Alex Padilla confrontation in LA shocks senators

Senators were left stunned Thursday by video of their colleague Alex Padilla getting manhandled and handcuffed in Los Angeles. The California Democrat was attempting to enter a news conference being held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem when he was physically confronted by law enforcement, forced out of the room and handcuffed on the floor. […]

Senate Finance megabill text could be served SALT-free

The Senate Finance Committee might play fill-in-the-blanks for a key tax deduction when it releases its portion of the GOP’s megabill in the coming days, according to Sen. Markwayne Mullin. The Oklahoma Republican told reporters precise parameters for the state-and-local-tax deduction could simply be left out of the package while negotiations continue. “Senator Crapo and […]

GOP leaders say they are pressing forward with vote on DOGE cuts

Speaker Mike Johnson expressed confidence ahead of a planned Thursday vote that the House will pass a $9.4 billion spending cuts package as planned. But privately, his whip team is scrambling to shore up enough votes among wary Republicans. “We think we have the votes. We’re going ahead with it,” Johnson said. Asked about one […]

Blue-state Republicans make it personal, pummeling their governors on ‘sanctuary’ policies

Familiar home-state foes faced off Thursday in Washington as Democratic governors from New York, Minnesota and Illinois testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on their states’ “sanctuary” policies limiting cooperation between federal immigration officers and state law enforcement. Govs. Kathy Hochul of New York, Tim Walz of Minnesota and JB Pritzker of […]

Megabill would cost poorest households $1,600 a year, boost richest by $12K, CBO predicts

The lowest-income households in the United States would lose $1,600 a year in federal resources under the domestic-policy package House Republicans passed last month, Congress’ nonpartisan scorekeeper predicts. At the same time, resources would be increased by $12,000 for the highest-income households under the legislation, according to the analysis the Congressional Budget Office published Thursday. […]

Rand Paul is invited to the White House picnic, after all

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) got his invite to Thursday’s White House picnic on the South Lawn restored — but another intraparty critic of the president also said he was not on the guest list. Paul — who has been sharply critical of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” — on Wednesday said he had […]

Capitol agenda: Trump jumps into a GOP tax cuts conundrum

President Donald Trump is bullish about wanting a “big, beautiful bill” on his desk in just three weeks. But to meet that goal, he’ll have to help settle a tricky tax fight. Trump will huddle with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) at the White House this afternoon — the […]

Senate OKs arms sales to Qatar and UAE despite deals that benefit Trump

The Senate has rejected resolutions seeking to block multi-billion-dollar arms sales to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates over the objections of Democrats who say President Donald Trump will personally benefit from separate deals with these countries. The Senate voted 39-56 on Wednesday against each of the joint resolutions of disapproval, which would have halted […]

Business tax incentives will grow, SALT will be cut, Crapo tells senators

Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo told fellow Republicans in a Wednesday briefing that three major business tax provisions will be made permanent in the GOP’s megabill, senators who attended said, while a key break for individual taxpayers will be scaled back. The pledge to restore larger tax deductions for research-and-development costs, business equipment purchases […]