: The beef between Senate and House Republicans is revving up for another round this week, as the upper chamber prepares to push its own agenda once again.

Senate Republicans are confident, NOTUS’ Al Weaver and Reese Gorman report, that their limited reconciliation bill, which only contains funds for ICE and Customs and Border Protection for three years, will remain “skinny” despite calls from their House colleagues to beef it up with more of the president’s priorities. If the Senate ignores the lower chamber again, some members said they may resort to blocking other legislation.

“They can’t jam us, because we’re about to blow up their shit,” is how Rep. Anna Paulina Luna put it.

Democrats also plan to force war powers votes, and Republicans don’t know if they have enough votes to block them, NOTUS’ Joe Gould and Kadia Goba report.

Votes on supplemental funding for the war are also unclear. A growing number of Republicans have demanded more information from the White House before opening the purse strings, and Joe and Kadia report that it’s unclear how many votes the Trump administration can count on at this point.

THE BIG ONE

The politics of April 15: Republicans are leaning hard into Tax Day this year, hoping to showcase their signature legislation, the so-called “one big, beautiful bill,” and its changes to the federal tax code.

On paper, there is a lot to celebrate — the average refund is higher so far this year, and no taxes on tips or overtime are wins that even some Republicans thought could be dangerously populist.

So why are Democrats excited? “I kinda want to text them this,” one national Democratic strategist said facetiously, before dropping the Admiral Ackbar “it’s a trap!” GIF into the chat.

The OBBB has never really been popular, and it remains unpopular now. A new poll from the Democratic messaging group Navigator Research found that independents have recoiled — a net -18 point view of the OBBB among the group in February has ballooned to -42. A Fox News poll found that more Americans think they are paying too much in taxes after the law passed than before it did.

There’s another message out there this Tax Day. Emily attended the Patriotic Millionaires’ symposium yesterday, a panel featuring tax-code reformers like Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen. “There are some members of our caucus who don’t want to increase taxes on millionaires,” he told the crowd. “You know, I think that they’re wrong, obviously, and misguided, and that this would be, obviously, something that should bring us all together.”

The group plans a big rally at the Capitol tomorrow with progressive groups and the AFL-CIO.

But nobody’s got anything on this Tax Day pitch: “How can Americans really organize a national tax revolt? Won’t we all end up in prison?” former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted yesterday, a follow-up to her recent discovery of a sovereign-citizen-esque legal theory that “99% of Americans are not legally required to file and pay income taxes.”

NEW ON NOTUS

Utah’s congressional delegation is split down the middle when it comes to members’ personal wealth: Three of Utah’s six federal lawmakers have a negative median net worth, while the other three have a median net worth of at least $1 million, according to an analysis of the lawmakers’ most recent personal finance disclosures.

NOTUS’ Manuela Silva and Helen Huiskes break down the lawmakers’ finances in the latest installment of Capitol Gains, our look at wealth in Congress.

More: House Scandals Show How Hard It Is to Get Accountability on Capitol Hill, by Daniella Diaz

Maine Lawmakers Pass the First Statewide Ban on Large Data Centers, by Torrie Herrington

NOT US

‘Dark money’ is fueling both sides of Virginia’s redistricting campaign, by Elizabeth Beyer for Cardinal News
A Divided America Processes a War That Trump Has Scarcely Explained, by Jack Healy, Pooja Salhotra, Jazmine Ulloa, Anna Griffin, Emily Cataneo and Ruth Igielnik for The New York Times
The Kennedy Center wants to show that the building really needs a renovation, by Steven Sloan for The Associated Press

Republican Committees Split on Whether to Dump Convicted Political Fundraising Fraudster

Dave Levinthal — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 09:33:00 GMT

Rainier Ehrhardt/AP

One of President Donald Trump’s leading political action committees abruptly stopped paying consulting firm Better Mousetrap Digital last November, after months of regularly giving the firm thousands in “fundraising fees.”

The Trump National Committee Joint Fundraising Committee’s apparent breakup with the firm coincided with NOTUS detailing on Oct. 31 how Better Mousetrap Digital is led by Jack Daly, a political operative who pleaded guilty in 2023 to defrauding thousands of conservative political donors.

The Republican National Committee joined the Trump committee, which did not respond to requests for comment, in seemingly ditching Daly’s firm. “Can confirm payments were stopped,” RNC spokesperson Kiersten Pels told NOTUS. In Wyoming, Rep. Harriet Hageman’s congressional campaign committee previously confirmed severing ties with Better Mousetrap Digital.

Sign Up for NOTUS’ Free Daily Newsletter

Other committees that suddenly stopped paying Better Mousetrap Digital late last year include Rep. Jeff Crank’s congressional campaign, Rep. Brian Jack’s congressional campaign and the Republican state party committees in Minnesota and West Virginia, according to a NOTUS analysis of Federal Election Commission campaign finance records.

Several other conservative campaign PACs, including the campaign of U.S. Senate candidate Derek Dooley in Georgia, the Early Vote Action PAC, the Anti-Woke Fund and the Next Generation PAC, have also stopped paying Better Mousetrap Digital after doing business with the firm as recently as September or October, federal records indicate.

None responded to requests for comment.

But some prominent Republican committees have continued paying Better Mousetrap Digital hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars each month for campaign fundraising services, FEC records indicate.

Among them: the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which paid Better Mousetrap Digital more than $117,000 in “digital fundraising fees” from November through February. The NRSC did not respond to questions about why it continues doing business with Daly and if it plans to continue paying Better Mousetrap Digital for services.

The 1776 Project PAC — one of Better Mousetrap Digital’s more lucrative clients in 2025 — told NOTUS in October that it was quitting Daly.

But records 1776 Project PAC filed with the FEC indicate that the PAC has paid Better Mousetrap Digital nearly $148,000 from November through February, including nearly $112,000 on Dec. 31 and more than $15,400 on Feb. 28. The PAC did not return requests for comment this week.

Other Republican committees that have continued doing recent business with Better Mousetrap Digital include those of Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas, Rep. Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania, the Mississippi Republican Party and the federal campaign committees of Ryan Binkley in Texas, Eric Flores in Texas and Morgan Murphy in Alabama. None returned requests for comment.

Daly's attorney, Brandon Sample, acknowledged emailed questions from NOTUS but did not answer them, citing a deadline he considered "not reasonable."

"This is not an emergency situation. If you would like a response from Mr. Daly, we need until April 24 to appropriately confer," Sample wrote.

Daly established Better Mousetrap Digital in September 2023, around the time he surrendered his North Carolina law license, accepted notice of disbarment and pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and lying to the FEC.

Prosecutors accused Daly and fellow attorney Nathanael Pendley of raising more than $1.6 million for a political committee, known as Draft PAC, that promised to convince former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke to run for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin ahead of the 2018 midterm election.

Clarke disavowed their efforts, said he wasn’t running and called Daly’s operation a “scam.” Federal prosecutors said Daly and Pendley nevertheless kept fundraising, in part for their personal benefit, and lied about their activities to federal officials.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Daly “targeted vulnerable victims, including a woman with Alzheimer’s and elderly veterans.” A judge in December 2023 sentenced Daly to four months in prison, a $20,000 fine and nearly $70,000 in restitution payments. Daly served his prison sentence in 2024, and federal records indicate he is scheduled to remain on supervised release until sometime during the middle of this year.

Legal troubles haven’t stopped Daly from reigniting his political consultant career. NOTUS’ October investigation found that from late 2023 to late 2025, dozens of federal-level Republican political committees together spent nearly $18 million on digital fundraising, donor lists and other services from Better Mousetrap Digital, according to Virgin Islands corporate filings and FEC records.

From November 2025 through February 2026, federal-level Republican committees have together spent about $650,000 more with Better Mousetrap Digital, which on its website describes itself as “the premier digital fundraising consulting firm for Republicans” with “world-class support, ready to help you fundraise at a moment’s notice.”

Daly is now fighting his conviction in federal court in Wisconsin. His lawyer argued in a Sept. 30, 2025, filing with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin that Daly received “substantively incorrect advice” from his previous attorneys and was in “profound turmoil over his plea” — and therefore unable to make a “knowing and intelligent decision during the critical window when his right to withdraw that plea was absolute.”

Since then, federal court records indicate no formal action in the case.

Utah’s Congressional Delegation is Financially Split in Two

Manuela Silva, Helen Huiskes — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 09:01:00 GMT

Sen. John Curtis, Rep. Blake Moore, Rep. Celeste Maloy and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah. (AP Photos)

Utah boasts two very different types of landscape: the rugged wilderness of red deserts along sloping horizons, and polished suburban neighborhoods surrounding temperate towns along the I-15 corridor.

In a similar way, Utah’s all-Republican congressional delegation represents a tale of two states when it comes to the lawmakers’ personal finances: Three of Utah’s six federal lawmakers have a negative median net worth, while the other three have a median net worth of at least $1 million, according to a NOTUS analysis of the lawmakers’ most recent personal finance disclosures.

While the disclosures paint very different pictures for each lawmaker, those who have a median net worth over $1 million all traded in the stock market. As Congress continues to debate whether its members should be allowed to trade stocks at all, many federal lawmakers continue to buy and sell individual stocks in companies that lobby the government for preferential treatment, hold federal contracts and are subject to the oversight of congressional committees on which lawmakers sit.

https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/xqLNl/3/

There are ethical tools for members to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest between their personal investments and their work. One such tool is known as a qualified blind trust, which is where members of Congress give up management of their assets to an independent third party in an arrangement that’s approved by Congress. Qualified blind trusts don’t require the manager to sell off the stocks inside, meaning lawmakers could still be aware of what stocks they own.

Sign Up for NOTUS’ Free Daily Newsletter

Rep. Blake Moore, a Republican who has the highest median net worth among Utah delegation members, estimated at more than $12 million, is one of a handful of members in Congress who uses such a trust.

Before entering Congress, Moore had an active stock trading portfolio, and in 2021, he violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act by failing to disclose up to $1.1 million worth of personal stock trades in a timely fashion.

In 2022, he transferred his stocks — including shares of Apple, Alphabet, Boeing, RTX, Johnson & Johnson and Meta, among others — to the blind trust.

“Many members enter Congress with assets and investments, and there are rules and criminal laws in place to guide how those investments are managed and disclosed,” said Madison Weber, a spokesperson for Moore. “Rep. Moore placed his investments in a blind trust during his first term in Congress to avoid even the hint of a conflict of interest. He does not manage his trust, and he works closely with the Ethics Committee to ensure compliance.”

Weber added that Moore’s actual net worth is “markedly lower” than the more than $12 million of his median net worth as calculated by NOTUS, but did not specify how much lower.

Craig Holman, Capitol Hill ethics lobbyist for the watchdog group Public Citizen, told NOTUS that qualified blind trusts used by lawmakers and federal government officials are not actually “blind” because the independent overseer of the trust is not required to sell off the assets inside the trust, and usually does not.

“So the member of Congress is fully aware of the properties that he or she owns that have been placed in the blind trust,” Holman said. “This is sort of a ruse that allows members of Congress to try to claim publicly that they don’t have a conflict of interest because all their assets are in a [blind] trust. But they do have a conflict of interest. They know exactly what those assets are.”

Moore’s other assets, as stated on his financial disclosures, include a residential rental property in Washington, D.C., and college savings accounts for each of his four children. His wife’s assets — all federal lawmakers must disclose certain personal assets and debts for their spouse and dependent children — include partnership income from her family’s real estate investment company.

Sen. John Curtis, who served in the House before entering the Senate in 2025, has a median net worth of $11.5 million, according to NOTUS’ calculations. Curtis reported owning land and several residential and commercial rental properties in Utah, and an ownership stake in companies related to those properties. He also reported owning mutual funds.

Rep. Mike Kennedy, one of two freshman members of the delegation, has a median net worth of more than $1.4 million, according to NOTUS’ calculations.
MikeKennedy (5301x3534, AR: 1.50)Kennedy invests in various stocks, including those of Apple, Microsoft and Cloudflare.

The congressman, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate against Mitt Romney in 2018, also reported as assets two debts that his political campaign committees owe him: one worth $250,001 to $500,000 from his Kennedy for U.S. Senate campaign, and another of $100,001 to $250,000 from his Mike Kennedy for Utah campaign for the House.

When lawmakers fill out their annual financial disclosures, they report the value of their assets and liabilities in ranges, including open-ended ranges such as “over $50,000,000.” As such, it is impossible to pinpoint an exact net worth.

So to estimate members' net worths, NOTUS used those ranges to calculate the minimum and maximum possible values of their total reported assets and liabilities. NOTUS subtracted each lawmaker’s maximum liabilities from their minimum assets to determine what their net worth could be on the high end, then subtracted minimum liabilities from maximum assets to set the low end. The midpoint between those two numbers is what we're reporting as each lawmaker's estimated median net worth.

The data is invaluable but imperfect. Lawmakers, for example, do not have to report the value of their personal residence, vehicles or personal property such as art that does not generate income. They are also allowed to report the value of pensions and intellectual property as “undetermined.” (Read more about how NOTUS calculated net worth and what’s included and not included here.)

Lawmakers are required to report what stocks they own among their assets.

The other members of Utah’s congressional delegation did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

That includes three lawmakers whose economic outlooks are decidedly down to earth: Reps. Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens, as well as Sen. Mike Lee, all had a negative median net worth, at -$20,999, -$158,500 and -$359,499, respectively, according to NOTUS’ analysis.

The lawmakers reported various liabilities such as mortgages. In 2025, Utah ranked fourth-lowest in the country for homes purchased outright, according to the Census Bureau. Utah also consistently ranks in the top 10 most expensive states in which to buy a home.

Lee, the state's senior senator, listed a joint mortgage incurred in 2024 as his singular liability. Maloy listed a car loan in addition to a mortgage as her liabilities.
BurgessOwens (5650x3767, AR: 1.50)Owens, who announced this year that he would be retiring at the end of this term, reported a student loan for his daughter at Syracuse University as a singular but significant liability — a debt valued from $100,001 to $250,000.

Lee ($34,375) and Owens ($195) did both declare earning money from book royalties, one of the few ways members of Congress can make money away from Capitol Hill, where rank-and-file lawmakers earn $174,000 annually.

Owens also declared his NFL pension, which he receives from his 10 seasons playing as a safety for the New York Jets and the former Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. He listed the overall value as “undetermined,” but reported $21,570 in pension income during 2024.