https://washingtonsun.com/house House en-US Tue, 08 Sep 2026 19:48:04 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/money/gil-cisneros-stock-act-disclosures-palantir Dave Levinthal Democratic Rep. Gil Cisneros of California was late revealing more than 50 trades. Tue, 08 Sep 2026 19:48:04 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/money/gil-cisneros-stock-act-disclosures-palantir One of Congress’ most prolific stock traders violated a federal insider trading and transparency law by failing to properly disclose six-figures’ worth of purchases, according to new U.S. House financial records.

Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-California), who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, was days or weeks late revealing more than 50 individual trades, including shares of defense contractors Palantir Technologies, Microsoft, Macom Technology Solutions and SPX Technologies.

Other tardy disclosures by Cisneros, who won a Mega Millions jackpot worth $266 million in 2010, include trades in cryptocurrency company Coinbase Global, computer chip giant Nvidia, media conglomerate Paramount Skydance Corporation and ride-hailing platform Uber.

Taken together, Cisneros’ improperly disclosed stock trades are worth between $95,000 and $900,000. (Lawmakers are only required to list the values of their trades in broad ranges.) The records come as the U.S. Senate is considering the House-approved Stop Insider Trading Act, which would in part ban federal lawmakers from buying individual stocks.

Representatives for Cisneros acknowledged NOTUS’ request for comment but did not otherwise respond to phone and email messages.

It’s unclear whether Cisneros has or will pay a late-filing fine administered by the House Ethics Committee, which begins at $200 and may be waived at the committee’s discretion. Representatives for the committee, which is led by Rep. Michael Guest (R-Mississippi) — himself as STOCK Act violator this summer — did not respond to a request for comment.

In February, Cisneros told NOTUS that he doesn’t manage his own investments, and therefore, does not believe that his personal stock holdings conflict with his public service in Congress.

NOTUS’ Capitol Gains project estimated Cisneros’ median net worth to be $65.91 million entering 2025.

“I have a financial adviser, and you look at the size of my portfolio and you’ll understand why I have a financial adviser who makes all the decisions, and I trust him to do it,” Cisneros said. “I trust my adviser. As I always say, I got very lucky in life and I want to be able to protect it.”

Cisneros has made hundreds of other stock trades during the 119th Congress, House records indicate.

Among them: purchasing up to tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of stock in Palantir, which also has scored Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts, and $15,000 worth of SpaceX stock days after the Elon Musk-led company made its initial public offering of stock.

In June, Cisneros easily emerged from a competitive primary to advance to November’s general election, where he’s heavily favored to win reelection to California’s 31st Congressional District, which includes parts of eastern Los Angeles County.

In addition to Guest, Cisneros joins an ever-growing list of federal lawmakers who’ve violated the STOCK Act’s disclosure provisions.

Since last summer, violators in the House include Reps. Michael Rulli (R-Ohio), Shri Thanedar (D-Michigan), Tracey Mann (R-Kansas), Julie Johnson (D-Texas), Linda Sánchez (D-California), Julia Letlow (R-Louisiana), Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Lisa McClain (R-Michigan), Pat Ryan (D-New York), Sheri Biggs (R-South Carolina), Derek Tran (D-California), Donald Norcross (D-New Jersey), Tim Walberg (R-Michigan), Rich McCormick (R-Georgia), Ritchie Torres (D-New York), Troy Nehls (R-Texas), Dan Meuser (R-Pennsylvania), Jonathan Jackson (D-Illinois), George Whitesides (D-California), Val Hoyle (D-Oregon), Austin Scott (R-Georgia), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida), Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), Kelly Morrison (D-Minnesota), Christian Menefee (D-Texas), Daniel Webster (R-Florida), Ed Case (D-Hawaii), Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), Laurel Lee (R-Florida) and Scott Franklin (R-Florida). Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Oklahoma) was also late, although his office denies it.

Senators who’ve violated the STOCK Act during the past year include Sens. Alan Armstrong (R-Oklahoma), Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Katie Britt (R-Alabama), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado), Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) and John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania).
]]> https://washingtonsun.com/congress/house-gop-republicans-mike-johnson-cancels-two-weeks-votes-midterms-2026-election Jenna Monnin The chamber was originally scheduled to be in session for the full month of September. Thu, 03 Sep 2026 15:12:55 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/congress/house-gop-republicans-mike-johnson-cancels-two-weeks-votes-midterms-2026-election House Republican leadership canceled the last two weeks of September votes on Thursday, meaning that after members depart the Capitol later this month they will not return until after the November midterm election.

“This is a change from House GOP leadership’s previously announced schedule,” Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts) wrote in an update.

House lawmakers are now set to leave Washington on Sept. 17 rather than Oct. 1 for their break before the midterm elections.

The official House legislative calendar, maintained by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana), shows that the House was supposed to be in session the week of Sept. 21 and Sept. 28.

When House lawmakers came back to Washington earlier this week after a monthlong August recess, they quickly passed a stopgap measure to keep federal agencies funded until mid-December. The funding bill averts the threat of a government shutdown ahead of the midterm elections.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has frequently touted the 119th Congress as “one of the most productive Congresses in the history of the institution.”

But last year under Johnson’s speakership, Congress set a 21st-century record for casting the least amount of votes, according to The Washington Post. The 362 votes the chamber held was half as many votes as in 2017, which was the first year of President Donald Trump’s first term in office with a Republican majority.

With only a few months left of the year and more canceled in-session weeks on the horizon, the House has held less than 300 votes in 2026.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/money/kalshi-prediction-market-congress-legislation Mark Alfred Even guardrails supported by prediction market platforms are stuck in limbo. Thu, 03 Sep 2026 09:03:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/money/kalshi-prediction-market-congress-legislation Kalshi's profit margins depend on keeping Washington on its good side. It's spending big in D.C. to make that happen as the prediction market company manages regulatory threats, potential legislative action and public relations challenges.

Kalshi now has over two-dozen federal lobbyists working on its behalf. Almost all of them have congressional bona fides, including a pair of one-time legislative directors under Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and a handful of former chiefs of staff and senior counsels to other lawmakers.

Former Sen. Blanche Lincoln herself is on Kalshi’s influence team. And the company recently brought on Tony Hanagan, a well-liked and well-connected longtime Republican cloakroom staffer, as its head of congressional affairs.

Kalshi, which currently lets prognosticators in every state put money on the odds of the outcomes of all sorts of future events, including politics, even hired a former communications director for Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) — an arch-critic of prediction markets — to lobby government officials.

“Kalshi is leading the push for bipartisan legislation that protects consumers, keeps minors off our platform, and makes insider trading bans standard across the industry,” John Bivona, Kalshi’s head of federal government relations, told NOTUS in a statement. “We’ve worked with dozens of lawmakers from both parties on these priorities, and we welcome partnering with anyone serious about responsible regulation.”

It's message the company has worked to spread across D.C., often by plastering it across the district’s buildings and Metro stops.
Kalshi.bans (8153x5435, AR: 1.50)Kalshi.regulated (4959x3306, AR: 1.50)Lawmakers of both parties and chambers have together introduced more than two-dozen bills this year alone that aim to put guardrails on prediction markets.

But while senators have barred themselves from prediction market trading, and the House has banned trades over congressional Wi-Fi, neither chamber has passed any meaningful legislation curtailing what kind of bets prediction markets may offer or who can use the markets.

“The challenge going forward is … organizations like this make massive amounts of money,” Merkley told NOTUS. “Billions of dollars have flowed through this expansive casino. They’re going to spend massive sums on lobbyists and media campaigns and so forth to try to make sure it doesn't get shut down. And they have the support of the president.”

Kalshi has expressed support for one congressional bill — the Prediction Market Act of 2026 — that would bar the president and members of Congress from placing trades. It’s also blessed Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s bill to keep children off prediction market platforms.

“I give Kalshi credit for supporting the legislation instead of ducking the issue,” Gottheimer, a Democrat from New Jersey, said in a statement.

But even these bills supported by Kalshi remain in limbo with fewer than four months remaining in the current Congress.

Event contracts — a bet on the real-world outcome of an upcoming occurrence — have long had real-world uses, such as when farmers use them as a hedge to minimize potential losses.

But in just a few short years, prediction market sites such as Kalshi and Polymarket, a rival platform that largely operates overseas, have made betting a frictionless experience for any American with an internet connection. Some lawmakers of both parties view this as a loophole to allow for national online gambling.

“That’s all it is,” said Rep. Blake Moore, a Republican from Utah, a state whose constitution outlaws gambling and whose governor is fighting to bar companies like Kalshi from operating within its borders. “They have manipulated the concept of what a prediction market was, what it was intended for as a financial tool for centuries, and they have made this into very quick, simple, easy online gambling, mostly sports online gambling.”

Kalshi has long maintained the swaps it offers are legally distinct from gambling.

“It’s flat-out wrong to say that Kalshi is ‘indistinguishable from traditional sports betting,’” the company has said. “It’s unprecedented and overly aggressive for states to try to shut down a federally licensed exchange. It’s like if North Carolina wanted to shut down the stock market.”

Many in Congress aren’t buying it.

“They’re creating opportunities for people to bet on an event that people don't know the outcome to,” Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) said. “That's gambling, isn't it?”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco took that same view last week when it ruled that the states can regulate prediction market platforms as a form of gambling. The ruling contradicted the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals’ prior finding in favor of Kalshi’s view.

“Fortunately, they are losing in their lawsuits to stop states from reining them in or shutting them down,” said Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal. His state, Connecticut, is one of 20 that have sued to regulate prediction markets. The Supreme Court is likely to decide their ultimate success or failure.

Blumenthal and Sen. Katie Britt (R-Alabama) introduced a bill to bar social media sites from advertising prediction markets to minors, one of several bills in the space that have garnered some support across party lines.

“Regardless of how you feel about prediction markets, it's clear that underage use of these prediction markets can pose the same risk as underage gambling,” Britt said. “It's now time for us to tell the social media companies and to tell bad actors in the gaming space and those that are intentionally targeting underage individuals that they're off limits.”
Katie Britt AP-23066750084653 (7844x5229, AR: 1.50)Kalshi’s slogan is “Trade on anything,” whether that be the winner of this season of “America’s Got Talent” or the timing of a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal. Wagering on anything has proven to be lucrative. Kalshi was valued at $22 billion in a March fundraising round and has partnered with major sports teams and media companies.

A bill introduced in the House by Moore would disallow platforms from offering “event contracts based on those really troublesome areas, from terrorism to assassinations, war, gaming, illegal activity.”

“Betting on who wins the opening coin toss of a football game is one thing, and it's stupid,” Moore said. “But when we're betting on these types of things, about the scope of a wildfire, we should pause as a society.”

Kalshi was not one of the multiple platforms that offered bets related to the Palisades fires in 2025. (The platform does host a subpage where users can place bets on the timing and intensity of various natural disasters.)

For some lawmakers, the fires marked their first experience with prediction markets — one that angered them. Further reports of political candidates' insider trading have only deepened their animosity toward the platforms.

Other lawmakers have taken a different tack, seeking to limit who can participate in prediction markets.

Democratic Reps. Nikki Budzinski of Illinois and Eugene Vindman of Virginia separately introduced bills to keep certain federal officials, such as lawmakers and members of the military, from making trades.
Eugene Vindman AP-24073728671216 (7757x5172, AR: 1.50)“It’s very narrowly focused,” Budzinski said in an interview. “It is the only bipartisan House bill that’s out there right now that would basically say that if you're in public service, someone like myself that has, because of the nature of my position, information that is sensitive government information, that I shouldn't be monetizing that through the prediction market space.”

Others are gunning for the industry’s throat, casting prediction markets’ very existence as an existential threat to Democracy.

“When the American people go to vote, we all are in effect inhabiting a public office,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) said. “So we don't want people betting on elections and then selling their votes or renting their votes for the purposes of winning their bet.”

Raskin’s bill would prevent trading on elections, “government actions,” pending court decisions and sports — effectively eliminating the vast majority of markets offered by Kalshi and no doubt cratering its multibillion-dollar valuation. Merkley introduced the bill’s Senate counterpart.

“Betting on public elections, betting on the outcome of legislation and betting on the outcome of judicial decisions would all fundamentally undermine and ultimately destroy the integrity of constitutional government,” Raskin continued.

Kalshi is quick to remind that it’s regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which, under President Donald Trump, bills itself as the sole entity with authority over prediction markets. It’s gone so far as to sue some of the states that have tried to impose their own regulations.

Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., has worked as a paid adviser to Kalshi and is an investor in Polymarket, which received prime placement on the railing of the UFC ring constructed on the White House lawn — even as the White House has taken steps to prohibit trades on internal White House networks.
Polymarket.WhiteHouse (8640x5760, AR: 1.50)Polymarket employs three lobbyists, per the company’s most recent federal disclosures. They include David Urban, who advised all three of Trump’s presidential campaigns, and Keaghan Ames, a former senior policy adviser to a CFTC commissioner.

The Coalition for Prediction Markets, a trade group launched by Kalshi, brought on former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney as president and chief executive in January. Former Rep. Patrick McHenry, who acted as speaker pro tempore of the House after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster in 2023, is a senior adviser.

Democrats, who hope to win control of both the House and Senate after November’s midterm elections, have made an anti-corruption agenda a key plank of their post-midterm plans, with particular focus on placing new restrictions on the executive branch.

Landsman’s Drain the Swamp Act folds Budzinski’s PREDICT Act into a raft of “anti-corruption” bills he hopes will be taken up should Democrats win back one or more chambers.

“I don't have a strong opinion about whether or not it's good or bad,” the congressman said of the platforms. “My big issue is the possibility of folks with insider information betting on political events, and it should be banned.”

Landsman attributed a dearth of prediction market-related legislative action to congressional Republicans’ lack of appetite for reigning in the Trump administration.

Blumenthal, however, argues: “What's holding up its passage is opposition from the prediction market company.”

“They are throwing their weight around in D.C., and they relish that prediction markets have become a haven for insider trading, market manipulation and underage gambling,” he said. “I've seen it, heard directly in their contacts with colleagues, public statements, distorting the legislation.”

Other lawmakers said they haven’t felt any such influence by Kalshi.

“I personally can't say that I felt any of that influence,” Vindman said. “I don't know, you know, like crypto, like AI, like these prediction markets; money has been flooding into politics. It's actually a real problem, and I think all of these sort of tech industries have recognized that there’s a way to influence through money, and it’s a real problem we got to deal with.”

In June, Kalshi co-founders Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara made maxed-out donations to Vindman’s primary campaign as he ran unopposed.

“I have talked to the founders, yep,” Vindman said.

NOTUS asked what was discussed and whether the conversation influenced his thinking.

“Well, look, there are a couple of different prediction markets, and there's one that is completely offshore; there's like a subsidiary where I've seen particular [abuses] is in that market, Polymarket,” Vindman said, citing the U.S.’s indictment of a soldier alleged to have wagered on the operation to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.

“We need to, obviously, meet with these industries to understand how they operate,” he added. “Prediction markets are new, and so, like, there are plenty of folks that are just not aware of the size and scope of prediction markets amongst my colleagues.”

Consider that just three years ago, Kalshi was still seeking legal clearance to operate nationwide.

Merkley was among those warning that if the CFTC blessed a “large-scale, for-profit political event betting market in the United States,” it “would profoundly undermine the sanctity and democratic value of elections.”

Ultimately, Kalshi prevailed in court. It’s since grown into a multibillion-dollar enterprise.

“Once they won that court case, they’ve been full throttle ahead,” Merkley said.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/foreign-policy/russia-sanctions-bill-stalled-ukraine-envoy Hamed Ahmadi The House has no vote scheduled on a Senate-passed bill to level sweeping sanctions on Russia and Iran. Thu, 03 Sep 2026 00:17:38 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/foreign-policy/russia-sanctions-bill-stalled-ukraine-envoy One of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s top envoys came to Washington to lobby the House to pass a sweeping Russia sanctions bill. But Republican leaders have not announced a vote, and a top Democrat says the bill may not reach the floor until after the November elections.

The legislation cleared the Senate 86-11 before senators left for their August recess and is now awaiting House action. The Ukrainian Embassy said meetings with envoy Vladyslav Vlasiuk focused on “the importance and urgency” of passing what it called the “bone crushing” sanctions bill to increase pressure on Russia and Iran.

But Vlasiuk’s meetings did not produce a clear path forward. Lawmakers remain divided over whether to pass the Senate bill unchanged or amp up Ukrainian help as some Democrats want, including more direct support for the country fighting against a Russian invasion. Democrats also want to revise provisions allowing President Donald Trump to impose tariffs.

Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, described his Wednesday meeting with Vlasiuk as “very good,” but he said he remained opposed to the Senate bill. Meeks he would continue talking with the envoy, though he does not expect the House to act before the midterms.

“It may be hard to do before the elections because we don’t have much time here,” Meeks told NOTUS on Wednesday, a day before the House is set to leave for another break. He said he thought the delay would give lawmakers more time to negotiate "so that as soon as we come back after elections, maybe we could get something done.”

That timeline conflicts with calls from the Trump administration and senators for the House to move swiftly.

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a lead Democratic sponsor of the bill, urged the House to pass it, calling it a “moment of extreme urgency.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also urged the House on Wednesday to take up the bill, saying it would be “valuable for the president to have these tools available to him.” He accused Democrats of withholding additional tariff and sanctions authority while claiming to support Ukraine.

But House Republican leaders have not scheduled a vote or said whether they plan to bring up the Senate bill unchanged. The legislation remains absent from the House floor schedule.

The House is expected to return for another short session later this month before leaving again to campaign. Meeks said he does not expect the bill to be on the agenda then either.

The calendar leaves lawmakers with a difficult choice: Passing the Senate bill unchanged would send it directly to Trump; any House changes would send it back to the Senate, adding another step with little legislative time left before the election.

House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Florida) told NOTUS that the bill falls under several committees and that lawmakers are still reviewing it.

“It’s being examined,” Mast said. “But it’s not an examination that’ll be done this week.”

The bill would impose sanctions on Russian officials, financial institutions, shadow-fleet vessels and state-owned energy projects. It would also authorize tariffs of up to 100% on the five largest purchasers of Russian oil and natural gas.

Meeks supports stronger sanctions on Russia but argues that the tariffs could raise prices for Americans and punish U.S. allies. He also says the bill gives Trump too much discretion to waive its provisions.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Monday that Democrats had not reached a caucus position on the bill and expected members to have “serious conversations” about it this week.

On Monday, Meeks joined Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) and Ron Wyden (Oregon) and Reps. Richard Neal (Massachusetts) and Don Beyer (Virginia) in urging Trump to use his existing authority to put sanctions on Russia rather than wait for Congress to grant him new tariff powers.

“This bill, as it is, is not going to help the Ukrainians in the long run,” Meeks said.

Meeks instead wants lawmakers to negotiate the Senate package alongside the House-passed Ukraine Support Act, which includes security and reconstruction assistance, renewed lend-lease authority and other measures.

“We’ve got two bills. Our bill was bipartisan. Their bill was bipartisan,” Meeks said. “So let’s have further conversations.”

It remains unclear whether Meeks and other opponents of the Senate bill have enough votes to defeat it if Republican leaders bring it to the floor unchanged. Meeks said he is speaking with House members in both parties and senators about a possible deal.

Vlasiuk emphasized Ukrainians’ desperation and their desire for a sign that the U.S. is reengaging, Meeks said. Russia continues to strike Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure as another winter approaches.

Meeks declined to say whether Vlasiuk or the Ukrainian government was open to his proposal.

Other prominent supporters of Ukraine who spoke with Vlasiuk on Tuesday said the dispute should not delay the bill.

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) said after meeting with Vlasiuk that he wants the House to pass the Senate legislation without changes.

“Do I think the bill is perfect? I don’t,” Hoyer told NOTUS. “But we don’t pass perfect bills here.”

Hoyer said he would oppose attaching the Ukraine Support Act or other legislation to the package. “I want to pass it pristine,” he said.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania), the co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, spoke briefly with Vlasiuk in a Capitol hallway. He also said the tariff dispute should not stop the bill.

“I would vote for it with tariffs, without tariffs,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m not going to let the tariff piece stop my support for Ukraine.”

Fitzpatrick said he would support adding the House-passed assistance package because he had already voted for it. But he argued that a combined bill would not clear the Senate.

“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” he said.

He said he told Vlasiuk that Zelenskyy should return to Washington and personally lobby the House, as he did before the Senate vote.

“He was here for the Senate. He’s got to come for the House,” Fitzpatrick said. “We’re very determined to get that done.”]]> https://washingtonsun.com/democrats/democrats-are-fuming-at-two-moderates-who-helped-bail-out-republicans Avani Kalra, Kadia Goba Party leadership has asked the Committee on Caucus Rules to take up the issue. Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:26:18 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/democrats/democrats-are-fuming-at-two-moderates-who-helped-bail-out-republicans Two moderate Democrats bailed out House Republicans from an embarrassing loss on the floor thanks to a revolt from House conservatives, leaving their Democratic colleagues fuming.

Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington state voted alongside Republicans to move forward with debate on several bills, including a provision to condemn socialism that Republicans are expected to tout on the campaign trail. Their “yes” votes caught Democratic leadership completely by surprise.

Members of Democratic leadership said in a statement Tuesday night that they plan to take quick action against the pair. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said they have asked the Committee on Caucus Rules — which recommends changes for how the party handles legislative priorities — to take up the issue.

“The decision by two of our colleagues to blindside the entire House Democratic Caucus and join with the Republican majority to pass a procedural rule on the brink of failing represents a significant breach of trust,” they wrote. “It is an action that necessitates a serious response.” 

Jeffries told reporters earlier in the day that he did not know that those Democrats, whose votes were decisive in advancing the procedural measure, were planning to vote with Republicans.

A Democratic leadership aide told reporters that leadership does not whip votes on procedural rules as minority members. It’s extremely rare for a member to cross party lines to support the opposition’s agenda.

"I am fucking livid," another House Democratic aide, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told NOTUS.

Golden is not running for reelection, while Gluesenkamp Perez is defending her seat in a race the Cook Political Report has deemed a “toss up.” Golden told reporters that he voted in favor of the rule in order to advance a bill he sponsored, the Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act, that was part of the rule package.

Golden added that it was not necessary to inform leadership because “everyone in all of Congress knew exactly what I would do this week for Maine fishermen.”

“The idea that anyone represents their constituents, came here, introduces a bill to support that constituency, would do anything but vote for it is fucking nuts,” Golden said. “Could you imagine going home to your constituents and being like, ‘I was trying to help you, but I had to vote no'?”

Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, said he is “very disappointed” in the pair, adding that “this makes us look like them,” referring to Republicans, who frequently squabble with each other.

Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-California) told NOTUS that she similarly does not support members of the caucus voting with Republicans on procedural measures.

“No, obviously, I voted no,” Jacobs said when asked if she thinks Democrats should be crossing the aisle on rule votes. “I think unity is incredibly important in the Democratic caucus.”

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois), a longtime member, told NOTUS that Democrats should be working together.

“I don’t know what it was meant to mean, but I’m not for that,” Schakowsky said. “They should not have done that, I think.”

Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Georgia) said that although representatives can vote the way they feel best helps their constituents, he was disappointed to see Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez break with leadership on a rule vote.

“I hate that we had the opportunity to win that vote for the American people, and that we had some people on the team that couldn't go along with it,” Bishop said. “At the end of the day, each of us has to live with our own conscience, and we've got to let our conscience guide us in terms of what our constituents would ask of us.”

Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), who is also in a “toss up” race, told NOTUS that while his district is different from many Democrats hold across the country, he has a “very open relationship” with leadership. He noted that he would have shared how he planned to vote in a similar situation.

“I tell them what I’m going to do ahead of time. I don’t hide from what I’m going to do,” Gonzalez said. “If you like it, fine. If not, we care about the people in our district.”

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who earlier in the day told Politico she was disappointed in the two members and “never had that problem” with a rule vote in her time as speaker, told NOTUS that she ultimately suspected the rule might have advanced even without Democrats’ help.

“The Republicans probably had a couple of votes up their sleeve anyways,” Pelosi said.

But members of Republican leadership also signaled to reporters on Tuesday that they were not aware Democrats would cross the aisle to support the rule. In a press conference just after the vote, Speaker Mike Johnson did a victory lap.

“Many of you thought that would not happen today, but we passed a rule to continue business this week,” Johnson said. “Republicans are here to work. We have a lot more left to do.”

This story was updated to include a statement from Democratic leadership.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/house/congress-cr-government-funding-midterms-continuing-resolution-shutdown-averted Avani Kalra A broader budget package is likely to depend on the outcome of the midterm elections. Tue, 01 Sep 2026 18:11:05 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/house/congress-cr-government-funding-midterms-continuing-resolution-shutdown-averted Congress passed a bipartisan measure to fund federal agencies until mid-December on Tuesday, averting the threat of a government shutdown ahead of the November midterm elections.

The bill advanced through the House 370-48 and will extend current funding levels through Dec. 11. The measure also includes a provision demanded by Democrats that would delay a Trump administration rule putting political appointees in charge of issuing grants.

Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that the stopgap funding measure was House Republicans’ biggest priority ahead of a scheduled 10-day recess next week.

“We have to make sure the government is funded and we don’t have another Democrat shutdown,” Johnson said before the vote. “I’ll remind y’all they brought about the two longest shutdowns in U.S. history this Congress already, so let’s hope we avoid that.”

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, told NOTUS that Democrats supported the continuing resolution because it tackled a number of their concerns about border patrol funding, restored funding for some programs that had been previously excluded, and, most notably, the Trump administration grant rule.

Democrats had opposed the initial version of the bill that passed in the House in July.

“If you take a look at what we have accomplished and what's been passed by the Senate and is now here, those things have been addressed,” DeLauro said. “There's no money going to border patrol, the grant rule has been extended through the life of the CR, which gives us time to continue to work on that issue because that has got to get defeated in the long run, and then the anomalies are now included.”

The Senate overwhelmingly approved the funding bill in early August, though that vote was delayed several days over a controversial rule to push back the date that a ban on intoxicating hemp would be implemented.

That provision also saw pushback in the House, where some conservatives called for an immediate ban on the product. Rep. Chip Roy told reporters that he was frustrated by the hemp measure.

“I’m a no on the rule because of that. I’m pretty pissed,” Roy said of the hemp extension. “You’re adding hemp on the back of it, you’re adding CISA on the back of it … there’s like, four, five, six things added on to it.”

Still, the extension of current funding levels gives lawmakers more time to work out a larger government funding deal after those negotiations stalled in July. Lawmakers want to see which party will control each chamber of Congress before determining future funding levels.

But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle seem to be prepared for a bigger fight in December. Republicans are expected to argue to reinstate the Trump administration’s language on grants, which will surely infuriate Democrats and imperil the measure’s passage.

Any struggle over government funding will likely take place in the Senate, where the package needs 60 votes to advance, requiring some bipartisan support. Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) told reporters in August that he intends to “fight like hell” to preserve the rule.

DeLauro also said that Democrats are also prepared for a funding showdown over the grant rule.

“There’s got to be a fight about it –– I will initiate a fight about it,” DeLauro said. “It’s the destruction of our system and of the appropriations process.”
]]> https://washingtonsun.com/congress/ashley-hinson-husband-iowa-insurance Stephen Neukam Hinson’s Senate campaign says she and her husband "maintain the highest ethical standards." Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:23:00 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/congress/ashley-hinson-husband-iowa-insurance Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ashley Hinson, a congresswoman pitching herself as a warrior against special interests in Iowa, and her husband, Matt Arenholz, have deep ties to the insurance industry, with Arenholz owning millions worth of interest in a private equity-backed brokerage.

Documents reviewed by NOTUS reveal Arenholz also held a government affairs post at a leading insurance industry lobbying group, which has not been previously reported. He helped arrange meetings with Hinson and other Iowa congressional delegation members, the documents indicate.

Arenholz, a longtime insurance executive, chaired the government affairs committee for an Iowa branch of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, an expansive national insurance trade association and lobbying group. Magazines published by the organization and reviewed by NOTUS reveal that officials at the insurance industry group credited Arenholz for helping them gain access to Hinson and other Iowa lawmakers.

“In fact, Matt was able to arrange a meeting with all four of our congressional members in one large conference room,” Tom O’Meara, the group’s chief executive officer, wrote in the message in the magazine. “This not only saved us a lot of time but prevented us from having to bounce around from building to building in D.C.”

O’Meara also acknowledged Hinson and Arenholz’s marriage in a fall 2023 edition of the group’s magazine. Archived material from the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa’s website shows Arenholz took on the government affairs role with the group in 2019, and that he still held the post in 2023.

A spokesperson for the Hinson campaign, which is competing in one of the nation’s hottest Senate races, told NOTUS the meeting O’Meara referenced was “arranged just like any other meeting with an advocacy group is arranged through the proper and appropriate channels.”

The spokesperson, who declined to be identified by name for this story, said Arenholz has been a part of the Iowa insurance organization since 2003, and that his government affairs post was focused on state level issues. The panel, the campaign said, meets once a year and hears from state lobbyists about the Iowa state legislative session.

“Matt’s not a lobbyist nor has he ever lobbied Ashley on anything — they maintain the highest ethical standards,” the Hinson campaign spokesperson said. The Hinson spokesperson also said the congresswoman understood Arenholz’s involvement with the organization to be part of his participation in the broader independent insurance industry.

The Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa did not respond to a request for comment or questions about Arenholz’s role at the organization.

In a copy of the organization's online magazine, O’Meara wrote that while in Washington for a conference, he was asked how many members of Iowa’s congressional delegation met with his organization.

“I was given several strange looks when I responded that we met with all six of ours from Iowa,” O’Meara wrote. “Several replied to me that they were not talking about congressional staff members rather the actual elected officials themselves. My answer remained the same, ALL SIX!”

Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, a watchdog organization that tracks lobbying and political influence trends, told NOTUS that Arenholz’s position “blurs the line.”

“No one’s saying that if your significant other gets elected to Congress, you have got to stop being in insurance,” Hauser said. “Then you tell me he’s involved in government affairs, right off the bat that’s not normal. Most people don’t do government affairs work.”

Hauser argued that national organizations such as the Independent Insurance Agent Brokers, the parent group of the Iowa-based branch, use a network of state-level offshoots to more effectively lobby lawmakers.

“Part of the power that, like, a Chamber of Commerce builds over time is that they can, instead of having their D.C-based official lobby someone from Iowa, they give talking points through their Iowa affiliate, and then the lobbying occurs from a constituent,” Hauser said.

InsurePAC, the political action committee of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, has supported Hinson throughout her congressional career.

Over the years, the PAC contributed a total of more than $67,000 to Hinson’s campaign and PACs affiliated with the Iowa Republican, according to data from the Federal Election Commission. 

Separately, the national group has spent more than $5 million lobbying the federal government since Hinson was elected in 2020, according to Lobbying Disclosure Act reports.

A Hinson spokesperson said the support from the PAC “had no relationship to her husband’s membership” in the Iowa insurance group.

Hinson’s annual personal financial disclosures reveal Arenholz retains a significant stake in the insurance sector. Hinson reported in 2025 that Arenholz held between $1 million and $5 million in High Street Insurance Partners, a large private equity-backed insurance brokerage. In 2021, Hinson reported that Arenholz sold interest in a private insurance company for over $1 million.

Hinson has pitched herself in Iowa as a candidate who will take on powerful special interests.

In the first ad for her Senate campaign, Hinson said, “Health care companies are ripping you off, and members of Congress should not trade stocks.”

“I’m working with President Trump to take on big insurance companies, and I’m fighting to ban stock trading in Congress,” Hinson said in the ad.

The race for Senate in Iowa, with Hinson facing off against Democrat Josh Turek, has unexpectedly become one of the most important political contests in the 2026 midterms.

Hinson holds a polling advantage of less than 1 percentage point, according to polling averages from RealClearPolitics, meaning the race is a statistical dead heat, at present.

Last week, the Cook Political Report rated the Iowa Senate race a toss-up, shifting its rating toward Democrats. Senate Democrats must hold all of their seats and defeat at least four Republicans to retake the chamber.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/new-york/aoc-dsa-membership Jenna Monnin DSA said the “ongoing discussions” about 2028 prompted them to confirm the congresswoman’s affiliation with the organization. Wed, 26 Aug 2026 21:03:51 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/new-york/aoc-dsa-membership Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has officially rejoined the Democratic Socialists of America this month after her membership expired seven years ago.

The New York Democrat, who first signed up for an annual membership in 2018, is the most prominent politician affiliated with the organization despite having let her official affiliation lapse for seven years.

DSA-linked candidates have amassed a string of wins this primary season, knocking off some long-standing Democratic incumbents in the process — sometimes to the chagrin of moderate lawmakers on the left. But as Ocasio-Cortez leads some recent polling among potential Democratic presidential candidates, her decision to reestablish membership with the DSA could further boost the progressive political organization’s relevance beyond this midterms cycle.

“Democratic Socialists of America confirms Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a member in good standing of our organization, having recently rejoined in August 2026,” DSA wrote in a statement shared with City & State New York. “Previously, the representative joined DSA in 2018 with a one-year membership, which DSA’s national leadership recently noticed had lapsed, in 2019. She has since renewed her membership as of this month.”

Some DSA members have been considering what putting up a presidential candidate in 2028 could look like, The Washington Post reported this month, and Ocasio-Cortez is currently one of their best chances at reaching the country’s highest office.

“While it is atypical for DSA to address the membership status of individuals, ongoing discussions about the 2028 presidential campaign have prompted this release,” the organization said.

DSA has referred to Ocasio-Cortez as a “member” several times in the past seven years, despite her lapsed membership.

The congresswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ocasio-Cortez won her first U.S. House race in 2018 by toppling 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary for New York’s 14th Congressional District. Although she appears to have only been an official card-carrying member of the DSA for one year, her four terms in the House spurred a movement for other congressional hopefuls hoping to upset candidates they considered to be part of the Democratic establishment.

DSA-endorsed nominees like Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York and Melat Kiros in Colorado clinched breakthrough victories in their primaries this year, while other candidates linked to the DSA have also seen some success. And New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s DSA-backed victory last fall further elevated the organization’s national profile, though the progressive politician tried to distinguish his platform from some of the DSA’s national policy goals while on the campaign trail.

Ocasio-Cortez has at times endured a rocky relationship with the organization. DSA withdrew, then conditionally reinstated, their support for the congresswoman’s 2024 U.S. House campaign, citing her vote for a resolution that equated the “denial of Israel’s right to exist” as a form of antisemitism.

At a private DSA meeting earlier this year, Ocasio-Cortez said she would not authorize any military aid to Israel and cited her record of voting “no” on the issue.

“The Israeli government should be able to finance their own weapons if they seek to arm themselves,” Ocasio-Cortez said, City & State New York reported in April.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/congress/al-green-impeach-trump-again Jackie Llanos The lame-duck lawmaker labeled ICE and CBP as the president’s “paramilitary police forces.” Mon, 24 Aug 2026 22:18:59 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/congress/al-green-impeach-trump-again Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas is trying to impeach President Donald Trump, even though the lame-duck lawmaker knows he doesn’t have the votes.

Green, who lost his primary runoff in May, cited immigration agents’ fatal shootings of Renee Good, Alex Pretti, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in his 27-page resolution to impeach the president for high crimes and misdemeanors.

“He is abusing the powers of the presidency by operating United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as his vicious, quota-driven, unaccountable paramilitary police forces, transgressing with anonymity and secrecy, assaulting people, committing and covering up unjustified killings of civilians,” Green’s articles of impeachment state.

Green has attempted to impeach Trump multiple times in both of the president’s terms, including three times last year for what the congressman said was Trump undermining judicial independence, over the war with Iran and for accusing several Democratic lawmakers of behavior the president said was punishable by death.

The White House scoffed at Green’s attempt.

“The brave men and women of ICE and CBP put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists,” said White House spokesperson Lauren Bis, “Al Green should be thanking President Trump and our law enforcement for delivering the largest decrease in violent crime in American history.”

The House impeached Trump twice in his first term: in 2019 for withholding military aid for Ukraine and in 2021 after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The Senate voted to acquit him both times.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said at a CNBC summit in June that impeaching Trump wasn’t a focus for his party if Democrats take the majority after the midterms.]]> https://washingtonsun.com/money/rob-bresnahan-advertisement-complaint-pennsylvania Avani Kalra The Pennsylvania Republican denies a taxpayer-funded congressional message that landed in Google’s political campaign ad database was ever an election advertisement. Fri, 21 Aug 2026 19:13:19 GMT https://washingtonsun.com/money/rob-bresnahan-advertisement-complaint-pennsylvania A constituent of Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan has filed a complaint with the independent Office of Congressional Conduct alleging that the congressman broke a federal law and violated House rules by airing an official communication as part of his campaign.

Adriane Heine, of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, is asking the office to investigate a taxpayer-funded promotional video that Bresnahan’s congressional office aired in July. She accuses Bresnahan’s campaign of also distributing the video as a political advertisement, according to the complaint, which NOTUS reviewed.

The Bresnahan campaign said an error was made when the congressman’s campaign and congressional offices were verifying their respective Google ad accounts after prolonged inactivity. This caused the video in question to appear as a political campaign ad within a public Google database of advertisements. A vendor for the campaign, Arena Mail and Digital, later worked to resolve the issue with Google.

The video describes the congressman’s Local Farmers Feeding Our Communities Act, a bill to help farmers sell and distribute their food. It contains a link to Bresnahan’s official website and a disclaimer that the video was made using funds authorized by the U.S. House of Representatives.

"To be clear, this was an official ad paid for with official funds and approved through the franking process,” Hannah Pope, Bresnahan’s spokesperson, said in a statement to NOTUS. “A clerical error by the vendor and Google resulted in an initial mislabeling of the piece as connected to the campaign, which was later rectified."

Bresnahan, like all federal lawmakers, may use taxpayer funds to communicate with their constituents for “official business” in a practice known on Capitol Hill as “franking.” But “official communications should not be used for political or personal business” and “no campaign content or electioneering” is allowed, according to House guidance.

The Bresnahan video is no longer shown on Google under the campaign account, titled “Rob for PA.” Currently, it appears on two other official accounts: “U.S. House of Representatives Congressman Rob Bresnahan” and “Congressman Rob Bresnahan.”

The Bresnahan campaign sent NOTUS an email exchange between Google and the vendor in which the vendor attempts to resolve the link between the “Rob for PA” account and the official congressional account that indicates the Bresnahan campaign had an error within their registration information. Google did not immediately reply to a request for comment from NOTUS.

A number of Bresnahan advertisements bearing the congressional office’s official logo and URL also appeared on ad tracking site AdImpact as “election” ads for Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District. A spokesperson for AdImpact told NOTUS that the website made an error.

“Ultimately, this was our clerical error,” John Link, senior vice president at AdImpact, told NOTUS. “This has nothing to do with PA-8. … That data is updated and reflected.”

Molly Vroom, the director of ad operations at The Franking Group, further told NOTUS that the issue was the result of an oversight in the advertisement’s verification process. The group, a digital mail and advertising firm, worked with Bresnahan on the official communication. 

“As soon as it was identified, our team worked with Google to correct the issue and ensure the ad campaign was properly reported moving forward,” Vroom said. “Put simply, this was a clerical reporting error that has absolutely nothing to do with Congressman Bresnahan.”

Heine told NOTUS that she’s nevertheless proceeding with her complaint against Bresnahan.

“It sounds like someone is covering their tracks,” Heine said. “They got called out on it, so they had to backpedal. But it doesn’t make up for the fact that they did this in an unethical way, originally.”

Pope, Bresnahan’s spokesperson, disagreed.

“Make no mistake, this is a politically motivated complaint, based on completely inaccurate information,” she said.

Bresnahan is locked in one of the nation’s most competitive House races. He faces Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democrat, in a race the Cook Political Report has deemed a “toss up.” Heine has supported Cognetti and contributed money to her campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Cognetti’s campaign said in a statement that Bresnahan is the “poster child of corruption.”

“Rob has spent his time in office serving himself at the expense of Northeastern Pennsylvanians,” Cognetti spokesperson Emma Mustion said.

Bresnahan previously came under scrutiny for his once-prolific stock trading. The multimillionaire made more than 650 individual stock trades in 2025, federal records show, but he has since stopped trading individual stocks.

“I wanted it to come to the forefront so that we as voters, or people that he represents, would be aware of it,” Heine told NOTUS. “His constituents need to hold him accountable for his moves. So it’s very important to watch what he’s doing with our money. It’s our money.”

The Office of Congressional Conduct, previously known as the Office of Congressional Ethics, is an independent, nonpartisan body tasked with investigating allegations of misconduct against House lawmakers, officers and staff.

The office cannot issue binding rulings and penalties itself, although it may refer its findings to the House Ethics Committee for further consideration. Its investigations often take months, and it’s unlikely the office will fully process Heine’s complaint before the November election. Under the panel’s rules there is a so-called “blackout period” when it cannot launch an investigation, 60 days before an election.

This story has been updated to include a Federal Election Commission campaign contribution record.]]>