Congress

Congress https://www.washingtonsun.com/congress Congress en-US Fri, 18 Sep 2026 09:04:00 GMT Inside House Democrats' Push to Kick Old People Out of Leadership https://www.washingtonsun.com/us-news/house-democrats-push-term-limits-committee-chairs Oriana González, Stephen Neukam Some newer members say they don’t want to wait decades before they get to lead major committees. Fri, 18 Sep 2026 09:04:00 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/us-news/house-democrats-push-term-limits-committee-chairs Hakeem Jeffries and Bennie Thompson.

Rep. Bennie Thompson has chaired the House Committee on Homeland Security since 2005 and favors the seniority system. (Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo)

Insurgent House Democrats are opening a new front in the generational war roiling the party, pushing to put term limits on committee leadership roles.

When the lawmakers return to Washington after the midterms, some Democrats plan to bring up a proposal in their caucus organizational meetings that would limit how many years leaders remain in top committee stops, according to multiple House Democrats familiar with the plans.

“It will only happen if members approve it. It’s an uphill battle, but I think the tide is turning,” said one of the House Democrats who was granted anonymity to address internal deliberations. “We are working on it. It’s a very touchy topic.”

A second House Democrat said that next Congress, “there’ll be many more members that are five terms or less” and there is an “appetite” to add limits so that younger and newer members can move up.

The new discussion around term limits comes at a time when the Democratic base is calling for new faces in the party and multiple incumbents have lost primaries to younger, more progressive candidates. Already, Democrats are starting to mount challenges for top committee slots: Rep. Jahana Hayes of Connecticut announced she’d challenge Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia for the top job on the House Education and Workforce Committee. Scott ascended to that position in 2015.

Unlike Democrats, Republicans impose a strict six-year limit on lawmakers serving as chairs or as ranking members when their party is in the minority. The first House Democrat said the limits could be similar to Republicans’ but without counting the years as ranking members, though the details on the restrictions are still being worked through. The lawmaker also said that an additional proposal is to allow committee leaders who have reached their limit to request a waiver.

Rep. Mike Levin of California, the chair of the House Democratic Committee on Caucus Rules, said the panel has held multiple listening sessions where the seniority issue came up.

“There are a number of members that obviously have great interest in this. There’s been discussion of grandfathering in everybody who’s already in a ranking member or chair position,” Levin said. “There’s others that disagree with that, so there’s been no consensus on that, nor has there been any finalized proposal or anything like that. We’re still working on it.”

Levin said that the committee would work with members who are interested in the rule change to “formulate specific proposals that will be voted on.” Once there is a proposal, it will be voted on by the entire caucus rules committee, and then brought to the full House Democratic caucus for a vote in November.

“My hope is that we can build some internal consensus on what would be fair, or I should say, not just what would be fair, but what would actually earn the support of our members,” Levin added.

The issue is especially touchy for Congressional Black Caucus members who have historically supported seniority rules. Those rules have helped secure top slots for Black members who were long denied power in Congress. And the proposal comes as fewer Black lawmakers are expected in the next Congress because of Republicans’ redistricting efforts, potentially reducing the caucus’ influence.

Maryland Rep. Glenn Ivey told The Washington Sun that a proposal for term limits is a “mixed bag,” pointing at the House GOP’s practices.

“Watching what the Republicans are doing, they’re just playing musical chairs sometimes with these committee chairmanships to sort of circumvent what the goal is,” Ivey said. “On the Democratic side, we’ve had very young members — Robert Garcia for example — rise to the top.”

Three Democrats pointed to Rep. Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey), who has been the top Democrat in the House Energy and Commerce Committee since 2015, as one of the biggest opponents to term limits.

“Over the years, he’s been very adamant that he is against it. Very, very adamant, and talks to all the members saying, ‘Don’t be for it,’” a third House Democrat told The Sun. “He feels like he’s waited a long time to get there and he doesn’t want it to change.”

In a statement to The Sun, Pallone said, “our current system is democracy — every two years, members have the freedom to run and vote for the best person to lead committees based on merit. Open campaigns lead to healthy debate, diverse leaders, and a stronger caucus.”

Other senior Democrats are also likely to challenge the term limits efforts in November.

Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, a popular House Democrat who has been the top Democrat of two powerful committees — first the Oversight Committee and now Judiciary — called himself “a pretty good example of why we don’t need term limits, because we do have real and open elections on the Democratic side.”

“There are people who may want to run for a chairmanship who feel like there's too much of a presumption of seniority, and it’s only a presumption, it’s a rebuttable presumption,” Raskin added. “I can see where it's coming from, but we've also seen a lot of turnover and fluidity in the ranking positions and the chair positions.”

Yet, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, who has been the top Democrat in the House Homeland Security Committee since its inception in 2005, told The Sun, “I got to be chair based on my seniority on the committee.”

“If you ask Bennie Thompson, I support seniority and the current rule. But I will say if you want to debate it and put it to a vote, officer. Fine. That doesn't mean I'll change my vote,” Thompson added.

Some of the lawmakers in line to become chairs if Democrats win the majority in November, such as Garcia, a younger member from California, are not opposed to limits.

“I’ve told folks already in the caucus that I could support that,” said Garcia, who is in line to chair the House Oversight Committee. “I’ve told folks already in the caucus that I could support that.”

“As a new person, I think that having new leaders and there being a debate on that is healthy,” Garcia added.

Previous attempts by Democrats to place term limits on committee chairs have failed. Illinois Rep. Bill Foster led an effort in 2022 to set a six-year limit for committee leaders, counting time served as chair and ranking member together. House Democrats rejected the proposal in a 138-63 vote.

The fact that the proposal got support from around a third of the caucus signaled that such an effort would “eventually” succeed, the third anonymous House Democrat told The Sun.

“A lot of the younger members don’t want to be in Congress for 30 years before they get a chance to chair a major committee. My guess is that if it doesn’t change this time, it’s definitely changing the next time,” the lawmaker said. “It’s just a matter of time. People are watching their Republican classmates come in and have opportunity to chair major committees and leave instead of having to be here for a long time.”

Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee,opposes committee leadership term limits and told The Sun that House Democrats have “created many opportunities” for younger members to move up.

Under the current House Democratic caucus rules, each committee must have a vice chair or vice ranking member position that goes to a member who has served in the committee for five terms or less and is considered “an opportunity for a junior Member to gain insight and experience into the workings of the committee.”

“Contrary to some belief, it does take a little bit of time to understand how this place functions,” Meeks said. “I sat and I watched and I learned for a long period of time.”

But not all Democrats want to wait long to rise through the ranks.

“A lot of us don’t want to stay here forever,” the third House Democrat said.
]]> Hegseth’s Preferred Army Chief Faces Long Odds in the Senate https://www.washingtonsun.com/defense/hegseth-preferred-army-chief-faces-long-odds-senate Joe Gould Republican lawmakers say Sean Parnell’s abuse allegations and restrictions on the Pentagon press are liabilities to getting confirmation votes. Fri, 18 Sep 2026 09:01:00 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/defense/hegseth-preferred-army-chief-faces-long-odds-senate Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell emerged as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s favored candidate last month to succeed Dan Driscoll, who resigned after months of tension with Hegseth. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

Republican senators said they see no path to confirmation for Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, as a potential Army secretary, complicating the prospects for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s preferred candidate as the White House considers a wider field.

The reluctance underscores the liabilities Parnell would bring to a confirmation fight, including abuse allegations he has denied and his role implementing Hegseth’s restrictions on the Pentagon press corps. Several less controversial candidates are also in the mix as the White House weighs who should lead the Army through an ongoing war with Iran, strained arms stockpiles and an ambitious modernization push.

Parnell emerged as Hegseth’s favored candidate last month to succeed Dan Driscoll, who resigned after months of tension with Hegseth over the defense secretary’s removal of senior officers. But Parnell is already encountering pushback from Republicans whose confirmation votes he would need.

“It’s hard for me to imagine that could possibly happen,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said when asked about the prospect of Parnell making it through the Senate. “His record, particularly the spousal abuse stuff, is just a bridge too far for the vast majority of people. Not to mention there are other good people.”

A Senate Republican aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, took a similar view about Parnell’s prospects. “It’s just simply not feasible,” the aide said. “Everyone knows the backing just isn’t there.”

Parnell has denied the abuse allegations, which his estranged wife made during divorce and child-custody proceedings and that surfaced during Parnell's aborted run for Senate in 2021.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) said he would vote against Parnell if President Donald Trump nominates him, arguing he lacks independence and experience.

“I feel like we need less of an echo chamber” at the Pentagon, said Tillis, who is retiring after his second term ends in January. “If we’re going to have to have Hegseth in this role, I’d at least like to have more people around him that are going to be more independent and look around corners. I don’t see Parnell doing that.”

Tillis, who voted to confirm Hegseth, has since become one of the secretary’s most outspoken Republican critics. He also faulted Parnell for implementing Hegseth’s ouster of the Pentagon’s resident press corps.

“That's already demonstrated a lack of confidence,” Tillis said. “If you're proud of your work product, you want press to ask you the tough questions and answer them. If you're worried about it, then you box them out.”

The White House has not named Driscoll’s successor, but two people familiar with the deliberations describe a broader White House vetting process. It’s being overseen by the White House, the people familiar said, and the ability to get a nominee through the Senate is a priority.

In response to a request for comment, the Pentagon repeated its recent statement, saying that Parnell is “100%” focused on his current job. The White House said Trump would make a choice on his own timetable.

“The President will announce a nominee for the next Secretary of the Army at a time and place of his choosing — statements from anonymous sources claiming to have insight into the President’s thinking should be treated as mere speculation,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement.

Kelly also praised Driscoll’s tenure, saying he had advanced Trump’s agenda by emphasizing readiness and lethality, and assisting with negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

One U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, defended Parnell’s record and said Hegseth has personally made the case for him to Trump. Hegseth has also discussed Parnell with White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino in recent weeks, according to the official.

A separate person familiar with the matter said that Parnell was among multiple names Hegseth presented to the Presidential Personnel Office, which acts as an executive search firm.

The U.S. official said Parnell is an excellent candidate to lead the Army, pointing to his combat experience and his 18 months working inside the Pentagon, arguing Parnell knows how to navigate the department’s bureaucracy and has relationships needed to carry out Trump and Hegseth’s agenda.

“He knows how the building operates; he knows the ins and outs,” the official said. “He knows who to talk to and how to get things done.”

The abuse allegations are a non-issue, the official said, noting that the judge who initially awarded full custody to his wife vacated that order and that Parnell and his former wife now share custody of their children.

Parnell has some Republican support. Sen. Dave McCormick, from Parnell’s home state of Pennsylvania, said Thursday on social media that he hoped Parnell was being considered for the role and praised Parnell’s “great family.”“Sean is a good friend, a decorated combat veteran, a true patriot, and a fellow Pennsylvanian,” McCormick said. “I have full confidence that if Sean is given the honor of serving in this role, he will do so with courage and distinction.”

Several other Republican senators this week praised Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle, a longtime Senate aide who was the Senate-confirmed assistant secretary for civil works when Trump elevated him to the acting role earlier this month.

“I like that guy who’s in there, Adam Telle,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), a senior Senate Armed Services Committee member. “He’d be pretty hard to beat. He’s doing a great job.”

Cramer said he would be “very happy” with Telle and said the acting secretary has one significant advantage over other potential candidates: senators already know him.“Adam is so solid,” Cramer said. “He talks with them so respectfully, and they respond in kind, even when they disagree.”

Beyond his Senate ties, Telle has strong relationships with the White House and Hegseth, which could ease his path to confirmation if he were nominated.

He served for four years as chief of staff to Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee) and previously worked for then-Sens. Thad Cochran and Richard Shelby and on the Senate Appropriations Committee. During Trump’s first term, Telle worked in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, where his responsibilities included national security and appropriations.

Telle played a substantial role in preparing Hegseth for his confirmation, helping to organize mock hearings and facilitating Hegseth’s meetings with senators.

Other candidates for the Army secretary job include Dane Hughes, the assistant secretary for legislative affairs, and Army Comptroller Marc Andersen — who has been reaching out to lawmakers to make his case for the job, according to one of the people familiar with the deliberations. Derrick Anderson, the Pentagon’s assistant secretary for special operations and low-intensity conflict, and Mike Obadal, the Army under secretary, are also possible candidates.

Democrats are unlikely to provide votes to confirm Trump’s pick for Driscoll’s successor because of broader tensions about Hegseth and the Trump administration’s national security policies. That leaves Senate Republicans with little wiggle room to lose any votes in the confirmation process, and that threshold appears to be breached with several Republicans saying Parnell is a no-go for them.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona), an Armed Services member who voted for some of Trump’s nominees this term, said he now regrets some of those votes because administration officials have failed to show enough independence from the president.

“I admit when I make mistakes,” Kelly said. “Some of these people seemed competent and could be their own person. Almost every one of them turned into a yes-person for Donald Trump, and they will not speak truth to power.”]]> Massie and Khanna Have Enough Signatures for a Second Epstein Files Discharge Petition https://www.washingtonsun.com/congress/thomas-massie-ro-khanna-second-jeffrey-epstein-files-discharge-petition Gavin J. Quinton The chamber, however, won’t be able to vote on the bill until after November’s midterm elections. Fri, 18 Sep 2026 02:28:34 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/congress/thomas-massie-ro-khanna-second-jeffrey-epstein-files-discharge-petition Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie

The House passed Thomas Massie, left, and Ro Khanna’s first Epstein Files Transparency Act in a stunning, near-unanimous November vote. (Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images)

Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna announced Thursday that they have amassed enough signatures to bring a vote on a second bill to force the release of files related to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Four Republicans, including Massie, of Kentucky, Reps. Ralph Norman and Nancy Mace, both of South Carolina, and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, have agreed to sign on to a discharge petition for a measure dubbed the Epstein Files Transparency Act II — joining every Democrat, Massie said in a social media post.

The chamber, however, won’t be able to vote on the bill until after November’s midterm elections. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican leadership cut the legislative session short by one day this week, just days after Massie proposed a privileged resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Under House rules, the measure would have come up for a vote by Thursday had the House’s workweek not been cut short.

“Thomas Massie and I have defied history a second time, securing commitments for 218 signatures on Epstein 2.0,” Khanna, a California Democrat, wrote on X. “Two Democrats were sick and will sign the day Johnson calls us back in.”

In July, Massie and Khanna introduced the Epstein Files Transparency Act II — named after another bill passed last year which mandated the release of millions of documents pertaining to the Epstein case. The new bill gives victims, lawmakers and states the power to sue the Justice Department for unlawfully concealing Epstein-related files.

That bill has since stalled in committee, but a discharge petition with 218 signatures will allow Massie and Khanna to bring it directly to the floor for a vote without the approval of House leadership.

That same number of votes — a simple majority — is all that’s needed to send the bill to the Senate.

“We will not rest until the Epstein abusers are held accountable and there is justice,” Khanna said.

The House passed the first Epstein Files Transparency Act in a stunning, near-unanimous November vote, following months of resistance from Republicans and President Donald Trump.

The DOJ has since produced millions of documents, emails and financial records related to the Epstein case, though the release was met with widespread accusations of a government cover-up, concerns about botched redactions and political fights over omitted records. Massie and Khanna maintain the department has “grossly failed” to meet legal requirements.

Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Justice Department are also the targets of a lawsuit filed by Katie Phang, a lawyer and political commentator, to force the release of additional files related to Epstein. On Wednesday, a federal judge warned Blanche that he could be held in contempt if he failed to comply with court orders to produce unreleased FBI interview notes and foreign-language materials that were omitted from the department’s initial release.

A spokesperson for the DOJ brushed off the warning in a Thursday statement to The Washington Sun, saying that department leadership “is not ‘concerned’ about this case, and our filings will speak for themselves.”]]> Congress Hears an Apocalyptic Prediction From the ‘Godfather of AI’ https://www.washingtonsun.com/congress/godfather-of-ai-geoffrey-hinton-congress-regulation-technology-artificial-intelligence Jenna Monnin Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton told lawmakers they have “maybe a year” left to regulate AI before its development spirals out of control. Thu, 17 Sep 2026 22:54:50 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/congress/godfather-of-ai-geoffrey-hinton-congress-regulation-technology-artificial-intelligence

Geoffrey Hinton, a computer scientist and cognitive psychologist, won the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics. (AP Photo)

The man known as the “Godfather of AI” issued an urgent warning to lawmakers this week that they only have a year or two left to regulate artificial intelligence before its development spirals out of control.

The prediction comes as pressure mounts for the government to institute guardrails on the industry, spurred by warnings from researchers and industry executives currently working on the technology.

Geoffrey Hinton, a computer scientist and cognitive psychologist who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics, told members of Congress in a closed-door briefing that they have “maybe a year, but not much more than a year,” according to an NBC News summary of the meeting published Thursday.

“If you look at predictions for when we’ll get superintelligence,” Hinton said, “it used to be maybe 30 years, maybe 50 years. Then it came down to maybe 10 years, maybe 20 years. Now people are saying, a lot of the researchers are saying only a few years.”

Hinton quit his job at Google in 2023 so he could speak freely about the risks of AI. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) invited Hinton and other experts in the field to Capitol Hill for a bipartisan briefing for lawmakers about the dangers of the rapid pace of development in the industry — though Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) was the only Republican to attend.

"Interesting speakers. I had a bill on the floor, I had to leave, but I enjoyed it," Kennedy told The Washington Sun. Still, he isn’t optimistic that the briefing will spur any action in the Senate.

"Quite frankly, if the reporting in The Wall Street Journal I read this morning and elsewhere is accurate, Secretary Bessent is pushing the White House to come up with some sort of framework to ensure the safety of the models,” Kennedy said. “That’s the next step I expect to happen. Is anything going to happen over here in the Senate? I don’t see any indication."

It was an assessment shared by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida), who said in an interview on NewsNation Thursday that the odds of Senate action on the issue were slim.

“With regard to destroying mankind, these companies need to do the right thing on their own. We’re not going to get smart enough to regulate them,” Scott said. “We’re not going to get something done up here.”

Some Democratic lawmakers, however, called for immediate action after listening to Hinton at the briefing.

“[Hinton] was very clear: AI technology has reached a point where it’s building itself. It can and will continue to go beyond human control - and therefore - our window to regulate it is disappearing rapidly. We must pause NOW,” Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Arizona) wrote Thursday on X.

Ansari wrote a letter Thursday with dozens of her colleagues demanding that President Donald Trump take action on AI immediately and called on the U.S. to work with international competitors like China to “to avert potentially devastating consequences.”

Trump has largely brushed off concerns about AI spiraling out of human control, saying that his presidency is the only necessary guardrail and calling the public fear a “hoax.”

“I am the Hoax Buster, and I’m right now breaking another Hoax — That AI is going to take over, consume, and destroy the World, and that Robots will be marching into our Cities, and getting rid of us all!” Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social.

Trump has also repeatedly said “whoever wins, AI wins,” to argue against cooperation with China on AI development.]]> Senate Stalls Major Data Center Bill That Sailed Through House https://www.washingtonsun.com/us-news/senate-stalls-major-data-center-bill-that-sailed-through-house Avani Kalra Senate Democrats blocked the Ratepayer Protection Act as insufficient, stalling the only AI-related measure that could pass this fall. Thu, 17 Sep 2026 19:00:35 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/us-news/senate-stalls-major-data-center-bill-that-sailed-through-house Jon.Husted.1

Sen. Jon Husted. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP)

A day after the first major bill designed to curb the costs associated with data centers and artificial intelligence passed the House with flying colors, the legislation hit a wall in the Senate on Thursday.

The bill, the Ratepayer Protection Act, requires states to consider — but does not mandate — standards that would require AI data centers to pay the full cost of infrastructure upgrades to their facilities, instead of passing those costs on to consumers.

Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), who sponsored the bill and is in a tough reelection race in a state where data centers are a hot issue, tried to pass the measure through unanimous consent to bypass the Senate’s lengthy legislative process. The procedure requires the agreement of all 100 senators.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) objected, arguing the bill is just a recommendation that doesn’t sufficiently protect Americans from the costs of the booming industry. The blockade makes it all but certain an AI-related bill will not pass Congressbefore the midterms, even as the issue continues to be a focal point of anger across the country.

“The Ratepayer Protection Act falls short of what we need to do to respond,” Heinrich said while objecting to the bill on the Senate floor. “Rather than voluntary pledges or suggestions to states, Congress needs to pass real legislation with real teeth.”

Husted blasted Democrats for striking the bill down, writing on X that “Senate Democrats want Big Tech to get a free pass while your electric bill goes up.”

“Before we leave here, we ought to do something on a matter that the American people have asked us to do something about,” Husted said on the Senate floor. “It is a shame that this opportunity has been missed today, but I will be back to push this issue forward.”

Other Democrats also criticized the bill as not going far enough.

“We have to make sure we have something with enforcement,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan) told The Washington Sun. “I think we all agree that they should cover the cost, but we got to make sure they actually do that. Otherwise, it's just a hollow bill.”

Husted is defending his seat in a race the Cook Political Report has deemed a toss-up. Former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, Husted’s challenger, has made the costs of the facilities a major point in his campaign, running TV ads labeling Husted “the face of data centers.”

Some Democrats said they saw the move to advance the bill as a political maneuver to help Husted.

“Data centers is a key issue, and Jon Husted is in a very tough race for election to the United States Senate,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), the chamber’s minority whip. “This is a frequent approach, last-minute legislation on a subject that is controversial.”

Though most House Democrats backed the measure, Senate Democrats pointed to a number of other bills that have been introduced in the upper chamber that could more forcefully regulate costs stemming from data centers.

Heinrich pointed to his own bill, the GRID Savings Act, which would require large users of electricity to abide by rules similar to those for power plants and would direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to establish new rules around data centers’ electricity usage. He sought consent to pass his bill, but Republicans objected.]]> Man Sentenced to 14 Months for Attacking Ilhan Omar https://www.washingtonsun.com/congress/man-sentenced-attacking-ilhan-omar Associated Press The 56-year-old sprayed vinegar at the Democratic congresswoman during a town hall. Thu, 17 Sep 2026 18:50:04 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/congress/man-sentenced-attacking-ilhan-omar

Rep. Ilhan Omar was not injured in the Jan. 27 assault. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)

By Tim Sullivan

MINNEAPOLIS — The man who sprayed vinegar at Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar during a Minneapolis town hall was sentenced Thursday to 14 months in prison after reaching a deal with prosecutors.

The sentencing of 56-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak came nearly eight months after the Jan. 27 assault. At the time, Minneapolis-St. Paul was facing an immigration crackdown that led to angry protests, arrests and the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal officers.

Kazmierczak was also sentenced to three years of supervised release, which includes no contact with Omar. U.S. marshals escorted him from the courtroom after he was sentenced.

“This wasn't a spur of the moment act,” U.S. District Judge Joan N. Ericksen said before handing down the sentence, noting that Kazmierczak had secured tickets for the town hall weeks in advance.

“An attack on a public figure is not a political statement. It is misguided, selfish, and inconsistent with any concept of a free or democratic society,” Ericksen said. Spraying anything at an elected official “is a terrifying thing, and you knew that when you did it.”

Omar's Attacker Apologizes for What He Did

Kazmierczak, who has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, shook visibly at times as he sat at the defense table. He spoke quietly and haltingly, occasionally wiping away tears as he stood before Ericksen.

He spoke about being a good neighbor, and how his troubles with insurance companies as well as prison had exacerbated his ailments. His attorney, John Fossum, argued that Kazmierczak had not been taking his mental health medications before the attack, lowering his inhibitions and contributing to what happened.

“I've spent enough time in jail thinking,” Kazmierczak said, his voice barely audible. “I really apologize to her for having put her through that,” he said, referring to Omar.

In an earlier hearing, Kazmierczak was unable to explain his actions, saying only “it's fuzzy” when Ericksen asked what he remembered.

“I’m sorry if I scared you,” he wrote to Omar after the attack.

Prosecutors Cite Evidence of Advance Planning

During the town hall, witnesses saw Kazmierczak jump up from the audience, spraying liquid from a syringe at Omar and saying she was “splitting Minnesota apart.” Omar’s security officers tackled Kazmierczak and turned him over to police, who arrested him.

Omar was not injured and continued with the town hall after the arrest.

Authorities later determined he had sprayed her with a mixture of water and apple cider vinegar. He pleaded guilty to assaulting a U.S. officer.

The government sentencing memorandum, submitted to the court by prosecutors, said he had texted at least three people indicating he planned to do something at the meeting involving Omar “but would not answer their questions about his intent.”

He also sent messages to a neighbor to arrange for dog care and asking for bail bond company contact information.

The sentencing memo said Kazmierczak had long struggled with alcohol abuse, had “a history of mental and emotional health concerns” and a string of health issues tied to his 2022 Parkinson’s disease diagnosis.

Omar, a refugee from Somalia, has long been a target of President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric. In 2019, after Omar’s election to Congress, Trump said she should “go back” to her country of birth. He has described her as “garbage” and said she should be investigated.

In social media posts, Kazmierczak had criticized former President Joe Biden and referred to Democrats as “angry and liars.” He wrote that Trump wants the U.S. to be “stronger and more prosperous.”

His attack came as the Minneapolis area was on edge due to the crackdown, with protesters often facing off against convoys of immigration officers and conservatives criticizing protesters.]]> Former Sen. Jon Kyl Dies at 84 https://www.washingtonsun.com/us-news/jon-kyl-former-senator-dies-dementia Associated Press The longtime Republican lawmaker shaped landmark water policies in the U.S. West and, as a lobbyist, guided the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Thu, 17 Sep 2026 16:23:49 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/us-news/jon-kyl-former-senator-dies-dementia

Charles Dharapak/AP

PHOENIX (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, a longtime Republican lawmaker from Arizona who shaped landmark water policies in the U.S. West and guided the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, has died. He was 84.

Kyl died Wednesday night from a neurological disorder, said Gordon James, a communications professional who is longtime friends with the Kyl family. Kyl had withdrawn from public life in December 2025 after announcing he had been diagnosed with dementia.

Kyl spent almost three decades in Congress, serving in both chambers, and watched his party undergo a drastic transformation, with his career spanning Ronald Reagan’s presidency to President Donald Trump’s first term.

Former Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who considered Kyl a mentor, described the former senator in a February 2025 interview with The Associated Press as a true statesman and a “workhorse” among Washington, D.C.’s “showhorses.”

“If you saw him on the plane, he was sitting in the aisle, in coach, and he was reading,” Ducey said. “And he was reading potential bills or Senate business.”

Kyl rose to a leadership position during his last full term in the Senate, when his Republican colleagues selected him as minority whip. After retiring from politics in 2013 and becoming a lobbyist, Kyl returned to Congress briefly in 2018, when Ducey appointed him to fill the vacancy left by the late U.S. Sen. John McCain.

His appointment drew high praise from Trump, who said he was looking forward to working with “the extraordinary senator.” Kyl stayed for less than four months before rejoining lobbying firm Covington and Burling.

“At the federal level, and I regret to say that this is the case, but probably a lot of my better achievements were in preventing bad things from happening (rather) than forcing good things to happen,” Kyl said in a 2012 conversation with former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Kyl was born in Oakland, Nebraska, on April 25, 1942, and grew up in a rural farming district in Iowa that his father represented in the U.S. House. At 18, he headed southwest to attend the University of Arizona, where he met his wife, Caryll, and earned a law degree.

Before being elected for the first of his four terms in the House in 1987, Kyl was a key participant in shaping Arizona’s 1980 groundwater code as a lawyer representing a large water utility. The first-of-its-kind code created a regulatory framework for managing groundwater in the drought-stricken state, largely centering on the state’s population centers, including Phoenix and Tucson.

In 2004, Kyl authored legislation that provided one of the largest tribal water rights settlements, which, after a decades-long battle, gave the Gila River Indian Community enough water to fill nearly 313,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools annually. Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who later served as majority leader, called Kyl's work ethic “legendary” in a 2012 floor speech and said Kyl had labored mostly behind the scenes for 15 years to advance the settlement.

“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but I was in a position to be the catalyst,” Kyl told the Phoenix New Times in a 2006 interview. “There wasn’t anybody else who could do that water deal. And it had to be done.”

Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy takes its name from him. Its director, Sarah Porter, said Kyl was generous with his time and an effective member of the state’s congressional delegation who took a practical approach to water policy.

“He’s always sort of cared about the public good and been able to think about, ‘What will this mean for the generations to come?’” Porter said, adding that Kyl remained “quite a dynamo” until recent years, as his wife battled health problems.

Ducey said Kyl was a “giant” in the Senate, further describing him as serious, engaging, forthright and thoughtful. His biggest impacts, Ducey said, came from the way he kept the Republican caucus together in opposition to Obamacare and his staunch support of Israel.

Kyl also backed legislation to authorize construction of a fence stretching hundreds of miles along the U.S.-Mexico border. He later joined with Democrats to support a bill that would provide a path to citizenship and temporary guest-worker status for those in the U.S. without authorization. The proposal ultimately failed.

As a lobbyist, Kyl helped guide the confirmation of Trump-picked U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. When Kyl returned to the halls of Congress in 2018, he was known as Kavanaugh’s chief Sherpa — an informal but widely known term for a nominee’s guide to the political tundra in the Senate.

In a statement disclosing his dementia diagnosis, Kyl harkened back to the words of Reagan, when the former president revealed his own Alzheimer’s diagnosis and said he was starting a journey that would lead him to the end of his life.

Kyl said he shared Reagan’s confidence for Arizona and the nation’s future, and that despite his diagnosis, he was a “very fortunate man.”]]> The Top Three House Democrats Try To Find Their Own Lanes https://www.washingtonsun.com/congress/jeffries-clark-aguilar-look-to-find-own-lanes-midterms-house-majority Kadia Goba Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar ran as a "unit," but lawmakers are starting to see the differences in their leadership styles. Thu, 17 Sep 2026 09:08:00 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/congress/jeffries-clark-aguilar-look-to-find-own-lanes-midterms-house-majority Reps. Aguilar, Clark and Jeffries

House Democratic leaders, from left, Pete Aguilar, Katherine Clark and Hakeem Jeffries are expected to keep leadership posts if their party wins control of the House in the midterms. (Francis Chung/Politico via AP)

Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer held a top leadership role for more than a decade before Nancy Pelosi was elected in 2001 as minority whip, becoming the highest-ranking woman in either party. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina would join them in 2007 as the No. 3 leader.

The veteran trio of Democrats, for the most part, were viewed as three distinct leaders. Pelosi commanded the progressives. Hoyer wrangled the moderate flank of the caucus while Clyburn steered the Southern delegation and the powerful Congressional Black Caucus.

Now, as a new generation of untested leaders enters the spotlight with the prospects of taking back the majority, the distinctions between Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, are less obvious, as the trio rose to power in unison and positioned themselves as one team.

“Essentially, Hakeem, Clark and Aguilar ran together. Clyburn, myself and Nancy also got to the positions on our own,” Hoyer told The Washington Sun. “I think while we worked very closely together, we were not perceived — because we didn't run together — as a unit.”

But with the possibility of leading Congress with a tight majority next year, that unified front could be tested.

The three have already faced some fractures in the caucus after two moderate members, Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Washington), broke ranks twice to help Republicans move their priority bills forward.

So far, their united front has quelled the kind of intraleadership squabbling that defined other leadership teams: Pelosi and Hoyer were famously competitive, with Pelosi leapfrogging Hoyer in leadership positions. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) maintained their own hot-and-cold rivalry — with McCarthy often opting to deputize preferred allies for important jobs in lieu of his No. 2.

The three Democrats’ close ties helped stave off succession fights — Jeffries, Clark and Aguilar won their positions unanimously in 2022 without public discourse and with the blessing of their predecessors. They were reelected in 2024 without any challenges.

But the absence of public rivalries has not masked their differences. Fellow Democrats don’t believe they have finite lanes, even as there are clear differences based on their backgrounds and alliances.

“We have three distinct leaders in their own right that represent the broad array of the caucus,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, adding “I think the thing is, every constituency cuts across many different axes.”

Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan told The Sun, referring to Clark and Jeffries, “I come from a big family, and so for me, depending on what the ask is or what the issue is, I decide whether or not I’m going to go to mom, who I’m sure will say yes, or to dad, who I’m sure will say yes,” adding, “It depends on the issue.”

Illinois Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood did lay out some style differences, calling Clark “very polished” and “very aware. ... She’s always watching and always listening.” She characterized Aguilar as “laid back” and said he has an “ease” about him. As for Jeffries, she said he can be “kind of dry” and can be “very somber” when he's handling business, but she also said he will “get very animated around certain things, and like he will light up.”Some clear lines are emerging among how rank and file view the top three leaders.

Progressives say they align with Clark the most. Her decision to break with Jeffries and Aguilar back in July on a vote to strip Israel of around $3 billion in security funding cemented her bona fides with many on the left-leaning side of the caucus.

Clark explained her decision as dealing with “stunts from congressional Republicans,” but she also added about Israel, “However, it is clear that the status quo is not tenable.”

“I mean she said ‘genocide’ in her town hall. Even if she later clarified it — she went there,” one chief of staff who works for a progressive Democrat in Congress told The Sun, referring to Clark discussing the Israel-Gaza war in an event in her district.

The Massachusetts Democrat is known for advocating for women’s issues, including championing the “Child Care is Infrastructure Act,” her signature legislative proposal designed to provide much greater access or subsidies for working parents.

“I think that you know Clark will probably have to really work with our far left, maybe DSA members who are coming in, and work with the Progressive Caucus to bring them into the fold of the larger caucus,” said Rep. Andrea Salinas, a Democrat from Oregon.

One member characterized her whip style as sort of diplomatic.

“She is also someone who’s careful to make sure that when she has to push, she will do that, and when she needs to observe the situation and be thoughtful, she’ll back up,” Rep. Nellie Pou of New Jersey told The Sun.

Aguilar hails from a moderate district in California. His tenure has been rooted in his relationships with moderates and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He quickly eyed leadership posts, serving as whip of the New Democrat Coalition — a group of Democrats made up of center-left members — and the CHC.

And with Pelosi’s departure next year, Aguilar becomes the most powerful lawmaker in the 52-member California delegation, even as his and the former speaker’s politics are vastly different.

“He’s a bit more conservative, so I think that he's got a unique lens from which, you know, folks will go and sort of bounce ideas off of,” Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York told The Sun.

For another member, Aguilar has helped navigate tough floor votes.

“So he’s been super supportive,” said Pou, a freshman in a competitive district, describing Aguilar as a resource. “There’s been times that, you know, I've had to take some very difficult votes and he helped to provide some clarification by discussing the pros and cons.”

When it comes to Jeffries, who is in line to become the first Black speaker, Democrats view him as the team’s “strategist” and “motivator.”

“Hakeem obviously is like the tip of the spear for all macros, but someone who really understands the challenges that larger, denser urban cities face because he's from New York, and obviously, as a brother, you know the Black Caucus,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California said.

Jeffries has strong ties to the Congressional Black Caucus as the highest ranking member. Once viewed as an insurgent who tried unsuccessfully to oust a popular incumbent for a New York Assembly seat he eventually won, Jeffries has settled in as an establishment Democrat, earning the respect and support of his delegation in the 119th Congress.

The dozen or so members The Sun spoke with about this story all said Jeffries is an approachable leader who takes the time to speak to members. But leading a big tent means maintaining relationships across different ideologies, race and geographies rather than championing any single caucus constituency.

So far, these members say, he’s been able to navigate that space, but it has led to ambiguity among some members.

“I think we’ll see Jeffries doing both, like you know, two feet in different places, trying to build probably a little bit more trust,” said Salinas, who also described the caucus as being confused about where he stands on the ideological spectrum. “People were saying, ‘Oh, he's actually a CPC member.’ Yes, but everybody’s like, ‘He seems so centrist.’”

That is particularly true of newcomers, especially those coming from New York, his hometown, where a band of Democratic Socialists bested two incumbents during the June primaries.

One progressive noted the anger around Jeffries meeting this summer with the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. “Can I just tell you how annoyed people were that he met with Kushner? Come on, what are we doing? Who is that person? Relative to our party, relative to the leadership of this country. Why are you sitting in that meeting with them?” Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Arizona) told The Sun.

If Jeffries is successful and gains the gavel next year he will face a constant tug from the left of his caucus to be hard-line when it comes to the Trump administration, with centrists urging some degree of cooperation to govern.

“It is incumbent upon us to have a leadership team that is going to be able to work with someone like me and someone that’s a lot more moderate, like Cuellar,” Grijalva said, referring to Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar.
]]> Most Primaries Didn't Matter This Year https://www.washingtonsun.com/us-news/congress-primaries-over-ranked-choice-voting Paul Kane Despite a series of high-profile losses, most incumbents coasted to easy wins. Thu, 17 Sep 2026 09:07:00 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/us-news/congress-primaries-over-ranked-choice-voting

Rep. Sarah McBride was unchallenged in her primary. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

Rep. Sarah McBride faced off against every incumbent’s favorite opponent in Delaware’s Democratic primary Tuesday: uncontested.

McBride did not have a single opponent in her primary for the state’s lone seat in the House, setting her up to coast to a second term in a state where Republicans haven’t won a governor’s race or any of its three seats in Congress since 2008.

McBride’s easy path to reelection is not unique: 150 winners of primary elections, to fill 435 House seats, faced no opposition in the spring and summer contests, and now head into the general election without any doubt of their victory in November. A huge majority of those are incumbents seeking reelection.

Moreover, an additional 233 winners of House primaries sit in uncompetitive districts and are all but assured of winning, making the November general election an afterthought. That’s 88% of the entire House essentially already chosen through a primary process that often lacks competition itself.

Those are the findings of Unite America, a nonprofit group that is the leader of a coalition trying to change the primary election system to involve more voters. The group’s goal is to try to create a better functioning Congress with lawmakers who appeal to a broad set of constituents and not just a narrow clique of ideological voters who show up in primaries closed off to independents.

“Change happens slowly, and then all at once. And I think we're entering a period in our politics where increasingly people are looking for solutions to the corruption and dysfunction they are seeing,” Nick Troiano, the executive director of Unite America, told The Washington Sun.

These advocates want other states to follow the lead of two vastly different states — Alaska, the third smallest by population, and California, easily the largest.

Both states conduct an open primary system in which all candidates for office appear on the same ballot. In California the top two advance to the general election, regardless if it’s two Democrats or two Republicans. In Alaska the top four vote-getters advance to November and then, in the general election, voters rank their candidates one through four. If no one clears 50% in the first round, second and third choices are counted until someone has a majority.

Proponents believe this creates a more civil brand of politics and sends lawmakers to Washington with a mindset of appealing to lots of constituents.

“If I'm a smart politician, I'm going to try to work this so that I don't trash talk everybody because I might want your folks to rank me number two, and that's going to help me. So I think it encourages more civility in the process,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who built her own unique coalition in 2022, told The Sun.

Murkowski, a top centrist dealmaker in the Senate, pointed to how this system has also worked at the local level and created a state Senate where the two parties have had a power-sharing agreement for the second-straight term.

“It's exactly the meld that you want — to bring together people who want to try to get things done for the purposes of good policy and not for the benefit of politics,” she said.

Washington state also has a wide-open primary system, with the two top candidates moving to the general election, and in Maine, after the primaries are held, the general election in congressional races uses ranked-choice voting.

Opponents disagree and believe that American politics has always been about a single vote for each person, not a dilution of that support for multiple people.

“Our campaign is about one person, one vote. That’s been the bedrock of the American republic for the last 250 years,” Bethany Marcum, the treasurer for the anti-ranked-choice-voting group Repeal Now, testified at a July legislative hearing in Alaska.

Others point to what was actually a volatile, competitive primary season this year in states that do not have these open procedures.

Thirteen House incumbents lost their primaries this year, almost evenly divided between the parties, and two Senate Republicans, John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, also lost their primaries.

Moreover, several dozen other incumbents had to run strong campaigns to push back against primary challengers. Those ranged from Rep. Richard Neal, a 19-term lawmaker who faced an unexpectedly strong challenge from a younger Democrat from western Massachusetts, to Sen. Darline Graham, who was appointed to replace her late brother Lindsey and beat several conservative challengers in South Carolina.

Troiano, however, views those tough primary elections as a more poisonous breed of hyper-partisan politics and big-moneyed special interests.

Several incumbents lost because they are from states that held mid-decade redistricting designed to drive more seats to one party or another, such as Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw, whose district got moved further away from Houston’s suburbs and lost to a state legislator who represented much of the new district.

Some, such as Cassidy and Cornyn, lost because President Donald Trump and his supporters deemed them insufficiently loyal and worked to support their opponents.

Others lost because their states hold closed primaries that do not allow independents to vote and result in low-turnout affairs, where ideological purity matters most. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-New York), briefly considered a rising star in his caucus, lost to a more liberal challenger who criticized his support for Israel.

And many other primaries got competitive because single-issue super PACs funded by narrow special interests — particularly the cryptocurrency industry and the pro-Israel AIPAC — flooded money into those districts trying to choose a winner solely based on their support (or opposition) to that narrow special interest.

Unite America joined Issue One, another pro-democracy group, at a conference in Alexandria, Virginia, earlier this month in which they talked about the range of reform issues they would try to advance in the coming years. Their allies also include FairVote, Veterans for All Voters and Open Primaries.

The initial goal of the coalition is to get at least 10 states to adopt the Alaska or California model for elections. These groups believe that would create a bloc of 20 senators who might have won election in the manner that Murkowski used in 2022 — a unique coalition of moderate Republicans, independents and moderate Democrats.

In the first ballot that year she had a narrow lead of less than 1 percentage point over a conservative Republican. In the second ballot, she cruised to a commanding 7-point margin of victory.

“If you give voters the freedom to choose whoever they want and ensure whoever gets a majority wins, you wind up getting a more representative, responsive government,” Troiano said.

The types of changes that have broad support but have remained stymied on Capitol Hill — banning gerrymandering so incumbents cannot choose their own constituents; barring members from trading individual stocks; stricter revolving-door limits on ex-lawmakers lobbying — might get freed up in a Congress with more incumbents trying to appeal to centrist voters.

“These reforms are critical to achieving the other policies that voters want to see from the government that are currently being locked down,” Troiano said.

But these types of election reforms have had a mixed record of late. Six states had ballot referendums to create some form of open primary or ranked-choice voting in 2024, and all lost, including Troiano’s home state of Colorado.

And this year the coalition is focused, first and foremost, on defending a second bid to repeal Alaska’s voting rules, including open primaries and ranked-choice voting.

Murkowski won her first Senate race in 2004, at a point where Alaska’s primaries were closed off so voters could only choose between Republican or Democratic candidates.

“With each successive election cycle, whether I was running or not, I saw the primaries becoming more exclusive,” she recalled.

Looking ahead to her decision to run for another six-year term in 2028, Murkowski acknowledged that the effort to repeal Alaska’s new system could impact whether she runs again.

Troiano pointed to the progressive movement of the early 20th century. The first state to move toward a direct primary occurred in 1904, and within a decade a majority were using primary elections instead of party bosses choosing nominees.

He thinks history is poised to repeat itself for states again opening up their primary systems.

“Maybe it's a decade, and maybe change happens quicker now than it did 100 years ago,” he said.]]> Federal Election Commission Seems Destined to Sit Out the Entire 2026 Midterms https://www.washingtonsun.com/money/federal-election-commission-shutdown-senate-hearing Taylor Giorno The campaign finance regulator hasn’t had enough commissioners to authorize investigations, issue legal opinions or levy fines since May 2025. Thu, 17 Sep 2026 09:03:00 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/money/federal-election-commission-shutdown-senate-hearing

Sen. Mitch McConnell returned to the Senate on Sept. 14, but his monthslong absence contributed to a delayed hearing for two Federal Election Commission commissioner nominees. (Francis Chung/Politico via AP)

A Senate committee is nearly out of time ahead of Election Day to consider two Republicans nominated for seats on the bipartisan Federal Election Commission — leaving the crippled campaign finance regulator without its law enforcement and regulatory powers during the midterms’ final stretch.

“Paperwork issues” and the monthslong medical absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican chair of the Senate Rules Committee, delayed efforts to conduct a hearing for Andrew Woodson, a lawyer at Wiley Rein, and Ashley Stow, who previously worked with former FEC Commissioner Trey Trainor.

While many thought McConnell’s return to the Senate this week would move the process forward, the Senate, which is due to go on recess in early October, has yet to schedule a committee hearing that could lead to the agency regaining its minimum quorum of four commissioners. A vote of the full Senate is also necessary to confirm the nominees.

“I’ll be sure to let you know when I have an update,” David Popp, a spokesperson for McConnell, told The Washington Sun. Popp did not directly address questions about the likelihood of a hearing before the election or whether the paperwork issue had been resolved.

Sen. Alex Padilla of California, the Democratic vice chair of the committee, told The Sun on Tuesday that it’s “not clear” if there will be a hearing before the election.
Alex Padilla AP - 25191578142448 (5854x3903, AR: 1.50)Padilla also said he had not yet met with either nominee and that the committee should be considering both Democratic and Republican nominees. By law, no more than three of the FEC’s six commissioners may belong to the same political party. There are currently two Democrats on the committee and four seats that are vacant.

Both Democrats, Chair Shana Broussard and Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum, have for months asked Congress to get the FEC back on track. At least four commissioners must be present to even consider advancing campaign finance investigations, finalizing audits, issuing penalties, approving rules, offering formal legal advice and conducting public meetings.

But since May 1, 2025, the FEC has not had enough commissioners to form a quorum of four.

During that time, the FEC’s enforcement backlog has ballooned to 307 cases, Broussard said on Bluesky on Sept. 1.

Broussard declined to comment.
Shana.Broussard.FEC (8058x5372, AR: 1.50)The Sun first reported in July 2025 that congressional Republicans had recommended Woodson and Stow to President Donald Trump, who alone may nominate FEC commissioner candidates. But it took Trump more than eight months to nominate the two attorneys.

Trump nominated Woodson and Stow on Feb. 11 to fill two of the four vacancies on the commission. Their nominations then languished, and the FEC has continued to effectively function strictly as a campaign finance records publishing house.

“The White House expects the swift confirmation of all of President Trump’s highly-qualified nominees, and will continue to uphold our nation’s laws,” the White House wrote in a statement Wednesday.

Some campaign finance watchdogs and lawyers, including former Republican commissioners, are particularly frustrated about the agency’s inability to interpret and enforce campaign finance laws in the lead-up to the 2026 election.

With the FEC unable to act, private organizations can sue the FEC for “right of action,” which lets them bring cases directly against political campaigns and committees they allege have run afoul of federal campaign finance laws.

Others dismissed concerns about the missing “cop on the beat,” saying it is unlikely the agency would have been able to act on new complaints until after the election. Under the best of circumstances, it often takes the FEC months, and sometimes years, to resolve campaign finance disputes.

This is the third time since 2019 the FEC has not had enough commissioners to execute its high-level duties, and by far the longest. Each de facto FEC shutdown has occurred while Trump was president.
Federal Election Commission AP-18264705132299 (5760x3840, AR: 1.50)Even if the Senate confirms Woodson and Stow, the commission could easily lose a quorum — again — if it loses just one commissioner.

Trump could nominate two additional commissioners, but has not. The Sun reported in summer 2025 that Democrats had recommended Jonathan Peterson, an attorney at the Elias Law Group, as a commissioner candidate.

Meanwhile, budget cuts and staffing shortages also threaten the FEC’s ability to clear through a backlog of enforcement matters once the commission has a quorum again.

In interviews with The Sun, former FEC commissioners and practitioners have questioned Trump and Congress’ desire to empower the commission to enforce and interpret campaign finance law at any level.]]>