Andy Harris

The White House is stepping up its public pressure campaign against House Republicans who are resisting the swift passage of President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.” The Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a statement of administrative policy Wednesday afternoon endorsing the House bill and making clear that standing in the [...]

Republicans are targeting the seats of Reps. Angie Craig and Chris Pappas, center, while Democrats have eyes on Rep. Andy Barr's seat. All three lawmakers are running for Senate. (Bill Clark/Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

House Republicans are working on President Trump's budget reconciliation bill this week, and the White House wants a vote soon.

Members say they're aligned with Trump's agenda but want to make some provisions stronger.

After a marathon hearing, the GOP-led House Rules Committee advanced a sweeping package for President Donald Trump’s agenda Wednesday night, teeing it up for a vote in the full chamber.Members of the committee met starting at 1 a.m. ET Wednesday and adjourned around 10:40 p.m. ET before they voted for the legislation along party lines, 8-4.The vote came shortly after Republicans released a set of revisions to their massive bill, a product of last-minute negotiations to placate various factions of the party, including conservative hard-liners and blue-state Republicans, that were threatening to sink the measure.The 42-page amendment to the multitrillion-dollar legislation includes moving up the enforcement of work requirements for eligible Medicaid recipients by two years, to the end of 2026, phasing out clean energy tax credits earlier and expanding the federal deduction for state and local taxes to $40,000 for people earning less than $500,000 annually.It’s unclear exactly when the House will take up the package for a vote. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., navigating a narrow three-seat majority in the chamber, had said he hoped to hold the vote Wednesday night or Thursday morning.Here are some of the biggest changes GOP leaders made to Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” Wednesday.Medicaid changesIn a win for conservative hard-liners in the House Freedom Caucus, the agreement speeds up the timeline when work requirements would kick in for able-bodied adults ages 18 to 64 to be able to receive Medicaid benefits.The original legislation, adopted by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, called for work requirements to start at the beginning of 2029. But anti-spending hawks, led by Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, R-Md., pushed to have them begin “not later than Dec. 31, 2026,” so savings would take effect sooner.The new language would also allow states to move the date to earlier if they chose to do so.Shifting the start date sooner would mean millions of people could lose Medicaid benefits before the 2028 presidential election, and some could possibly lose them before the 2026 midterm election. That could be a political liability for Republicans up and down the ballot, though Trump and congressional GOP leaders say they are simply rooting out “fraud, waste and abuse.”In another significant shift, states that declined the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act would get higher payments as an incentive to encourage them not to expand the program.Donald Trump7 hours agoTrump's crypto dinner cost over $1 million per seat on averageMusic & Musicians14 hours agoBruce Springsteen releases politically charged live EP, fueling Trump feudClean energy creditsThe Freedom Caucus notched another victory in its eleventh-hour negotiations: more quickly phasing out clean energy tax breaks from former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.ffordable Care Act will get higher payments as an incentive to encourage them not to expand the program.The measure would cut off production and investment tax credits for any facility if the construction began 60 days after the bill was enacted, or after 2028.The revised bill would also unwind credits for wind and solar leasing arrangements for properties.“We worked with the White House to get some important revisions to expedite the phase out,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters. “Look, President Trump doesn’t want these, either, and so we worked with them to get really tight language to limit dramatically any new projects from starting.”Boosting the SALT capRepublicans who represent districts in high-tax blue states said their top priority in the package was raising the SALT cap, the amount federal taxpayers can deduct in state and local taxes.The original legislation, passed out of the Ways and Means Committee, hiked the SALT cap to $30,000, up from the current $10,000 cap imposed in Trump’s 2017 tax cut law. But members of the SALT Caucus slammed that increase as insufficient.The new bill would boost the SALT cap to $40,000 for people making less than $500,000 a year. Both the cap and the income level would increase by 1% annually for 10 years.“This is the No. 1 federal issue for my constituents. If I do a bad deal, I would expect my constituents to throw me out. If I did a deal at $30,000, my own mother wouldn’t vote for me,” Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., said this week in the middle of the negotiations.“Now is the time to make it right what we got wrong in 2017; now is the time to deliver on promises that we’ve made,” he added.‘MAGA Accounts’ renamed to ‘Trump Accounts’In a more trivial change to the bill, Republicans are renaming their tax-preferred savings accounts that parents could set up for children from “MAGA Accounts” to “Trump Accounts.”The first line of the manager’s amendment reads, “Page 10, in the item relating to section 110115, strike ‘MAGA’ and insert ‘Trump’.”NBC News’ Julie Tsirkin contributed.This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:Judge says Trump administration violated court order with deportation flight linked to South SudanWhite House purges transcripts of Trump’s remarks from its websitePentagon says it has accepted Qatar’s gift of a luxury megajet for Trump’s use

House Republicans are scrambling to finalize the details of their “one big, beautiful bill” of President Trump’s legislative priorities. The White House is pushing to hold the vote on Wednesday, even as warring Republican factions negotiate last-minute tweaks and some members warn they cannot yet support it. GOP leaders have made some progress winning over [...]

Ex-FBI Director James Comey had another anti-Trump seashell moment prior to Thursday's controversial Instagram post that critics have alleged was 'a hit' against President Trump.

Here is a very early look at the Democratic Party politicians considered to be potential 2028 presidential contenders in the next race for the White House.

Republicans are currently in misalignment over whether to accept tax increases for the wealthy in their reconciliation bill.

A right-wing ad campaign is trying to convince voters that the GOP isn't coming for their health care

A bipartisan pair of former Pennsylvania lawmakers call for a change that would bring turnover to Washington.

As House Republicans work to pass President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" before their Memorial Day deadline, conflicts arise after Trump proposes a tax hike for the wealthy.

The president has been going back and forth on taxing the rich, which he’s previously said would cause wealthy Americans to flee the country.

Congressional Cowards is a weekly series highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—no matter how disgraceful or lawless his actions.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is digging in after the latest bombshell report that he shared classified war plans in yet another Signal group chat—this time including his wife, brother, and personal attorney.But instead of condemning Hegseth’s clear mishandling of sensitive military information, GOP lawmakers are circling the wagons, making the insane claim that Hegseth is being taken down by some sort of nefarious deep state within the Pentagon rather than his own bad decisions."The D.C. foreign policy establishment is getting desperate. They've tried to take out [Hegseth] twice. Everyone knows exactly what they're doing. It won't work. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I have full faith and confidence in his leadership," Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri wrote on X.And Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee made a similarly absurd accusation.“Deep State leakers inside the Pentagon are trying to sabotage [Hegseth]. They’re terrified of the bold, America-First reforms President Trump is delivering. The D.C. cartel is in full-blown panic mode. Their desperation says it all: we’re winning—and history will prove us right,” he wrote on X.But those were far from the most ridiculous defenses of Hegseth.Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, a noted douchebag who berated teenage Senate pages for taking photos in the Capitol rotunda, said that Hegseth was above reproach because he served in the military after 9/11—as if that absolves him of any wrongdoing."I don’t want to hear from any healthy American that was of fighting age on 9/11 who did not join the military and deploy to combat talking shit about [Hegseth]. You had your chance to serve our Nation when She needed you and you did not. Stand down, the Warriors will take,” he wrote on X.Cartoon by Clay JonesAnd Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, who helped push to get Hegseth confirmed despite his numerous scandals, also said that he’s sticking by the former Fox News host.“I will lead the breach. I will lay down cover fire. I will take the high ground. I’ll expose myself to enemy fire to communicate. We must bring back integrity, focus, and put the Warfighter first inside DOD. I stand with [Hegseth],” he wrote on X.Even the entire Republican cohort on the House Foreign Affairs Committee defended Hegseth, “Pete Hegseth is a warfighter and he’s helping President Trump make sure our country is worthy of the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform,” they wrote on X.Meanwhile, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida tried to use whataboutism to defend Hegseth during an appearance on CNN, which—unsurprisingly—did not go well."Nobody was saying a word when Lloyd Austin, the previous defense secretary, disappeared for a month. Nobody could find him," Donalds deflected.So far, only one Republican has called for Hegseth to resign: Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, one of the most vulnerable GOP lawmakers in the House who represents a district that Vice President Kamala Harris carried in 2024. “The military should always pride itself on operational security. If the reports are true, the Secretary of Defense has failed at operational security, and that is unacceptable. If a Democrat did this we'd be demanding a scalp. I don't like hypocrisy. We should be Americans first when it comes to security,” he told Axios.But don’t expect other Republicans to join Bacon anytime soon.According to Politico, Republicans are afraid that calling for Hegseth to resign will get them on President Donald Trump’s bad side.“Everyone knows he’s a joke, but he’s the guy to do pushups with the troops,” a former congressional aide told Politico. “Plus, not many want to publicly say anything right now and get on Trump’s bad side.”Now that is the definition of cowardice. Thank you to the Daily Kos community who continues to fight so hard with Daily Kos. Your reader support means everything. We will continue to have you covered and keep you informed, so please donate just $3 to help support the work we do.

After Sen. Dick Durbin announced his retirement, the idea of the "Biden effect" came back into focus.

Republican strategists speak with Fox News Digital regarding the party's discussions about taxes as Congress works to pass President Donald Trump's agenda.

This is an occasional roundup of people who voted for Donald Trump and are shocked to find out no one is immune from the damage and pain he causes. Many are now grappling with the consequences of their choice as it affects them and their loved ones—and possibly regretting their vote.We all know the meme: The leopards have been feasting. Today we’re checking in on two big Trump-loving constituencies: truckers and soy farmers. Truckers love Donald Trump. Per FEC donation data, truck drivers are nearly three-quarters Republican, making it one of the reddest professions. You can imagine why. This group is mostly rural, mostly white and male, and tied to a job that lives and dies by the cost of fossil fuels, particularly diesel—which can account for up to 40% of costs. They also hated environmental mandates to electrify their fleets. In 2014, truck driver was the most common job title in most American states—and a significant one in pretty much all of them. I wasn’t able to find more recent statistics, but demand for shipping has only intensified in the e-commerce age. Truck driving is one of the last professions that provides a path to financial security without a college degree. And Trump is single-handedly breaking that path. Per Econ 101, as demand for products craters in the face of Trump’s chaotic tariffs and the supply of truckers remains the same, what does that mean for prices? Exactly. It is also not surprising that Mack Trucks is laying off about 20% of its workforce in response to the economic havoc Trump’s tariffs are generating. And if you follow that link, you’ll see plenty more terrible news for the trucking industry. “I think they’re all smart enough to know that if you go all in on tariffs, there’s the potential for counter tariffs and inflation as a result,” said the Trump-supporting Chris Spear, who heads the American Trucking Association. “So I don’t think they want to do anything that’s going to have an adverse impact on the economy,” Spear said back in December.Ha ha! Imagine thinking Trump and his team of degenerate sycophants are “smart.” Now, the full horror of Trump’s tariffs is dawning on the guy.“The 100,000 full-time hardworking truckers hauling 85% of the surface trade in goods with Mexico and 67% of the goods traded with Canada will bear a direct and disproportionate impact,” Spear whined.Canadian truckers will suffer as well, of course. But don’t worry—they’re also assholes. Related | West Virginians love Trump—and he's screwing them anywayNow let’s check out the soy industry. During the first Trump administration, his tariffs on China cost American soybean growers billions, all to Brazil’s delight. The economic damage was so severe that Trump had to bail out farmers to the tune of $28 billion. So what did these farmers do?Vote for Trump again, of course! Trump has now killed what was left of the Chinese market, dramatically increased the cost of fertilizer thanks to his idiotic trade war with Canada, and turned the world against American goods. And these idiot soy farmers are relegated to penning columns like this one: “I’m a Soybean Farmer Who Voted for Trump. I’m Begging the President to End the Trade War.” “Like many of my fellow farmers, I voted for President Donald Trump in the past three elections,” wrote Kentuckian Caleb Ragland. “The president won me over with his commitment to business-friendly tax cuts as well as his track record of reducing regulation and cutting government spending.”You see, Farmer Caleb was voting to kill other people’s jobs, not his own! “I am one of the 500,000 soybean farmers in America who feels the pain,” he wrote. “I rely on my own farm for 100 percent of the income for my family and the families of our three full-time workers. We have 1,500 acres of soybeans on my farm. At $600 an acre, our production costs are $900,000. But in the current climate, an acre brings in only $500 of revenue, which means we’re yielding $750,000—a $150,000 loss.”Yup, sure sucks. But don’t worry—he blames Biden. Really.“Back in 2018, President Trump negotiated a trade deal with China that would have been very good for our farmers. We had one problem, though, that derailed its effectiveness: Joe Biden.”Bailouts needed in 2018: Trump made a good deal! No bailouts needed between 2021 and 2024: Boo, Joe Biden is bad!Farm going bankrupt in 2025: Begging Trump to change course but still, the president is operating “in good faith.” Don’t weep for the guy. He is literally reaping what he sowed. And unfortunately, that kind of wilful ignorance appears to be incurable. Take three-time Trump voter and Ohio soybean farmer Josh Yoder. “The world is trying to figure out if Trump is playing chess or checkers,” he said. “If it’s the former, it would be a cool, long-term benefit. If it’s the latter, we’re going down a path we’ve never gone down in my lifetime.”The world isn’t trying to figure it out. The world knows.But Josh and his fellow MAGA drones refuse to acknowledge the reality, despite all the evidence staring them in the face. “The worst thing our farmers run into is that we can’t plan for anything,” said Texan grain manager Andy Riffe. Planning is a thing they could’ve done—had they voted for Kamala Harris. At least trans kids are being bullied and innocent people are being sent to a Salvadoran gulag, which is what Trumpers were really voting for anyway.Campaign Action

Rep. Andy Harris joined a slew of critics of Sen. Chris Van Hollen's trip to El Salvador to try to return a deported man to Maryland.

California Rep. Young Kim was among nine Republicans in battleground House races who raised more than $1 million during the first quarter. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., made a rare joint appearance with House leaders to show support for a full-year continuing resolution.

More than 100 people gathered in Co-op City on April 10 for a passionate four-hour discussion on reparations and how New York might begin to address the lasting legacy of slavery. The nine scholars and religious and community leaders who make up the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies (CCRR), established in... Read More

Jared Woodfill, the former longtime chair of the Harris County Republican Party, is representing George, a Democrat. Woodfill said his client has no intention of resigning and claimed the charges against the county judge are “politically motivated.”

'Failure cannot be an option'

House Republicans are bracing for a rebellion over legislation to move Trump's agenda through Congress.

The head of the House Democratic Caucus said Tuesday that he’s expecting conservative Republicans to cave and back a Senate-passed budget bill when it hits the floor of the lower chamber, which is scheduled to happen later this week. Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said Republicans frequently gripe privately about parts of President Trump’s agenda, but [...]

Hardline House conservatives say that personal appeals from President Trump will not be enough to sway them to support a Senate budget resolution to advance the White House’s legislative agenda. A group of House Republicans critical of the Senate’s framework for advancing Trump’s legislative agenda are set to meet with the president at the White [...]

Welcome to At the Races! Each week we bring you news and analysis from the CQ Roll Call campaign team. Know someone who’d like to get this newsletter? They can subscribe here. Sen. Cory Booker already has a run for the White House on his résumé, but on Tuesday night, the New Jersey Democrat entered the [...]The post At the Races: Open all night appeared first on Roll Call.

'Anger parts of my base'

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna is resigning from the House Freedom Caucus, she said in a letter to colleagues.

Egged on by wannabe dictator Donald Trump, House Republicans are pushing GOP leadership to let them embark on impeachment proceedings against federal judges who dare to rule against their Dear Leader—a time-consuming and destined-to-fail effort that harms the rule of law and could even wound the Republican Party in elections moving forward.Multiple Republican lawmakers have filed articles of impeachment against four federal judges who recently ruled against the Trump administration.“Congress has the constitutional power to impeach rogue activist judges—and we intend to use it,” Republican Rep. Brendan Gill of Texas, who filed articles of impeachment against a federal judge who ordered the Trump administration to turn around planes that were deporting alleged Venezuelan immigrants to a gulag in El Salvador, wrote in a post on X.House Republicans are pushing for the impeachments to move forward even as Politico reported that some GOP lawmakers view the effort to be “idiotic.”“You don’t impeach judges who make decisions you disagree with, because that happens all the time,” Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told Politico in early March. “What you do is you appeal, and if you’re right, then you’re going to win on appeal.”Supreme Court Chief Justice John RobertsEven Chief Justice John Roberts warned that impeachment is not the way to handle disagreements with judicial decisions.“We are going to keep the impeachments coming,” Republican Rep. Andy Ogles Tennessee wrote in a post on X. Ogles himself filed articles of impeachment against a judge who ordered the Trump administration to restore websites it had taken down to comply with Trump's executive order targeting “gender ideology extremism.”But complicating things for Republican leadership is that Trump blessed the impeachment efforts on Tuesday, saying that the judge who tried to block his effort to deport immigrants without due process is a "Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama."“This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!! WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” Trump wrote in a deranged Truth Social post.Co-President Elon Musk, who has threatened to fund primary challenges to Republicans who don’t do what Trump says, also wants judicial impeachments.“This is a judicial coup. We need 60 senators to impeach the judges and restore rule of the people,” Musk wrote in a post on X on Tuesday after another federal judge ruled against the Trump administration, this time on its attempted ban of transgender troops.Given that GOP leaders acquiesce to all of Trump's wants, no matter how immoral or unconstitutional, his demand puts them in a difficult place of having to choose what’s right or to make their Dear Leader happy. “Everything is on the table,” Russell Dye, a spokesperson for House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, told Politico. An unnamed spokesperson to House Speaker Mike Johnson also told Politico that judges “with political agendas pose a significant threat” and that Johnson "looks forward to working with the Judiciary Committee as they review all available options under the Constitution to address this urgent matter.”Speaker of the House Mike JohnsonBut as aides for Johnson publicly said all options are on the table, top GOP aides privately admitted the impeachment route is stupid and will take up time the House needs to pass the rest of Trump’s destructive and unpopular agenda.“It’s never going to happen,” an unnamed senior Republican aide told Politico. “There aren’t the votes.”Plus, forcing Republicans to vote on impeachment could be politically damaging for the GOP.Polling from February—when Republicans began crowing about impeaching judges who ruled against Trump—showed that voters want Trump to follow court orders."This court issue is a big loser for Trump," CNN's Harry Enten wrote in a post on X, referring to a Washington Post poll from February. "The belief that Trump must follow court orders is more popular than Mother Teresa: 84% of all adults, 92% of Dems, 82% of Indies & 79% of the GOP."Other polls have similar findings, including an NBC News survey released Wednesday. It found that a plurality of voters (43%) believe the president and executive branch have too much power, as opposed to the 28% who believe the Supreme Court and judicial branch have too much.The cherry on top of this for GOP leaders is that their members would be taking potentially damaging votes on impeachment for nothing. The charges would be disposed of in the Senate, where there is no way on earth that two-thirds of the chamber would vote to convict and remove judges. Republicans have just 53 votes there. To impeach a judge, they’d need 14 Democrats to also join in. But never put it past Republicans to do stupid things in the name of subservience to Trump. Thank you to the Daily Kos community who continues to fight so hard with Daily Kos. Your reader support means everything. We will continue to have you covered and keep you informed, so please donate just $3 to help support the work we do.

'Somebody that's going to be a bulldog'

'I don’t think we should give him oxygen'

In the Senate, Republicans will need support from at least eight Democrats to get the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk.

The House has passed legislation to avert a partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies through September. The vote provides critical momentum for the measure, which now moves to the Senate, where bipartisan support will be needed to get it...

'Essential to him delivering his agenda for the American people'

Tensions flared in the House on Thursday as lawmakers voted to censure Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) for his disruptive protest during President Trump’s address to Congress, prompting a dramatic scene on the House floor — and demands from Republicans for further retribution. The vote on the resolution to censure Green — which was adopted in [...]

Tensions flared in the House on Thursday as lawmakers voted to censure Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) for his disruptive protest during President Trump’s address to Congress, prompting a dramatic scene on the House floor — and demands from Republicans for further retribution. The vote on the resolution to censure Green — which was adopted in [...]

Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson aims to hold a vote on Tuesday on a bill to fund the government through September 30, a move needed to avert a partial shutdown of agencies late next week, he told reporters...

FBI Director Kash Patel, who was sworn in to the role last week, welcomes Dan Bongino, who will serve as deputy director of the law enforcement agency

Welcome to At the Races! Each week we bring you news and analysis from the CQ Roll Call campaign team. Know someone who’d like to get this newsletter? They can subscribe here. A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday brought bleak news for congressional Democrats: Just 21 percent of voters approve of the way they are doing [...]The post At the Races: Dems the breaks appeared first on Roll Call.

New York Rep. Mike Lawler, here at a campaign rally in Congers in October, is weighing a bid for governor. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan and budget director Russ Vought met with Senate Republicans Tuesday afternoon and pleaded with them to send the administration more money to carry out their immigration crackdown plans.

Maryland’s Democratic leaders warn that significant cuts to the federal workforce would be catastrophic for the state’s economy.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., leaves the House Republican Conference meeting in the Capitol on Tuesday.

Mario Juarez had been charged over election mailers that are now at the center of an alleged criminal conspiracy by Oakland's ex-mayor and a rich and influential family that owns a waste management company.

Democrats will take their first tangible step this weekend to drag themselves forward from their 2024 election loss: electing the next chair of the DNC.