September 2026
Will there be more midterm conventions?
ANALYSIS – After Republicans gathered in Dallas last week for a rare midterm convention, it’s worth pondering: Was it a one-off event or the beginning of a new election tradition? In recent decades, conventions have typically been reserved for party business, including the formal nomination of a presidential candidate. It had been more than 40 […]
Supreme Court blocks efforts to stop mail voting this fall
The Supreme Court Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to curtail mail voting in this fall’s elections, keeping the U.S. Postal Service’s new rule restricting election mail paused. The brief order accompanying the majority ruling Monday left in place an order from Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts […]
Congressional Black Caucus Institute kicks off new midterm turnout effort
The Congressional Black Caucus Institute is launching a new campaign seeking to turn out low-propensity Black voters and rural voters across the South ahead of the midterm elections. The multimillion-dollar “SO VOTE” initiative, which is debuting Tuesday on National Voter Registration Day, seeks to go beyond traditional ad campaigns to connect with voters. The outreach […]
DCCC adds three more candidates to ‘Red to Blue’ program
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is adding three more candidates to its “Red to Blue” program for top recruits, including an independent running in red-leaning Alaska and a progressive seeking a battleground seat in Michigan. The additions bring the DCCC program up to 40 candidates as the party grows increasingly optimistic of its chances of […]
Cruz, coaching legends make pitch for NIL bill on cusp of votes
Senate advocates of a bipartisan college sports overhaul bill were joined by legendary coaches and current athletes Monday to try shoring up support for the legislation, which is expected on the chamber floor this month. “Some have asked why should Congress get in the middle of this? The answer is simple: because Congress screwed it […]
After lengthy absence, McConnell returns to Senate
Sen. Mitch McConnell returned to the Senate floor Monday, voting for the first time in nearly three months after an extended absence following an injury from a fall earlier this summer. “My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process, and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven’t made it any easier,” he said […]
Pre-election agenda may prove too ambitious for Congress
With college football season in full swing, lawmakers in Congress could take up student athlete compensation issues facing intercollegiate athletics. They could follow last week’s 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with legislation to address a lapse in surveillance powers. They could try to sort through the thicket of cryptocurrency regulations. But the safe […]
An ex-congresswoman’s ‘passion project’: the national debt
Even before she won her hotly contested Georgia congressional seat in 2020, Carolyn Bourdeaux was always something of a budget nerd. As director of Georgia’s Senate Budget and Evaluation Office during the Great Recession, the Democrat won recognition from a Republican-controlled Senate for her work to cover a budget shortfall. On Capitol Hill, she pursued […]
Surprise billing dispute process in ‘crisis,’ groups say
A coalition of 67 health care industry and advocacy groups is urging Congress to revisit a surprise medical billing law to address an unforeseen problem from its enactment: the ballooning costs of settling disputes when services are performed out of network. The industry groups sent a letter to congressional leadership on Thursday pushing for changes to the so-called No […]
‘Tired of politics’: By GOP convention’s end, even Trump had tapped out
DALLAS — President Donald Trump walked a tightrope this week, awkwardly balancing the political with the solemn. By the end, it all seemed too much, even for America’s ultimate political scrapper. Trump spent two days here in full campaigner-in-chief mode in front of an adoring audience inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas, headlining both […]